What are the best free rpg game homepages?

[Rob Lang]

I'm penning a blog entry on how a website is important to a free RPG. I would like to give examples of free RPG websites where you think the site itself is so impressive that you'd download the game blindly. I'm only talking about a free RPG homepages, not community sites like these or list sites.

A good example of what I'm looking for is something like . AAAAARGH! He's reskinned it! It HURTS MY EYES. Like that but as it was, that's not helping, sorry. Alright, perhaps like the homepage - which is very nice. Or . I don't mind if it is based in Blogger or Wordpress or is a standalone single HTML page.

I want to inspire my readers to make lovely websites for their games - even if they are free-template-wordpress-or-blogger sites. I know there is no right answer and it is a matter of taste but that's great because it's your taste that matters!

Thanks in advance, chaps, chappettes and Misterechos.

[vulpinoid]

I think it's time for me to redo my website...it's one of those projects I've been putting off, instead working on just designing and redesigning games.

[Chainsaw Aardvark]

If anything, I'd argue that you're difficulty in thinking of good samples is an indication that most of these sites are not designed all that well at all. I needed to do some searching to find sites that I would consider well laid out. Perhaps you may want to include some anti-examples as well.

The first element to consider is where the game will be posted. Is it an Html document to be read online, or a document to be downloaded?

After that, I think an important element is that the front page needs to feature something. There should be images, or updated story posts, or an attempt to sell the game, rather than just a "Hi, I'm X and this is my game".

is not really visually interesting, has lots of walls of text, and isn't particularly easy to navigate. , on the other hand, has a colorful splash page, lots of images, fairly short sections, and is easy to navigate, making it a better present online document. Although it hasn't updated in a decade, is a very well made game website - you get images, immediate introduction to the concept.world, and the sections are short and well laid-out to make reading easy.

has an evocative entry page, makes the rules viewable online so you can get an idea of what they're like.

The web page for the fantasy RPG is fairly clean, and does a good job of trying to sell the game and its features, rather than simply "This is our game, feel free to take this PDF".

is also fairly good. While I wouldn't recommend a front page animation for everyone, it makes a game introduction, the rules themselves, and several galleries that evoke the setting all available at the top of the screen.

- a retroclone - presents links to find things quickly at the top, a change log to keep abreast of new documents, and an introduction to the concepts. goes the same route.

makes it easy to miss some of the buttons, but has everything on the front page. isn't too bad.

My "Live from the Dead Air" blog might be a good template. One of the first things you see is a series of buttons that take you to the basic info, summary, and the files themselves. The front page is a thrice-weekly updated blog to draw interest, tell people of up-dates, and otherwise add to the material available. Admittedly, I lack evocative artwork to help draw in the reader, and I could perhaps make some elements of the page stand out a bit more.

Speaking of self-promotion, the ICAR homepage isn't too poorly set up either.

[misterecho]

I have nothing further to add.

[Onix]

I liked website, clean, uncluttered and with enough color to make it visually interesting.

isn't exactly a free per se website but it's interesting. It has good color balance, but is way too busy. It takes about thirty seconds to sort out what you're looking at.

One of these days I should really redesign mine. It's 5 years old already (where did the time go)! High speed internet makes the design consideration a bit different than when I first set things up. Added to that there are a lot more tools. one more thing to do I guess.

[maledictus]

[Rob Lang]

Great! some more cool examples.

[Onix]

[Rob Lang]

Oh, I meant to add that I won't include worst examples because I want to keep the blog on a positive kilter. I'd much rather authors came forward and redesign their sites on their accord. Like Onix and Vulp. I must admit I currently HATE the Icar website. Mostly because my ability to design has moved on so far and I want something a bit more visually
IN YOUR FACE.

[vulpinoid]

Are you saying you don't like my site?