Looking after new users.

[FairreLilette]

9 hours ago, rasterscan said:

My own experience of being bit by a vampire in a sandbox with a box on my foot might indeed be hilarious, but it could have put some people off. 

I was attacked by Zombie's my first day of SL and engaged to be married on my 2nd Day.  My SL went steadily downhill as far as excitement since then.  As I newbie, I was in London City for about a month.  It was a good experience for me, kind of mellow, didn't stress me out.  

But, in all seriousness, I am not expert on what new user's need so I'll just suggest something.

What about a chance to win a mesh body and/or a mesh head plus a hands on tutor for a week on how to dress and work things but meanwhile until the prize drawing a way to keep new users having a mellow or not stressed out experience....easy going kind of thing.  

Edit:  A way to have laughter is good too...laughter is a good way to break the ice.

I wanted to add that make the prizes redeemable by giftcard...that way whomever the donation of the free item is from gets people into their store to look around.   

Edited March 6, 2020 by FairreLilette

[TVTuner]

Your mission, should you chose to accept it, could be selected from  pre-loaded "Favorite landmarks" just below the Menu Bar.  Select a destination, receive mission objective, follow the clues, participate.....

Don't many established Residents like to participate in grid-wide or community "hunts" and other adventures?  Is it possible that the people running these already produce engaging content for Residents that, with a little coaching, a new resident might likewise find engaging?

I see a vast talent pool out there and I see a lot of people saying "Somebody should do something."  Surely, some already are.  Can we augment trying to attract traffic to advertised areas for individual monetary gain and try to help grow the engaged Resident population too?  New residents that become established turn in to shoppers!

(Apologies to those that find my use of the word Resident offensive.)

[Maitimo]

10 hours ago, rasterscan said:

Looking after new users

I am told SL still gets up to 3000 new sign ups every month. If this is true, and SL20B and beyond is to be a reality, LL simply must, imho, address how it treats new users. They need to 'land' in newer and safer places just for a start. Over to you, experts ....

There are no new users. Every one of those 3000 is an alt or a bot or a returner from several years ago, giving SL another try.

Well maybe not all of them, but certainly most. 

The key to SL's continued success is retention of its existing playerbase, not aquisition. Times have changed and SL isn't relevant to today's youth. And I sure do not want it to become so.

The day that SL becomes another Facebook or Whatsapp or whatever it is the cool kids are using these days, is the day that 90% of those already here will move on.

[Lindal Kidd]

3 hours ago, janetosilio said:

The only problem I see with this is, there is a class of user that expects everything they don’t know how to do, to be done for them: ie I don’t know how to do a shape, can you do it for me? I don’t know where the Maitreya store is. *gives a landmark* Can you tp me there?

I agree with what you’re saying, but that type of user is seriously time consuming and a drain on resources, helpers.

It is, for sure.  But I still like this idea...a "Summon Help" button!  I like the idea of going to where I'm needed, not standing around asking every passerby if they need or want help.  If one runs into one of Janet's needy people (I call them "time vampires") one can always say, "I'm sorry, I'm urgently wanted elsewhere!"

[Arduenn Schwartzman]

3 hours ago, Theresa Tennyson said:

Noobs are no longer given mesh bodies

Didn't know that. That's a good thing. The last time I got into a conversation with a noob struggling with their identity, they had a default mesh body with hands that were way too big and their legacy body underneath was invisible, causing confusion about the little blue jeans icons in that person's inv.

[Adam Spark]

4 hours ago, sceneris said:

u hit the bull eye, when i first started out, its exactly like you said, all standing there wondering what to do, as a guy who play tons of multiplayer and rpg game, i don't really wanna sit down there reading all the tutorials, modern games introduce their tutorial as you progress through the story line, usually there's side or main quests, so people would at least know where to go or what to do next, if most people who expected that something should follow up after the tutorial ends but nothing happens next, probably that explains why lol

There are no storylines or quests in Second Life because it is not a game.

What to do next is completely up to you.

Linden Lab seriously needs to do a better job of letting users know what they are signing up for.

[Selene Gregoire]

8 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said:

It is, for sure.  But I still like this idea...a "Summon Help" button!  I like the idea of going to where I'm needed, not standing around asking every passerby if they need or want help.  If one runs into one of Janet's needy people (I call them "time vampires") one can always say, "I'm sorry, I'm urgently wanted needed elsewhere!"

Fixed it so they don't come back with "But I need your help!"

[FairreLilette]

2 hours ago, Matty Luminos said:

There are no new users. Every one of those 3000 is an alt or a bot or a returner from several years ago, giving SL another try.

Well maybe not all of them, but certainly most. 

The key to SL's continued success is retention of its existing playerbase, not aquisition. Times have changed and SL isn't relevant to today's youth. And I sure do not want it to become so.

The day that SL becomes another Facebook or Whatsapp or whatever it is the cool kids are using these days, is the day that 90% of those already here will move on.

I don't even know if it's FB any more what the cool kids want anyhow.  I think the cool kids want VRChat and/or simpler and/or mobile with games...something to do beyond slex.  What I've seen in VRChat...it's a lot of silliness that is kind of cute.  I like silliness.  

Even FB can loss it's user-base after a while.  I got tired of FB and came here though I enjoyed my time on FB with family and friends.  FB is over for me.  

But, as a responsible adult in my household, I cannot put a thing over my head that obstructs my every view of what is happening in my surroundings so I would never consider VR.  Although they say never say never, I just cannot see myself spending money on VR anything.  

I think SL needs more freebies beyond Freebie Galaxy for newbies and into newer good freebie stuff if you want my honest opinion about it which excludes Freebie Galaxy-like stuff.   A donation island with real good stuff newer and hip stuff in the form of gift cards where the donor in turn receives new traffic into their store is not a totally bad idea.    

Edited March 6, 2020 by FairreLilette

[Lindal Kidd]

55 minutes ago, FairreLilette said:

I think SL needs more good freebies beyond Freebie Galaxy for newbies if you want my honest opinion about it.

Freebie Galaxy is enormous, for sure.  But I've compiled a list of freebie places.  It's available at Caledon Oxbridge University.

[FairreLilette]

24 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said:

Freebie Galaxy is enormous, for sure.  But I've compiled a list of freebie places.  It's available at Caledon Oxbridge University.

Is it any "good stuff" really?  Because all the free stuff I encountered when I was newbie was truly dated and not worth having, imo except a few things at Free Dove.  Other than Free Dove, there wasn't much that I "really wanted" in the freebie scene as a newbie. 

As a newbie, I was seeing amazing avatar pictures as I started shopping on MP and I wanted to know how to make that mesh avatar and then I wanted to find how to find those mesh clothes and hair!   

As far as the "dated" prim stuff, it looks adorkable and quaint on the tinies that they look like dolls to fall in love with but otherwise as a Dinkie, I want mesh clothes, shoes, jewelry as I think the Dinkies look better in the mesh stuff.  (Dinkies, tinies and tinies et al is a little confusing unless you live it.)

I'm not really interested in looking up the free stuff you mention unless it's less than 5 years old.  

Edit:  I think you misunderstood me Lindal...I mean it's time to go beyond Freebie Galaxy now as Freebie Galaxy has too old of stuff to even care.  

 

Edited March 6, 2020 by FairreLilette

[Jaide Beck]

6 hours ago, LittleMzChilliHead said:

All new users should get 20Ls and a gift, IMO.

New users used to get 1,000. I did when i joined in 2007.

[FairreLilette]

19 minutes ago, Jaide Beck said:

New users used to get 1,000. I did when i joined in 2007.

But that was pre mesh bodies, heads and clothes.  

The biggest expense then was probably a skin or an AO.  

Plus 2007 was the Anshe Chung she's a virtual millionaire year which drew a lot of people after an ad ran in Business Weekly.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anshe_Chung

 

Edited March 6, 2020 by FairreLilette

[sceneris]

@Selene Gregoire and @Adam Spark, yeah i think something needs to be done, not feasible but something like this

revamp the welcome and social island, people love beautiful places

keep it short and simple, one path instead of split at the end [if i recall that's how it was]

note card list with places to do and visit, teleport portal at the end of tutorial

crucial part is where they landed, what thing that keeps them engage, and then lead them into staying instead of leaving

[Bree Giffen]

People from gaming backgrounds and even ordinary non-gamers are confused by the lack of purpose in SL. Maybe, LL should give them something to do like collecting Pokemon or something. People like having a purpose. We harp on this all the time here. Make some small prizes that can only be gotten by collecting across the mainlands. As people play the game, they slowly become acclimated to SL and notice there are people not playing and doing other things. LL has to create this and not residents. It has to create a feedback loop that makes SL addictive.

[Rolig Loon]

1 hour ago, Bree Giffen said:

People from gaming backgrounds and even ordinary non-gamers are confused by the lack of purpose in SL. Maybe, LL should give them something to do like collecting Pokemon or something.

Sadly, there is no one-size-fits-all answer, because there is no one-size-fits-all SL resident. I had no intention of staying when I came here out of curiosity in 2007, but I was fascinated by the fact that SL was not a game.  Nobody told me what I had to do.  The lack of "purpose" was exactly what convinced me to hang around.  If someone had told me that I had to collect Pokemon or some other pointless trinket, I would have been out the door the same day I walked in.  So, here I am 13 years later, still finding ways to amuse myself and so deeply immersed in this world that I cannot imagine leaving.  But I am not the typical resident, any more than you are.  The trick is not to design for a mythical typical resident but to design ways that each real resident can discover something unique that captures her imagination.  That .... or figure out a way to attract more imaginative residents.

[Adam Spark]

13 hours ago, Bree Giffen said:

People from gaming backgrounds and even ordinary non-gamers are confused by the lack of purpose in SL. Maybe, LL should give them something to do like collecting Pokemon or something. People like having a purpose. We harp on this all the time here. Make some small prizes that can only be gotten by collecting across the mainlands. As people play the game, they slowly become acclimated to SL and notice there are people not playing and doing other things. LL has to create this and not residents. It has to create a feedback loop that makes SL addictive.

This would only work if SL was, in fact, a game.

[Adam Spark]

11 hours ago, Rolig Loon said:

Sadly, there is no one-size-fits-all answer, because there is no one-size-fits-all SL resident. I had no intention of staying when I came here out of curiosity in 2007, but I was fascinated by the fact that SL was not a game.  Nobody told me what I had to do.  The lack of "purpose" was exactly what convinced me to hang around.  If someone had told me that I had to collect Pokemon or some other pointless trinket, I would have been out the door the same day I walked in.  So, here I am 13 years later, still finding ways to amuse myself and so deeply immersed in this world that I cannot imagine leaving.  But I am not the typical resident, any more than you are.  The trick is not to design for a mythical typical resident but to design ways that each real resident can discover something unique that captures her imagination.  That .... or figure out a way to attract more imaginative residents.

Same thing for me. The fact that it is so much more than what any game could ever be has kept me here.

SL is no more a game than Facebook is.

[Bitsy Buccaneer]

Any starting game would be optional. It could be signposted with "Looking for something to do? Try this" type wording. Meanwhile, those who aren't interested in it can carry on however they like.

[SpiritSparrow Skydancer]

I think as a community we need to look after the new members to. For instance, stop auto ejecting them when they land on your land because they are not a predefined age.   I had a friend join and really like it but within the first week, he was ejected from so many places and told he was not old enough he just stopped logging in...

 The skill sets are there when people first land, all they need to know.  They just have to go through them.

 

 

[Bree Giffen]

SL has been to been catering to only one side which doesn't want game mechanics and ignoring those that do expect some purpose. It's like that Simpson episode with Ned's parents saying, "We've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas!" Not suggesting for a game feature that everyone must now play but just a little thing that could bring in and retain new people. Bitsy gets it!

[Beth Macbain]

I hate gaming, but I agree with the idea of a learning game for noobs. It would be an excellent way to teach people how to find places that interest them, showcase things that are possible in SL, and the vastness of it... shopping areas, mainland, vehicles and traveling, clubs, beaches, urban areas, suburban areas, farms, etc., etc., etc. Something like a scavenger hunt that goes all over the grid with a task of some sort to complete at each stop. 

I would do it and I've been in SL for eons. 

[Adam Spark]

1 hour ago, Bree Giffen said:

SL has been to been catering to only one side which doesn't want game mechanics and ignoring those that do expect some purpose. It's like that Simpson episode with Ned's parents saying, "We've tried nothing and we're all out of ideas!" Not suggesting for a game feature that everyone must now play but just a little thing that could bring in and retain new people. Bitsy gets it!

The idea of optional gaming is a good one. Linden Realms was a great idea for giving gamers something familiar to them to do in return for prizes. It was an example of catering to gamers.

The problem with introductory gaming mechanics with signs pointing elsewhere as Bitsy put it is it would only serve to drive home the highly incorrect assumption that SL is a game.

[Da5id Weatherwax]

2 hours ago, Tarina Sewell said:

...stop auto ejecting them when they land on your land because they are not a predefined age...

Back in the day few folks used that option. Then a rather predictable cycle happened. The griefers and trolls got quite creative, they found all sorts of ways to really genuinely mess with folk's experience of SL. In response, land and venue owners got pretty good at promptly booting and banning 'em. Of course, the idiots would then descend on a place with a bunch of throwaway alts - to which the response of the place's management was to flip on the switch that said "nobody under 30 days old." The rippers were using throwaway alts too, because they didn't want their main banned if they were caught at it, so store owners started flipping that switch too.

It gradually became standard practice for the managers of a sizable fraction of the grid to set this option, and it has remained so for quite a few places. Not for the same reason in all those cases, to be sure, but the common theme in those varied reasons is usually seeing the "throwaway alt" as some kind of risk factor.

It is unfortunate but also unavoidable that if, as a venue or business owner, you decide you're going to exclude the "throwaway alt" from your place, in the process you will also be taking all the noobs out of your customer-base too. I think there is a pretty strong argument for folks to consider that decision more carefully rather than just setting that option as a matter of course, but I'm pretty sure that even after considering it that way no more than about half of the places that have that option set would unset it.

Even though the effectiveness or net benefit of setting this has never been properly demonstrated. it's certainly more fact-based than the belief that setting all your products nomod and making folks use scripts to resize or recolor anything protects them from being ripped - and just about everybody still does that, even a lot of folks who are otherwise quite smart....

[Adam Spark]

2 hours ago, Tarina Sewell said:

I think as a community we need to look after the new members to. For instance, stop auto ejecting them when they land on your land because they are not a predefined age.   I had a friend join and really like it but within the first week, he was ejected from so many places and told he was not old enough he just stopped logging in...

 The skill sets are there when people first land, all they need to know.  They just have to go through them.

 

 

Amen.

We as a community need to look to ourselves to curb problems, and this includes educating new users.

I cannot tell you the number of new users I've seen mess up only to be educated on how they messed up, apologize for doing so, learn from the error of their ways and become great residents.

Some people just don't know any better when they get here.

Every time we ban someone, we burn a bridge with somebody that could one day turn into rule/etiquette abiding, contributing residents of SL.

None of us can say we were never a newbie, so why do we treat them so badly?

[Beth Macbain]

17 minutes ago, Adam Spark said:

We as a community need to look to ourselves to curb problems, and this includes educating new users.

I'm not an educator. I have no patience. SL is my recreation. Teaching is work. 

There are people who enjoy it and are wonderful at doing it. I'm not one of those people and I don't think it's a good idea to expect me to be. 

I never worked with a mentor, or went to any educational areas to learn about SL. It was trial and error (many, many errors) for me, but that's the way I learn. Others are different and I think having several ways available to new residents is great. I think the idea of the new resident game because it's something someone like me could do by myself and at my own pace. Some would love the classes. Some would love to have a mentor. I'm sure there are other ways as well. 

From the moment a new resident logs in, I think they should be offered options:

Hi, welcome to SL. We know there is a big learning curve so here are some ways to see and learn about all the things we have to offer. 

• Join Magellan Linden on a quest to... do something.
• Jump to (teleport) to Caledon Oxbridge University and grab a class schedule.
• Fill out this form if you'd like one of our mentors to show you the ropes.
• Here's a list of welcome areas you can visit. Just click any of the links for a teleport.
  • London City
  • Firefox Land (or whatever it's called
  • I don't know any of the other welcome areas
• If you ever get lost, here's the help section
• Don't forget to check out our user forums. There is an answers section at the bottom where you can get help on any topic!