Re: [OT] What makes a good miniatures web site

>What I want to know is:
>1. what do you lot like about some existing miniatures pages?
Pictures.

>2. what do you hate?

o  Pages and pages of package numbers and undifferentiable descriptions,
   with no image links. (E.g., M1001 Trooper with rifle,
   M1002 Trooper with rifle, M1003, Trooper with carbine, etc.)
o  Animations. These are static miniatures; don't waste my bandwidth
   with Flash and other garbage. (If you really need to vary things,
   randomize some of your "background color" images when the page
   is loaded.)
o  Lack of cross-indexing.
o  "Artist's drawings" of figures instead of photos of the figures.
   (Drawings are great if they represent upcoming products that are
   not yet available.)

>3. what should it contain?

Pictures.
Prices in US dollars.
Indices
Pictures.

>4. what features would you like to see?

o  Pictures. I'd prefer that figures be at least washed with
   black to bring out the detail, but primer white + black wash
   would be even better. Fully-painted figures are nice, but
   I want to see the detail *before* they are painted.
o  Something to indicate scale. (I've started putting a scale
   along one edge of my miniature pictures for my gallery.
   I haven't had a chance to post the new pictures yet, but
   email me directly and I'll send you a couple.)
o  Cross-indexes and keyword search. (You did say "like to see.")
      A power-armor trooper with GL in 25mm should show up if I look
   for SF, Sci-Fi, Future, 25mm, power armor, grenade launcher, etc.
   A 6mm hover tank should show up under SF, Sci-Fi, Future, 6mm,
   hover, GEV, tank, etc. (FWIW, this doesn't mean you have to
   duplicate entries on multiple pages. Tag the images (or their
   individual pages) with keywords, and generate the indices with
   a script. Feel free to contact me directly if you have questions
   about this approach.)
      Conversely, if I search for "6mm hover tank", I would expect
   to see all the minis that could be interpreted as hover tanks.

>
>I know we have discussed being able to see the miniatures before buying
>but there must be other points.

But none as important.

- Sam
____________________________________________________________
Samuel Reynolds
Armageddon Outfitter: http://spinwardstars.com/ao/
Full Thrust at Spinward Stars: http://spinwardstars.com/ft/
Gamer's Gallery at Spinward Stars: http://spinwardstars.com/ggallery/
sam@spinwardstars.com, samuel_reynolds@csgsystems.com