>Actually it is an automatic re-direct from the sites
>(opengamingfoundation.com & .net) to Faustus' FAQ page
>(http://www.earth1066.com/D20FAQ.htm).
>
>Personally, I think this is really up to Ryan as to whether it's an issue
>to pursue or not. How many people are really going to be accidental
>directed to Faustus' site?
Actually, redirects can cause quite a problem for people who aren't totally
familiar with web browsers. Most current versions of Internet Explorer and
Netscape make a "best guess" at web addresses you've visted, autocompleting
them. This means that if someone were to visit foo.org and foo.com, the next
time they typed "foo" in the address bar, the browser would autocomplete
"foo.com". Thus, foo.com will get more attention than foo.org by default.
Hence, a .com address is typically more treasured than a .org or .net
address -- because browsers guess in alphabetical order, and most web
browsers are content to let them guess.
As to how much of a problem such a thing can be, you need only type
"www.whitehouse.com" in your browser once. (It's a porn site, by the way, so
don't do this if you're under 18). Now try to visit the REAL whitehouse
site, at www.whitehouse.gov. If you have a current browser that's
autocompleting addresses, it'll keep trying to send you to the porn site -
even if you only went there once by accident - unless you type really really
fast. And most people don't.
This is hardly an "end of the world" issue, but it is cause for concern
because of how the Internet and its technologies work. It may seem a
harmless redirect, but in the long run it could mean that a lot of people
never see the content they were originally looking for. Not to mention,
trying to use the "Back" button on your browser won't work, because going
back will make you hit the redirect page again, and send you right back to
the content you accidentally stumbled across.
Redirects are a pet peeve of mine, alas. I've worked in web marketing and
web design for long enough to know how tricky they can be.
I also know this is way off topic, so I personally commit to not mention any
more about this topic here.
