Well, I guess this is as good a thread as any in which to post my gripes with this redesign.
Autoplaying videos are bad. Always. No matter what part of whatever site they're on (other than streaming video sites like YouTube -- and even then, there are situations when they suck). Now, I appreciate that you (GOG) disabled the autoplay on the large video on the top of a product page; I still don't know why that video needs to be there at all, given that 1.) there is no sound, 2.) there are no controls, other than the "close video" button in the corner, 3.) part of the absurdly large "buy" box overlaps the video, and, most importantly, 4.) there is the perfectly serviceable row of videos and screenshots just below the title and aforementioned buy box, and the video(s) accessed from there DO have controls. But...whatever. If marketing nabobs think there's gotta be video front and center, fine. As long as it doesn't autoplay, and the page doesn't load slower because of the presence of the inert video, it's fine.
What is NOT fine is to make a little visual preview of a game pop up any time the mouse cursor so much as grazes one of the game tiles. I mean, the concept of having some info about a game pop up on hover-over is a good one, but as so often is the case, the focus is on entirely the wrong things, and the implementation is not the greatest.
Worst thing first: In case you missed it, Autoplaying. Videos. Are. Bad. Yes, even when they are muted; and yes, even when they "only" play whenever you hover over the wrong page element for a split second. One of the reasons I don't often visit the front page of Netflix these days is that they've started adding autoplaying trailers/teasers/promo loops on fucking everything, including places where the user hasn't even clicked on or hovered over anything -- just scrolling too slowly past/stopping on the wrong section of the page will trigger it. Regardless of what some would like to think, this is not the new normal, any more than it became the new normal for mutimedia ads to autoplay on the internet of 15 years ago -- that's why ad blockers were invented, and later grew to contribute significantly to the current Adpocalypse: because people didn't (and still don't) like that shit.
(I can just about imagine the GOG honchos' thought process behind this: "Major Companies X, Y and Z are hugely profitable. Major Companies X, Y and Z have started using autoplaying videos as a sort of on-site advertising. Maybe if we try to ape that kind of thing, we'll become hugely profitable, too!" In truth, companies as big as Netflix (and Steam? I assume this is done on Steam) are so wealthy and ubiquitous that they can get away with a lot of stupid, customer-hostile moves...up to a point. They are where they are not because of those moves, in other words, but in spite of them.)
Apart from that one (major) thing, the idea of a pop-up info card is worthwhile. I don't even mind the slideshow of static screenshots that plays for games that don't have a video in their "media carousel"; It just shouldn't be the only new info presented on the pop-up card. Genres, release year, average user rating? None of that pops up. The game's title does, and that's okay...but it's also kind of unnecessary since, for the most part, the game or package title is usually pretty visible in the game tile art itself. But whatever. Point is, this is a missed opportunity to provide a bit more basic info (besides game visuals) without the user having to click through to the product page. Just make the pop-up info card a little bit larger, add some basic info points that aren't already visible on the tile before hovering, and get rid of the accursed autorunning vids. I would also suggest that the delay between mouseover and the tile expanding to provide the additional info/slideshow be set to something a bit longer -- closer to a full second would be good for me. : )
Beyond all that, I haven't got a lot to say, because I haven't really messed around with the new interface a lot yet. The new review system looks* good, as long as votes ("helpful" or not) are remembered and counted, and as long as people who don't own the game here can still post reviews.
The new "browse catalogue" page is extra-bland, overall. I'm sure a lot of people miss the list view; personally, I miss the ability to filter by different editions of a given OS (Windows 8 support, for example, instead of just "Windows"). Also: Why are there still separate filters for "Racing" and "Sports" games, despite the two actually (and very sensibly, given the total number in the catalogue) being one category in the backend? And there's still no way to filter DLC out of search results. -_-
I'm sure a lot of this was already said, but I haven't had the time nor the inclination these last few days to keep up-to-date in all of the...[does a quick count]...roughly 578 different GOGiversary-related topics in the forum.
*Superficially; again, haven't really used the sorting & filtering yet.
Post edited October 03, 2018 by HunchBluntley