Forum - Space Odyssey MMORPG - a massive free online space game

Ill try to write some of my suggestions here.
Technical
1. Main font. Its not defined :) Browser will use default ugly times new roman. Maybe add some almost invisible gradient to default tables.
Here id screenshot, i added gradient in that cell market red, and changed font to arial.
(http://i7.tinypic.com/21bvvp2.png)
2. "Remember me" misconcept. It should login user automatically, not remember password (actully hash of pass) in form - its browser functionality.
Another login issue. Usually sessions last until you close browser, unless its online bank. Its annoying to login every 30 (?) minutes of inactivity.
3. Maybe some AJAX in spaceo. It allow partial page loading, just as post preview button.
Lets imagine weapon designing. Instead of loading next page, after clicking view desing, weapon parameters pop below form. You dont have to hit back button to tweak more, just enter different values, and click...
(http://i7.tinypic.com/21bw2ag.png)
*click* And system cost appears. There are lot of places where it could be used, in example in galaxy travel, instead of popup.
(http://img136.imageshack.us/img136/1606/weap2mu8.png) (http://imageshack.us)

One thing to consider is AJAX libraries witch weight some kbytes, but they are downloaded once, and then save bandwith and server time all the time. Or make systems calculation completeley client side.
4. Allow dots in auction bids, stash etc. inputs (remove them on server side).

Gameplay
1. Encounters while traveling.
When a lot of ppl are doing galaxy encounters, if you have no luck, you might just waste turns for searching encounters, and get none.
Maybe add random generated encounter while performing jump to next planet in galaxy. It should be generated only for current player, and disspear if left behind.
I lost lot turns in previous round just to travel around empty galaxy.
2. Well i dont remember :sweat

The auto-timeout is there just in case you forget to close out of your browser, or something really urgent comes up while you're making a PBnJ sam'ich and you don't have time to rush to the computer. In those cases, someone can't just come up to your computer and mess with your stuff.

I know, but its good for some public computer, not my home one, where anyway i check "remember me" and anyone who can access my pc can access space oddysey :19:. Its normal behaviour of web applications, that if you want be permanently loged, it silently login you (using random hash (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hash_function), or password + secred phrase hash etc.), just like forum you read now, your gmail account and many others.
And if someone asks, there is no sensitive information (login/password) stored in your autologin cookie, keyspace to break hash is 2^128, but in well designed web app even if you somehow break it, you will get only some random characters :))

I say keep the auto-timeout for people who don't check the "Remember Me" option. Other than that, ya, it doesn't really serve a purpose.

eh except to stop server from being overloaded and slowed down, if i didnt get times out odds are  iowld be logged on 24 hours a day lol...

Just sitting there shouldn't really put much strain on the server.

Anyways, I strongly agree with changing the fonts to arial. It's a lot more convenient and easier to read than that awful Times New Roman. It's especially hard to read when you're usin' large resolutions like 1280x1024, or worse, 1600x1200, *shudders*.

Hellsword, but if you get timeout you login again, right? :19:
It does not increase server load, it could be implemented by changing few lines of code.
About font. Its not defined. It means, that if you browser allow seting default font, you can change it.
In opera 9 its in preferences -> Web pages
In firefox Options -> Content
In IE - who use that ****? :P

I'll tell you right now, IE7 is worth more than you give credit for. Don't go insulting it without giving it a reason.

Is IE7 the new one or it is IE8.

IE7 is the new one. It's currently in Beta 3 and a major improvement over IE6, the old one.

Yeah, i hope ie7 will make life easier. I heard it will be more consistent with css and will support alpha channel in png :)
Unfortunatelly i cant install it, and for now ie 7 is small fraction of browsers, like 0.3-0.7%, according to my own stats.
But im complaining about previous versions, specially ie5, witch fortunatelly is no longer popular.
Here is some ie 5/6 bugs http://www.positioniseverything.net/explorer.html from witch you might get headache when designing complex css rules. Ie 5 css support is very limited, its way better in ie 6.
But much worse for  me lack of alpha support in png. Here is some example how nice it could be, but not in ie http://themes.wordpress.net/testrun/?wptheme=701
Sorry for mistakes, but i need sleep :yawn:

Okay, I went to that site, and I've attached pics of the only two bugs out of them I've found that show up in IE7 (Beta 3).

And I tried that second link. I compared with what I got with Firefox and I couldn't tell the difference. Here's a screenshot of the IE7 (Beta 3) version.

(http://img145.imageshack.us/img145/4520/pngscreenyew2.th.jpg) (http://img145.imageshack.us/my.php?image=pngscreenyew2.jpg)