FanSite Reviews on TF.N

thank you so much for the feedback! I wasn't really expecting to get reviewed I'll take what you said into consideration. I really do need to revamp my site and make it have somewhat of a point thanks again!

 

Here are this weeks reviewed sites. Send me your sites to be reviewed!

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4. Fan Site Reviews
Edited by Peter Michaelson
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Name: The Unofficial Clone Wars Site

URL: http://www.starwarz.com/clonewarseu/

My Description: The Should-Be-Official Clone Wars Site

First Impression: To quote Neo: "Whoa."

Content: It doesn't get much better than this as far as fansites
go; TUCWS has got it going on. From intelligently written essays
to great and in-depth interviews, this site has just about
anything you could want or need to sate your Clone War cravings.

There was some stuff that was still being updated on the site,
including chunks of the database and the timeline, but these
things will undoubtedly be added as we learn more about the
events of the Clone Wars. The site's community is very active;
their forum having nearly a thousand members with several very
active topics of discussion.

Maintenance/Updates: The site is beautiful. It looks nice and is
easy to navigate, with no broken links or missing menu items to
be found. The site appears to updated quite frequently, with new
and major content being added consistently. My only complaint
was that the menu was a little too small which made it slightly
difficult to click on the link you wanted.

Who Would Like It: Prequel and Expanded Universe fans.

Final Thought: Fan sites don't get much better than this. This
site already looks to be pretty popular, and with time will
probably rival some of the biggest fan sites out there.

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Name: Bad Motivator

URL: http://r5d4.dirtyrubbish.com/

My Description: The Should-Be-Official R5-D4 Site

First Impression: I had no idea there was so much love for the
little red droid.

Content: So much on the history (and future) of one seemingly
insignificant member of the Star Wars universe. I hadn't ever
heard of much of the stories and such that were posted here, so
it was not only fun, it was educational. Lots of high-quality
images combined with a nice layout make this a great site to peruse.

One particularly nice touch was the posting of scans from the
Star Wars: Tales story 'Skippy the Force Droid', which I had
never had the pleasure of reading before now.

Maintenance/Updates: Site was easy to navigate without any
notable problems. I appreciated the large, persistent menu
particularly. Updated seem to occur as new R5-D4 content
becomes available. Help the webmaster spot the disguised
R5-D4 in the upcoming Episode III!

Who Would Like It: R5-D4 fans and fans of the Expanded Universe.

Final Thought: Bad Motivator is a fun site with a refreshingly
simple yet endearing character at it's center. It's truly amazing
how much history and thought can be put into the simplest of
characters and moments from the films. Great site; great theme.

 

Thankyou very much for reveiwng Bad Motivator. I certainly wasn't expecting to see that as I through the News Letter!

You've just made my day, thanks again.

 

Just a notice that "Lord Makro's STAR WARS modeling page" that was reviewed last week has been moved to
http://users.otenet.gr/~makzax/models

 

I'm glad you're all enjoying the reviews. Please remember: if you want your site to be reviewed, PM it to me so that I can get it into the next week's reviews!

Here are this week's reviews.

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5. Fan Site Reviews
Edited by Peter Michaelson
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Name: Nerf-Herders Anonymous

URL: http://www.nerf-herders-anonymous.net

My Description: The one-stop shop for all your Star Wars
reference needs.

First Impression: Simple and nice layout. I liked the no-
nonsense feel of the site; you know what you're here for,
so why keep you from the content by bogging down the front
page with a lot of other stuff?

Content: N-HA most definitely is what it set out to be: a
complete database of Star Wars references in pop-culture
and a Star Wars actor database. Never before have I seen
such a complete collection of references to the galaxy far,
far away. From TV, movies, books, magazines, and more,
N-HA is where to go find out how many Star Wars alums have
guest-starred on the Simpsons.

The actor database is also quite impressive. I was surprised
at the depth of some of the reviews; I wish that IMDB.com
was as in-depth as some of these.

The webmaster has also posted her own fan-art collection on
the site. Some talented work here.

Maintenance/Updates: The site appears to be updated quite
frequently, as the webmaster and fans of the site send in
updates and new-found SW references in various materials
from all over the world. The site featured no bad links,
and every page was easy to navigate and read.

Who Would Like It: Any Star Wars/pop culture fan.

Final Thoughts: This site was obviously a very time-consuming
and difficult database to amass. Even with the help of observant
fans, there's so much here that it's clearly a labor of love.

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Name: Docking Bay 101

URL: http://www.dockingbay101.com

My Description: The Star Wars audiophile's dream come true.

First Impression: Easy to navigate, easy to read. I love a
good collection of sounds from TV and movies, so I was
excited to see what DB101 had to offer.

Content: DB101 has a lot more to offer than just sounds,
but these make up the bulk of the site's content. There is
a little bit of everything else that you'd expect to find
on a SW fansite, from pics to fan-fic to a forum.

The sound collection is mostly made up of quotes from the
movies. Various lines are recorded and available for download
from all the movies to date. I was hoping for more actual
'sounds', like laser-blasts and lightsaber swishes, but the
quotes were a great resource too. After all, everyone should
have "Let's blow this thing and go home" as their exit sound
in Windows.

I was a little discouraged at first that some of the stuff
on the site that appears to be original are actually just
links to other sites, but DB101 never pretends to own or
have created any of this content, so I came to see many of
the links as a convenient one-stop for interesting links
to sites you may not be aware of.

Maintenance/Updates: DB101 is well-maintained, with no issues
navigating or getting files at all that I could find. Updates
are random but fairly frequent. I expect that there will be
a large update as soon as sound clips from Episode III become
available.

Who Would Like It: Star Wars audio fans.

Final Thoughts: Docking Bay 101 is an interesting site with a
fun collection of sound bites. There's not an incredible amount
of content here, but the sound archive alone is worth taking a
look.

 

JediStryker- Thank you so much for the positive review of our site! It was great reading it!

 

Glad you liked it.

I am going to be going to 1 review a week as I get ready to move back to the States after three years in Iceland. For a few weeks in December, I will have to stop altogether as I will not have internet access. But please keep sending me your sites; I promise that I will get to them all as soon as I get back into the swing of things.

JS

 

JS, I want to thank you for reviewing my site. I was a bit nervous about the simplicity of it's overall look, since I don't know lick about code, until I got some positive thoughts on it's refreshing "spartan" style.

I'd like to mention that you, Jedi Stryker, and the fellas at SWD (Star Wars en Direct) were quite a boost for me, you all made me feel my efforts were appreciated. The site was a tremendous amount of work, the tidbits now flowing are much easier to update now that the bulk has been completed.
I guess it IS possible to balance, career (illustrator), motherhood, and fandom
I'll be back to check out the list of sites to be reviewed
Thanks again

P.S. - Oh, in case anyone is interested Star Wars en Direct will be doing a show on Star Wars references in the near future (they were inspired by my site), keep your eyes peeled for the show.

PL

 

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5. Fan Site Reviews
Edited by Peter Michaelson
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Name: Villa Galaxia: Home of the Tarkins, an Imperial Family

URL: http://www.geocities.com/giaoctavia/

First Impression: Way to go with the small clip at the beginning
of the site. Great introduction.

Content: Cool, my first Tarkin fansite. But don't be fooled; this
isn't any Tarkin fansite. This is the Tarkin Family page, where
all the official (and unofficial!) members of this Imperial family
are laid bare for all to see.

The webmaster has crafted a very interesting family circle around
the infamous Grand Moff who perished at the Battle of Yavin.
Borrowing from A New Hope and various Expanded Universe sources,
they introduce their own creations and write very nicely told
stories from their lives.

This is fanfic at it's greatest, intertwining interesting stories
and characters into the well-established universe with skill and
finesse. The images of the Grand Moff and a few of his fictional
family members are great. I especially liked the one of Tarking
"off duty, reflecting the days events". Great stuff.

Maintenance/Updates: The site appears to be updated as the
webmaster creates new content. I imagine that when Episode III
comes out there will be some major updates to characters and
stories.

The site was a little difficult to navigate as it has no real menu
and scrolls down quite a ways, but there are no bad links that I
could find and it's fairly easy to read.

Who Would Like It: Tarkin and fan-fic fans.

Final Thought: Villa Galaxia is a very fun and original site, with
a lot of interesting content. The webmaster has a lot of heart and
poured it into this site, which makes it all that much more appealing.

 

Hey all,

I'm back. Moved to San Antonio from Iceland, and all went well. Don't have any of my furniture, but I got my DSL and wireless network setup with my laptop so I am going to start writing reviews again. Please feel free to start sending me your sites for review in the TF.N newsletter.

Thanks!

Stryker

 

JediStryker, I sent you my site in PM.

Let me know how it goes, thanks alot!

 

Stryker, hey...you got the most important things hehehe

Can't wait to read more reviews.

Princess-Leah

 

JediStryker, are your reviews available on a URL?
It would be nice for us to put a link from our sites to your review of it...

 

Hey all.

First off, let me apologize for not getting back to you all sooner. I have been...busy. I haven't really been checking my email lately, and I've been very focused on my work and own website.

I will get some reviews done and submitted for the newsletter for next week. Thanks to those of you who've been PMing me with your URLs...I promise that I haven't forgotten you!

-Stryker