My god, this new design is ugly.

[Asher]

It'll probably be a new and unique feature where Apolyton no longer has text on the screen, it's all orated by DanQ.

But he does it with a lot of annoying construction noise in the background, to match the aesthetic created by this gorgeous forum theme.

[Spaced Cowboy]

I also really don't care for black backgrounds when working/reading. We have a number of design tools that use this as a default. I generally try find a way to change it to white. (Strangely all the drafters here sit in a dark room [with black backgrounds on their design tools]). I always thought they were kind of strange.

But it seems like "black" is in ATM.

We would just like other choices, each person will want something different, as long as you cover some of the bases, you'll be fine. (Plus, with a white style, some of us can get away with browsage at work).

[Robert]

We will release new styles.

[Nikolai]

Good.

[Robert]

It'll probably be a new and unique feature where Apolyton no longer has text on the screen, it's all orated by DanQ.

But he does it with a lot of annoying construction noise in the background, to match the aesthetic created by this gorgeous forum theme.

[ColdWizard]

I actually find that I can read longer with white on black, because white background is more tiresome for my eyes after a while, because of the brightness. I have no problems either.

Gee, all of my computers have brightness controls that I can change depending on situation and need.

How do others like this forum style: http://forums.elementalgame.com/390455
Is it better? Is it worse? If it is better, is it good enough?

It is not better. It is just as bad.

Robert, it doesn't matter.

People are clamouring for a black-on-white theme. Provide it. It's the standard on the web for a reason. This whole nonsense of asking why people prefer it shows you are missing the point completely.

This site should exist to service the community, not to make a fashion statement. Your first mistake was hiring someone who doesn't frequent forums to design a forum theme. Your second mistake is dragging this out by ignoring the obvious.

What Asher said. I do not visit this site to look at the background. I come here to read text, black text on light background by preference. If such an option does not exist, there is significantly less reason for me to visit this site.

[Caligastia]

I kinda miss the old Aployton logo. It's been around so long that changing it feels a bit like changing the font for Coca-Cola. Why not just sharpen it up a bit?

Put me down as preferring black on white too.

[Dinner]

I honestly think it goes deeper than preference. It is simply difficult to read, especially who does not have 20/20 vision (though I do, and still it is difficult for me to read).
It is like saying that it is matter of personal preference that people do not want to have a website with most information displayed in font size 7pt.

The font size is way to small. Make it larger and make it black on white.

[BeBMan]

Diversity

[Hauptman]

Uhhhg. I've complained elswhere as well, so some of this may be redundant if you read that complaint.

White on black, been hashed to death already because it's true. Makes teh eyes bleed. Plz fix.

Narrow column. "Its known its easier to read, why newspapers..." Bullshxt! My eq2 guildleader used that very same excuse (is that you SJ?) and we threw lettuce at him til he fixed it.

Tiny reply window. I clicked reply to thread button and am staring at a quick reply window. Do you know horrible it would be to attempt an AAR in a quick reply window. My god kill me now.

Non fluid scrolling. scrolling via mouse wheel looks like im refreshing at 3hz. I can see a wave of refresh moving down my screen. painfully slow and negates the ability to read short replies as i slowly scroll down. Possibly due to all the clutter.

Clutter. see above.

And my number one pet peave. Give me the "Forums - Civilization - General" Buttons at the bottom of the thread. I HATE SCROLLING BACK TO THE TOP ON EVERY THREAD!!!!!!!11!1ONEELEVEN11!!

[Robert]

@Hauptman, there's a wide style, you can change it in your settings.

[Fve Crathva]

There's a little icon to the the top-right corner of the quick reply box that lets you change its size. It looks like arrow heads pointing up and down, next to the A/A icon. Click the down arrows to increase the box size.

SP

[Asher]

Uhhhg. I've complained elswhere as well, so some of this may be redundant if you read that complaint.

White on black, been hashed to death already because it's true. Makes teh eyes bleed. Plz fix.

Narrow column. "Its known its easier to read, why newspapers..." Bullshxt! My eq2 guildleader used that very same excuse (is that you SJ?) and we threw lettuce at him til he fixed it.

Tiny reply window. I clicked reply to thread button and am staring at a quick reply window. Do you know horrible it would be to attempt an AAR in a quick reply window. My god kill me now.

Non fluid scrolling. scrolling via mouse wheel looks like im refreshing at 3hz. I can see a wave of refresh moving down my screen. painfully slow and negates the ability to read short replies as i slowly scroll down. Possibly due to all the clutter.

Clutter. see above.

And my number one pet peave. Give me the "Forums - Civilization - General" Buttons at the bottom of the thread. I HATE SCROLLING BACK TO THE TOP ON EVERY THREAD!!!!!!!11!1ONEELEVEN11!!

Very few browsers can handle scrolling over fixed elements (the background image) with good performance. Google Chrome and Firefox 4 beta do.

It was a very poor choice of a design.

[Catfish]

It'll probably be a new and unique feature where Apolyton no longer has text on the screen, it's all orated by DanQ.

@Hauptman, there's a wide style, you can change it in your settings.

It's clear from all the feedback threads that the majority of people prefer dark text on light backgrounds, no background images and wide columns. Make it the default style and be done with it. Then you can move on to the important stuff like getting downloads and links databases up and running, and fixing thread attachments. You've already got people asking for missing files over at CFC.

[Wiglaf]

On the Kindle for iPad app I like reading white text on a dark background. I own three different iPads.