Hello!

I'm Jacqui, I'm new, and I'd love to hear some of your feedback. 

Chocolate Lemon is a site that was founded in 2009.  I joined the squad, in an offical sense, at the end of March 2010 and began working on a massive staffing and business plan overhaul in the beginning of April.  I'd like to have as much input as I can possible get about the site, and would greatly appreciate if you could head over to clgamer.com and let me know your thoughts.

Thanks so much ^.^

As far as a wordpress site goes your homepage layout is definitely appealing to the eyes. I checked out some of the 365 articles and they seemed somewhat plain. The Lost Planet 2 review, however, was setup nice page wise. I see you have somewhat of an affiliates section on the right "sites we like" so if you'd like to setup an affiliation (link exchange) between clgamer.com and my site phantasygaming.com head over and fill out an application on phantasygaming.

Chocolate Lemon is a funny name. It's a bit misleading as to what the website would be about since it's not the generic name. That's also good because people are more willing to check out the site.

I didn't dislike the sites design, but I feel that it could have more to it. I like the 365 articles and the fact that there are older games being reviewed. Brings back nostalgia.

Thanks for the input, guys!

I do like the design but I find it a little overcrowded, too much information right in your face. Also the featured content bar should have custom images instead of the tile effect it would look better. I think the articles should be spread out more and showing more information. People tend to read the last 5-10 articles on a site rather than the last 27 articles. You post on average 1-2 articles so I see no need to have as many on the front page.

Sometimes less is more and showing less could make more people feel less pressured into reading everything you have to offer.

Its just my opinion no offence intended.


EDIT: Would also be nice to see some personality in the articles, makes better reading 

Good Morning Jacqui,

I would probably echo Simon's comments above. I felt a little intimidated on the front page. There was just soo much going on I didn't really know where to start.

I like the reviews of old titles - brings back the early days for alot of people. Nice touch.

Another thing I just picked up on (sorry was out of milk and had to wait for my usual 5 cups of coffee) while looking about the site.

The about us:
"Chocolate Lemon demonstrates gaming through a whole new level. We're a very social bunch but we also show off some “GDLK” skills when it comes to casual and competitive gaming. We take a look at gaming culture; from professional to community tournaments, gaming nightlife, conventions, arcades, interviews, franchise and local stores, big game companies, and indie developers."

You then take a look at the category's and you see you have: anime, entertainment, irl, music and video games. The first four pretty much have nothing to do with your site's premise with what it says. IRL?! I wouldn't have known that was an acronym for In Real Life if I hadn't clicked on it then scratched my head till I noticed it at the top. You say you are a gaming site and post on gaming related topics but that's only a part of what you do.

Second of all, they are all section titles and should have a capitol letter at the beginning.

I think you should change the categories and add some more sections. You will have articles, reviews and editorials and that's just under gaming, yet you aren't pointing to them or directing people that way. You need to break it down and make it simpler so people can get to what they want. I would also follow the 3 click rule; if people cant get to it in three clicks they will lose interest and go somewhere else. You also need to be able to separate the retro-review from the new release reviews.

In one review I also see the pictures are quite big and they are taking people away from the text. I don't think they need to be so large and they just want to break up the text to make it easier to read. In newer reviews you have videos as well, is there a need for so many? Again you are diverting people away from the text.

I have also noticed that you have two review structures. One that you use for the retro-reviews and the other you're using for the newer games. They ideally need to be the same structure to keep consistency. Also of the two new reviews that I looked at (Street Fighter IV and Lost Planet 2) neither seem to stick to the same structure. At the bottom of the LP2 review you have a breakdown with a scoring of each section. At the bottom of the SFIV review you have the same breakdown without the scores. Should they not be the same? SFIV had a character breakdown that was completely irrelevant to a review. It also didn't have a video like the LP2 did. The formatting and image sizes also seem to be different too. Take a look at other sites like Eurogamer, Sarcastic Gamer, Joystiq, hell even look at my site http://www.thisismyjoystick.com and you will see that each review, each editorial all stick to the same formatting. Every staff member works of the same page, that way you don't get something that looks untidy.

I also think that the scores could divert people away from the text, the whole idea of writing is to get people to read it. Scores just make readers want to look and see what your think without finding out why you think that.

I don't want to come across as an ass, that wasn't my intention. I have tried to be as constructive as I can and justify why I have said it, feel free to message me and tell me where to get off  

EDIT: Just noticed that I can't look at articles by specific authors.

Great feedback! I wish I had the time to write something similar ;)

Lets hope the lovely Jacqui thinks so too  or I'm about to get some abuse 

Hah Simon it's as though you know me already!  I just skimmed your thoughts and greatly appreciate all the feedback.  I'm running out the door right now but will come ponder and respond later on.