Alright, it's been live a couple days, so I'll give my initial impressions of VV.
First off it looks really nice. Of course, I got a sneak peak a month back or so, but it still looks really nice.
The worlds thing is cool, as I knew it would be.
It's not speedy. I'm sure it's because this is the first time they've gotten a chance to see real load on the new codebase. Hopefully they have performance metrics in place so it can be fine-tuned. I'm confident in Adam and co.
The World navigation system needs work. I can't search for a user. I search for "timechaser" in the search box on the main site and I get no results, even though his name is in a username, he has two worlds, and has posted in them with his name. The only way to find a user to friend is if they comment or post something.
Guest posting. I'm set up as a guest poster on The Watercooler. How do I know? Because TC sent me a message on the Anime Pulse forums. I look in my backroom, and I don't see the Watercooler as a one of my worlds to post on. No, instead I have to go to Post, then Add Guest Post, and then I can see what worlds I can post on. But I still can't get to that world without typing in the world name manually, or knowing which user created the world, hope I've subscribed to them so that I can Jump to Member, and then click on the world name.
As I said, the world navigation system needs work. And that's what this release is for. Adam and co could only do so much user testing. And speaking from a developers perspective, you never think the same way a user does.
While I knew it was coming, the lack of a something as a "spiritual" center for theO is really painful. Sure, the frontpage is a center, but it's really just a launchpad or a portal. You have to know why you're here to get anywhere. If I was a first time visitor to theOtaku.com right now, I would have no idea what the point of the site is. So there needs to be something that draws the visitor in. In the old version it was news. It doesn't have to be news in VV, but it needs to be something.
With all that said, I still think it's a step in the right direction, but launching was just step one. If Adam thinks he can take a vacation he's mistaken. When you change things on your userbase you have to be especially responsive to usability problems and bugs. And I have every confidence in Adam and team to do just that.
-Ichigo
