DISC: 2Advanced.com - 2A Version 5 Attractor

[leoboy4040]

've shown this site to some of my clients, none of them understood the navi, none of them thought, that this is an agency site, all of them thought, it's a new video game, ok but one, he thought it is a science fiction movie .

I think attractor is too technoid, too confusing, but brilliant by any technical mean.

Maybe 2a are allowed to release such a site, most of us, are not.

I agree with HANDRU - to be practical, what he mentioned is trure.

Are we doing these things to our clients ?

Even if we do..they are not that much professional to admire it!

[villain2]

For what 2Advanced does, which is make visually stunning applications, this does what it needs to do. Their whole goal is to go "hey, we can make this really amazing stuff" and for clients to look at their site and go "they can make some pretty amazing, wild stuff".

If their client base was financial corporations, this would absolutely suck. But since their clients tend to be more entertainment oriented (or even corps that want some sort of stylistic application), this is impressive.

I wouldn't want to hire a company to do a dynamic visual presentation when their website is a plan white background with black text and a few images here and there.

[moot]

Wow. 2Advanced has jumped the shark.

Looks like's a college student's 3D artwork project behind a 2Advanced site. The artwork is so hacky and meaningless.

All the content is then crammed down in bottom with seemingly no design at all.

The navigation is horrible. Destinations? Secondary? Tertiary? You kidding? Tertiary? lol And the layout? Alpha boxes with nothing in them is the navigation? Even after you digest tertiary and start clicking it takes multiple clicks to reach your goal and along the way you're forced to endure more lame imagery.

Attractor doesn't deliver anything. It's weak and definitely not a leader or inspiring in any department.

...bummer

[Trippin13]

hey moot you got a point there ... but show us something inspiring which fulfils your criteria I'd love to see some stuff

cheers

[villain2]

Wow. 2Advanced has jumped the shark.

Looks like's a college student's 3D artwork project behind a 2Advanced site. The artwork is so hacky and meaningless.

All the content is then crammed down in bottom with seemingly no design at all.

The navigation is horrible. Destinations? Secondary? Tertiary? You kidding? Tertiary? lol And the layout? Alpha boxes with nothing in them is the navigation? Even after you digest tertiary and start clicking it takes multiple clicks to reach your goal and along the way you're forced to endure more lame imagery.

Attractor doesn't deliver anything. It's weak and definitely not a leader or inspiring in any department.

...bummer

Tertiary ... yes, I like the fact that someone in 2A actually has a vocabulary beside "Home" "Back" "Next". They can do that with this site.

I don't know where you got lame imagery from, and I believe it does apply to 2A since they're in the business of making visual imagery, not just laying out boxes on a web page. "Lame" is hardly what I'd call those matte paintings by Eric Jordan.

Attractor delivers a new style of website instead of rehashing the old standards. However, I'd love to see your examples of inspiration and ... even better ... your own work

[admedia]

Since this got bumped I am feeling somewhat nostalgic and wish to pay my homage to 2A and the inspiration they have provided me.

The simple fact of the matter is with V3 they raised the standard for all of us.

I give them credit for continuing to innovate and press forward. While perhaps not as mind-blowing as v3 for it's time, this site shows innovative techniques such as deep linking, browser back button acknowledgment and I am assuming from the layout and structure that this site is largely XML driven.... there is a TON of content here to look at and it's beautiful to boot IMO.

I hope 2A continues to prosper and inspire.

[gparis]

However, I'd love to see your examples of inspiration and ... even better ... your own work

i never thought this was a good argument. as opposed to your other points.

gparis

[zakp0]

i never thought this was a good argument. as opposed to your other points.

gparis

Wow, to what do we owe the appearance of the mighty gparis in our humble little forum?

[villain2]

i never thought this was a good argument. as opposed to your other points.

gparis

I can see why now after looking at your linked site (mine is down right now btw, unfortunately) ... your site is in the same design realm as 2A's older stuff.

[moot]

I know you're hoping I'm some 2A hater but just the opposite. I loved the original 2As design. Go back through my posts and you'll find tons of endless love for 2A, their design skills, and what they've done for the industry. I still think 2A and Fantasy Interactive have the best portfolios.

My point, and problem, with the 3D is that it's not current or meaningful. Yes, I have high expectations for 2A. I'm a lifelong artist and Joe Discoverer getting out of that cliche rowboat on that cliche water discovering magic land of pyramids is what you'll find most artist doing when they're learning 3D.

I understand that all the design changes are happening behind the scenes. I wasn't expecting any revolution visually but I was expecting more than a bad full-browser backgrounds.

[gparis]

I can see why now after looking at your linked site (mine is down right now btw, unfortunately) ... your site is in the same design realm as 2A's older stuff.

yes, at that moment (around 4 years ago) i was
My comment was more about the fact that your first points were valid (tertiary - why not - changes from back/next/home, etc. totally agree on that).
But i disliked the little attack on Moot (wanting to see his own work - semi-assuming it's bad... etc.) I've seen people do that in this forum when they get shocked or angry, and i don't think it elevates the debate.

gparis

[villain2]

yes, at that moment (around 4 years ago) i was
My comment was more about the fact that your first points were valid (tertiary - why not - changes from back/next/home, etc. totally agree on that).
But i disliked the little attack on Moot (wanting to see his own work - semi-assuming it's bad... etc.) I've seen people do that in this forum when they get shocked or angry, and i don't think it elevates the debate.

gparis

Quite the contrary. I want to see someone back up what they say with an example. Doesn't even have to be their own work, just a site they think does something better than the one they're bashing. Or give some ideas ... something ...

Critique comes with examples or suggestions on how something is done better - not just ripping apart everything someone did because you can. Slamming something and yet having no ideas, examples, suggestions or work of your own that says "this is how it could be done better" ... is just b!tching.

It's part of my problem with the culture of debate these days: certain people can say whatever they want about someone/something else ... unfounded or not (especially when who they're slamming is a 'bigger entity') ... but if someone else comes along and asks "well, what would you do to make it better?", someone will tell you that's not fair to ask that.

I seek credibility when someone is so ardently attacking something. Tell me what is better. Show me what is better. Could YOU do it better ... because if they couldn't when given the chance, I'm not sure how valid their argument can be ... again, it's just whining with no credibility.

[moot]

Quite the contrary. I want to see someone back up what they say with an example. Doesn't even have to be their own work, just a site they think does something better than the one they're bashing. Or give some ideas ... something ...
....
I seek credibility when someone is so ardently attacking something. Tell me what is better. Show me what is better. Could YOU do it better ... because if they couldn't when given the chance, I'm not sure how valid their argument can be ... again, it's just whining with no credibility.

Wow, a little self-important there? Exactly who are you again? Are you saying that we all have to give credentials to villin before we dare post a critique, or just me?

And please, only person here whining is you. " ...Tell me what is better ""...Show me what is better." You're not even discussing the design decisions. You're just loitering around whining about the posters.

[villain2]

Wow, a little self-important there? Exactly who are you again? Are you saying that we all have to give credentials to villin before we dare post a critique, or just me?

And please, only person here whining is you. " ...Tell me what is better ""...Show me what is better." You're not even discussing the design decisions. You're just loitering around whining about the posters.

And here we have the textbook response to being challenged: call the other person arrogant because how DARE they actually ask for you to back up what you say. It's amazing to me how people who trash something get all indignint when someone says "can you back that up?". Well, let me give you an example of backing up what you say:

First of, spell the tag right, it's villain, not villin.

Who am I? I'm someone who doesn't go around trashing other work if I either don't know how to do it better or haven't done it better myself. I am a web designer who has respect for the accomplishments of 2A, and since they've done more than I have (so far) with the technology, and have proven to be tops in the field, I'm not going to totally trash what they do WITHOUT saying why it's a bad idea and they should have done it this way or that way.

What I'm saying is that if you're going to trash (note: what you wrote was not a critique) someone else's work, then it carries more weight if you can back it up with "they should have done x, y and z" or "this is what I did and I think it works better".

And yes, I am complaining about trashing work, because it's not a critique, it's whining ... and often comes from a place that's not so honest (ie. biased against the subject). I find it hard to believe that you HONESTLY found ZERO positives to write about the site.

But perhaps this is because the word "critique" has been bastardized ... it's no longer a neutral word, it's now seen as negative. There is a difference between a "critique" and "bashing".

A "critique" will have reasons why aspects of the work are bad, and why aspects are good ... one may outweight the other depending on the critique but there is a REASON for it.

A "bashing" is just a listing of negatives slung with no follow up on why it's bad or how to improve it ... it's just all bad.

But, perhaps in these days, it'd be better to EVALUATE than CRITIQUE since critique implies a negative.
http://webster.com/dictionary/criticizing

*
Usage Note: Critique has been used as a verb meaning "to review or discuss critically" since the 18th century, but lately this usage has gained much wider currency, in part because the verb criticize, once neutral between praise and censure, is now mainly used in a negative sense. But this use of critique is still regarded by many as pretentious jargon, although resistance appears to be weakening. In our 1997 ballot, 41 percent of the Usage Panel rejected the sentence As mock inquisitors grill him, top aides take notes and critique the answers with the President afterward. Ten years earlier, 69 percent disapproved of this same sentence. Resistance is still high when a person is critiqued: 60 percent of the Usage Panel rejects its use in the sentence Students are taught how to do a business plan and then are critiqued on it. Thus, it may be preferable to avoid this word. There is no exact synonym, but in most contexts one can usually substitute go over, review, or analyze.·Note, however, that critique is widely accepted as a noun in a neutral context; 86 percent of the Panel approved of its use in the sentence The committee gave the report a thorough critique and found it both informed and intelligent.

Now guess which - critique or trashing - is more valid to the fair minded?

[moot]

Woah, little wound up there?

Take a deep breath, try to clear your head, and think about it....This is cool sites forum. I posted what I thought about a "cool site."

You come to the cool sites forum and post your thoughts on another member. Can't you don't see how lame that is? Are you that desperate for attention? Do you need a hug?

And thanks soooo much for the high-school semantics rant. Quoting from a dictionary? looool ...did that work in chess club or something?

It's time for you to move to a social forum where you can get the weird attention you so desperately desire. We'd like to talk about 2A here.

[MagnusVS]

Calm down both of you! If you should reply to villain2, you should answer his points of view instead of attacking him as a person.

[villain2]

Calm down both of you! If you should reply to villain2, you should answer his points of view instead of attacking him as a person.

Exactly, but that's what I expected. Certain people these days can't debate point-to-point with someone, so they reduce the discourse to:
trivializing research and facts
making sarcastic jokes
attacking someone on claims of ego that aren't there

Perhaps some people should try reading source materials like a dictionary from time to time so they know what they're talking about. The rationale on the other side though is that we don't have to know what we're talking about, just talk, and it's valid.

Anyway, I made my point, and the fair minded can decide.

As for "Attractor", the site isn't 100% bad. That's just ridiculous. The navigation is slick but a bit cumbersome for those who aren't familiar with the web ... then again, this site isn't for those people. If you're going to hire 2A to do a job, you have a working understanding of websites.

The only thing I don't like about the site is the "most recent materials" panel at the bottom right does not have a mini-menu to scroll through or stop the animation as it switches from project to project.

The matte paintings are spectacular and show off the digital art side of 2A ... again, it's a portfolio site so it's appropriate and rather well done. The panels are cleverly designed with small nuances that the more attentive viewer will notice.

In the end, it's not as ground-breaking or trend-setting as v3 (I don't think that will happen again for a long time), but it is a step forward in back-end flash technology AND the visual style and presentation.

[moot]

You're still talking about me?

Dictionaries? lool Let's hear your specific point. I'd love to hear what word definition you're talking about and what your issue is. You're right, whatever to websites, give us a lesson from your dictionary.


...It's so amusing when people try to get condescending on here.

[villain2]

As previously stated:
**************
Certain people these days can't debate point-to-point with someone, so they reduce the discourse to:
attacking someone on claims of ego that aren't there
**************

You're still talking about me?

**************
trivializing research and facts
**************

Dictionaries? lool Let's hear your specific point. I'd love to hear what word definition you're talking about and what your issue is.

**************
making sarcastic jokes
**************

You're right, whatever to websites, give us a lesson from your dictionary.

**************
attacking someone on claims of ego that aren't there
**************

...It's so amusing when people try to get condescending on here.

----------------

You make my case for me. Can we get back to Attractor now?

[MagnusVS]

Actually, I didn't knew that people could start such heated discussions in the cool sites forum...