I concur! If you notice, the StarMade news (Tab at the top) is technically not on the same website as the forums. I found the news easier to follow on the old site, it was in one place, and I saw if there was new news on the homepage whenever I visited. But here, if I want to see the news, I have to remember and then go to the news page, and then discover (most of the time) that there is nothing new. I used to watch carefully, and know within minutes of hanging out on the site if there was a news update, now I just try to remember to check every so often.
While I think most of the design of the new site is an improvement, I think the news is not. I agree that I would like it more unified, but even more so I want it to be easy to access. I want to know if there is a new news post, and I want it to be quick and easy process. I also cannot comment on the StarMade news (the tab again) unless I log in with another site? I want to use this account for my StarMade stuff, nothing else, and I'm not going to go through the process of logging in with yet another site just so I can post a comment. It's not worth it to me.
As I'm majoring in Graphic design in school, I know that it is a goal to make things easy to access, simple, beautiful, and functional when designing. Part of the goal of typography (setting and designing type) is to make it so readers, if possible, don't have to read. If type is well designed you've read it before knowing you read it. It's effortless. So while I may be nitpicking, it stands out to me as so much more seems well designed and is becoming easier to use by the day. If I had some way of knowing when there was a new news post, or it was someplace where I always look (The community members are on the forums the most I believe, and while other pages may be visited, I feel the forums and chat are hang-out type locations where people spend more of their time. Especially where regular members spend most of their time.)
I apologize for the rant, but it was something that nagging at me in the back of my mind. I feel this site is a great improvement from the previous one, and I feel like once the chat is finished, and if this issue were in some way resolved then it would be golden, finished, as near to perfection as I could hope for. These are all my personal opinions of course, and I don't wish to be too harsh on the people who have put so much of their time, effort, and wonderful ideas into making this site the wonderful place that it is!
TL;DR I agree, I wish the news was less "all over the place" and a more solid source where I could know more quickly what was going on. I also wish for the news in the news tab to be somehow more accessible, or let me know when something came up. I'm on the forums every day, I've noticed people agreeing how addictive these forums are, and I think if many people spend most of their time on the forums/chat while on site that the news should be most visible or easy to access from the place where most people look anyway. The News tab news issue got to me first as a learning graphic designer: just because it means I have to make new habits, check where I otherwise wouldn't, and then usually I'm not rewarded with new information - while before it felt effortless. (at least to me!)
