Orichalcos Duel Academy


Graphics and Layout

Banner (Score: 8/10)
The banner is above average, good but not exceptional. The background image with the 3 monsters is good, but the text font is arguably unoriginal. The font looks very standard and uninspiring, looking like something you'll find in a lame Word document or Powerpoint. Try something exotic and new, a design that shows off creativity and introduces something unique to your members.

Navigation Bar (Score: 5/5)
The navigation bar is good, very clean-looking and matches your forum background well. The subtle shading on the button backgrounds is superb and adds an important sense of depth. I also like the font used for these buttons . Your "new PM" button is questionable though, as the continuous flashing verges on being annoying. I'd try for a calmer flash, at the most 2 flashes per second. Any more than that and you're going to give an epileptic a seizure. A suggestion I have for you is maybe look into rounding the corners of the "Forum" and "Login/Logout" buttons as this may enhance the sleek appearance, though this comes down more to personal preference.

Post & Forum Icons (Score: 2/5)
I'm not really feeling the post and forum icons. I think it's the color of the buttons which is too blue sticks out like a sore thumb. More importantly, it doesn't relate to your forum theme nor do they fit in with the rest of the buttons around the forum. I would go for a dark themed button color here, perhaps a nice dark blue, gray, or light black. Kudos to you if you can also incorporate Yu-Gi-Oh themes into the buttons - this will really help develop a sense of "theme." The rest of the forum icons are fairly decent though, they fit in with the theme appropriately.

Background (Score: 1/5)
Unfortunately, I'm going to dock points here for the solid back background. There are so many things and options you could do with a background that truly affects and changes the entire "feel" of a forum. The background plays a critical role in establishing the mood of the board.
My personal recommendation would be a cool landscape background, such as this or maybe this. I'm just quickly listing images I find off of Google, but I hope you get the idea and go in this direction
Alternatively, even if you like the black background, you could still add some creative touches to it. Perhaps add some subtle patterns or textures into the black. Have fun with the background! Your members will too.

Other Forum Images (Score: 3/5)
The "Who is Online" image is good. I can't really remember what the image inside of it represents, but if I remember correctly, it had something to do with summoning (long time since I played this game ). Nice touch here.
However, the staff ranks rather stick out and don't really fit in with the forum theme. I'd highly recommend finding new ones. Yu-Gi-Oh themed ranks would be best, and dark blue, black, or gray colors would be optimal.

Theme (Score: 6/10)
Scrolling down the forum threads, I feel there are way too many seas of black. I feel like you could really work with improving the theme. The points I've mentioned previously will greatly help with this.

Forum/Category Layout & Organization (Score: 6/10)
Your forum/category layout is good! I like how the majority of forum sections all had new content posted the same day. This is very important: every forum section should have new content daily. However, I think the forum index organization can be improved. For one, you are using 3 columns, with the forum index in the middle. This gives a cluttered and disorganized feel. I highly recommend using only 2 columns, one column in the middle for the forum and one on the side for widgets. Do not add 2 widget columns, this is highly unsightly and takes away from the user's forum experience.
Also, I'm feeling that the chatbox should be moved to the bottom of the forum index. As of now, the chatbox is just a big ugly blob of blackness that sits at the top of your board that makes it annoying for anyone scrolling down the main page. In fact, from a personal members' perspective, I automatically assume any site with a chatbox at the top as "noob" and often leave after a short browse, never to return again. Yup, it's that bad. If you take anything from this review, please remember this.
Finally, I'm looking at the Portal, and to be put it bluntly, it's horrible. Again, I'd recommend reducing the widget columns down to 2, as this adds more of a modern look. The profile widget sits at the top of the entire portal, looking hideously out of place. I don't know what the heck the navigation widget is doing right below it as you already have a NavBar. And to make things worse, I see the same widget again on the right-side widget column. As for the rest of the portal, there's just way too much text and clutter. And you're pretty much just repeating the same information from the forum index page, there's nothing new. Thus, I highly suggest you simply remove the Portal page altogether. You obviously already have the forum index as the homepage, so a Portal page that reiterates info serves no purpose whatsoever.
Despite these two small setbacks, don't fear, they can be quickly resolved. The rest of your board's organization is commendable  



Score: 31/50


Special Features & Originality

Widgets (Score: 3.5/5)
I feel that you have room for adding some more widgets! Widgets are an important factor in enhancing a site's theme and content. Widgets can also drastically change the feel of a board. Adding more pictures will definitely enhance a forum's image. Just thinking off the top of my head, maybe add more to your "Card of the Week" widget by including spell cards, trap cards, and monster cards. Maybe you could also add tips of the month. The purpose of widgets is to add convenience and interesting content, so keep that in mind.

Notable/Unique Design & Coding Features (Score: 3/10)
Besides the chatbox, I see little else. Lame! phpBB2 gives you the option to manipulate templates so put that to good use! Go and seek some tutorials; you'll be able to add new features to your board that will bring delight to your users. More importantly, it sets your forum apart from competing boards and allows you to dominate the competition, allowing your board to expand and grow.

Design & Coding Extras (Score: 0/5)
Really, I did not see anything here. Thus I won't go into depth. Work on the previous things I've mentioned earlier in this review. Once you've gotten those things down (which are more important), start focusing on design extras.


Score: 6.5/20


Generalities & Activity

Member activity (Score: 8/10)
You have a good amount of daily users online and active at one time. However, with 293 members at the time of this writing, the 11942 post count is rather paltry.

Staff activity (Score: 10/10)
Good. I see most staff have been active within the past few days. Nothing much to say here; passed with flying colors.

Usergroups (Score: 5/5)
Good amount of usergroups. Rather leaning on too many, but I see quite a few are related Clans and such so I will leave that part out of the review.


Score: 23/25


Note: I didn't give you a total score on this because I've noticed that the current maximum amount of points earn-able right now do not add up to 100.  I've given you a letter grade instead.