Okay, the comments in previous threads got my mind running and I've just spent the last couple of hours or so on what may be the start of a new design of the current site that keeps the current content but provides reviews with a more prominent focus throughout the site. I believe that this design implements a lot of the feedback that some of you have provided.

To give you a general idea of where I'm headed with this idea, though of course it's up for modification, the site's top bars would lose most of the current links. Instead, there would be a single bar that lists the various systems (as there is now). A few key user functions (such as Submit, My Blog, HG Mail(#), Logout/Login) would be placed on the site near the logo so that they appear on each page but don't take up extra real estate. The search bar could perhaps move to the right vertical bar or something along those lines.

Below all of that, you'd have your content for individual pages. The change I've worked on in the last couple of hours would be relevant on the site's main page and on system index pages. It could also frame reviews.

Instead of listing a bunch of content for each content type, the index page would now list the newest staff reviews and the newest reader reviews. Here's an example box:

There would be four or five of the newest staff reviews, along with four or five of the newest user reviews below that. Each review would be previewed in the box that you see above.

Some notes about the box:

1) The picture in the upper left corner would include game cover art for the game being reviewed. As on the current site, the "HG" logo in a black box would appear if no cover art is available. Clicking on that image would take the viewer to the game profile page for the game in question.

2) The title would appear on the black bar and would potentially be clickable. It also would lead to the game profile page.

3) "Review by..." would be followed by the full account name for staff members or the username for user reviews, as is true now. The date in parentheses will let viewers know at a glance how new the content that they are viewing is.

4) The review excerpt will be just that--an excerpt--for staff reviews, which have that functionality. For reader reviews, which have not had that functionality, the first paragraph from the review can be included as a sample. People like samples. They're more likely to read a review if the sample catches their eye, and of course the first paragraph in any review should catch a reader's eye.

5) The image in the lower right corner will be the one that appears on the site forums, resized to half its usual size. This will make it easy to identify the author at a glance, and because forum avatars are chosen from approved images on the site, will make it more difficult for users to post reviews and then switch avatars to make something inappropriate appear on the site.

Now all that's left to explain is the content on that lower white bar, which would to a certain extent be dynamic.

Read Full Review
Links to the review and also allows "Read Full Review" to serve as an internal link, which can't hurt from an SEO perspective.

Leave Feedback
This could say "Leave Feedback" if no one has left any feedback, or it could say "Comments(#)" if someone has left comments in a feedback thread. That will make it easy to tell at a glance if others have started commenting on the review, which may get more discussion going sooner for reviews... and keep it going once it starts. Users who aren't logged into their accounts and who try to start a feedback thread would be taken to the account log-in/new account page.

Author Profile
This link would take the user to the review author's blog.

Review This Game
This link would take users either to an account sign-in page, or automatically to a page that allows them to submit a review for the game (if they are signed into their account), reminding users that they are encouraged to submit content and making it easy to do so. Constant, subtle reminders increase the likelihood that readers will get involved. The call to action also can help with SEO.

Related Content
This link could take readers to the game profile page, which can in turn list all content types. This would ensure that other types of content, such as cheats and FAQs, still have a chance to be viewed and appreciated but no longer take up unnecessary space on the front page.

I am quite fond of the new box because:

1) I think that it looks reasonably attractive and can be blended into an updated site design in an attractive manner.

2) The new box does a lot of things well that the current design does not, including the aforementioned calls to action and the SEO perks.

3) A design that uses the box in the right places will make it clear that the community is one that is focused on reviews, but intelligent design around the boxes will allow other content to flourish, particularly as the review-centric site continues to build a larger audience and more readers start using and contributing other content types. Meanwhile, the site no longer suffers if that content is updated less frequently in the present.

I'm not sure how effectively the potential design comes through in this forum post. I'll try to produce a mock-up design soon so that you can see it in action. In the meantime, I wanted you all to see what I'm working on and get a feel for the sort of things that I'm considering.

The design as noted above has an added benefit, by the way: because no content is removed from the site, we can move toward an updated design in shorter order and without any content lost, giving us a chance to continue evaluating future changes at a more comfortable pace. Some of the other ideas presented in the feedback--many of which revolve around completely new features for the site rather than changes to the current features--will be possible to consider more efficiently once we have ensured that current content is performing to its fullest potential.