New to SL? Let us help!

[Cara Lionheart]

Are you new to SL and a bit confused about all of the things around?  That new resident training was great for some intro basics but what's all this other stuff? 

We're here to help!  We're the Serenity Newbie Center and we love to help new people!

We have 4 self-teaching classrooms with easy to read instruction on basic things such as Avatar Appearance, Inventory, Getting Around, Opening Boxes, Giving Items, and Camera Controls.

We also have live classes, taught by volunteer instructors, on a variety of topics. 

And everything is completely FREE.  We just want to help you get started in SL and navigate what can sometimes seem a bit confusing and overwhelming.

Sound like something you need?  Then come on down to see us - http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Hidden Serenity/139/134/1264

Have questions?  Contact Cara Lionheart in world.

 

 

Edited July 23, 2020 by Cara Lionheart

[Garnet Psaltery]

It might help if you could spell 'Assistance'.

[Lindal Kidd]

While spelling ability would be great, I applaud @Cara Lionheart and her colleagues.  We can always use a new learning and help area!  Cara, have you submitted your location for inclusion in the Destination Guide's "Newcomer Friendly" category?

[Drakonadrgora Darkfold]

ok.. so we got a spelling nazi in here too it seems. 

I think everyone can clearly understand that word and what was meant, no need to be rude just because a s was left out by mistake.

sl does need more newbie help centers with more classes. at least then maybe some people would not get so frustrated or leave just days after trying it out because they cant understand it well enough.

[Cara Lionheart]

1 hour ago, Garnet Psaltery said:

It might help if you could spell 'Assistance'.

Garnet, thanks!  I'm actually quite literate but we do all make typos sometimes and I completely missed that one.  Thanks for pointing that out for me (and so graciously too).  I'll be sure to get that fixed!

[Cara Lionheart]

1 hour ago, Lindal Kidd said:

While spelling ability would be great, I applaud @Cara Lionheart and her colleagues.  We can always use a new learning and help area!  Cara, have you submitted your location for inclusion in the Destination Guide's "Newcomer Friendly" category?

Thanks Lindal, I have yes, and we are listed in the Destination Guide.

[Garnet Psaltery]

11 hours ago, Cara Lionheart said:

Garnet, thanks!  I'm actually quite literate but we do all make typos sometimes and I completely missed that one.  Thanks for pointing that out for me (and so graciously too).  I'll be sure to get that fixed!

I admit I was grumpy but I should have really let you know that my reaction to the spelling error was somewhat of a deflection from an unease about isolated help centres where there are commercial outlets.  Of course, you might not be one of those places that enjoys taking advantage of newbies who might feel obliged to shop.  Those places exist.  I'd be glad to hear you say that you are not like them.

[Drakonadrgora Darkfold]

44 minutes ago, Garnet Psaltery said:

I admit I was grumpy but I should have really let you know that my reaction to the spelling error was somewhat of a deflection from an unease about isolated help centres where there are commercial outlets.  Of course, you might not be one of those places that enjoys taking advantage of newbies who might feel obliged to shop.  Those places exist.  I'd be glad to hear you say that you are not like them.

Just because some help or social area's have shopping boards does not mean anyone has to feel obligated in any way to donate or shop at their boards. 

NCI has several help locations and at each they have ad boards and shopping displays, but that doesnt mean they demand or expect anyone to buy from their places.

If a person goes there and feels obligated to shop or buy something after or before receiving help that is on them, not the place.

[Cara Lionheart]

7 hours ago, Garnet Psaltery said:

I admit I was grumpy but I should have really let you know that my reaction to the spelling error was somewhat of a deflection from an unease about isolated help centres where there are commercial outlets.  Of course, you might not be one of those places that enjoys taking advantage of newbies who might feel obliged to shop.  Those places exist.  I'd be glad to hear you say that you are not like them.

Garnet, I completely understand your concerns!  Actually the only commercial enterprise in our city will be the Waves club (EC Designs is closing after 8 years because I want to focus more on the newbie center and other free things).  There is Bound Infinity collars, (I am the creator) and the only collars that are not free are ones where the tos of the mesh components I used to make them requires me to not give them away free.  For those, I create texture change huds to justify having to charge the small fee required.  The Waves club is completely free and all of the staff at the club are newbie friendly and will happily walk new people over to the Newbie Center and show them our self-teaching rooms and answer questions.  The city also has changing rooms, a free bunkroom for homeless avatars, an 80's style arcade, mini golf, underwater racing, helicopters to fly, and all kinds of other things.  We don't even have tip jars out anywhere, everything is completely free and I own the sim (have for 7 years), so I can promise that it's not changing.  The only place there are tip jars used is for the hosts and djs, and class instructors are allowed to put out a tip jar if they want. 

I'm very happy to answer any concerns anyone has, and I'm also happy to take suggestions for better ways to help people.  I'm not interested in making money, that's what my RL job is for, SL is my outlet.

I hope that eases your concerns, and if you want to know anything more specific, please ask away!

[Garnet Psaltery]

@Cara Lionheart Thank you for your detailed reply.  That sounds genuinely helpful, and you evidently have put your heart and soul into it.  I wish you well.

[animats]

Nice. A few notes:

• Tutorial Room 3 has the same content as Tutorial Room 1. Tutorial Rooms 2 and 4 have unique content.
• Why shouldn't more than one person be in a tutorial room? There's nothing there but wall posters.
• A new user area should avoid narrow walkways and stairs with no railings. New users can't steer that well yet.
• How to wear mesh clothing is condensed to two paragraphs. I've been bugging the Caledon Oxbridge people to provide a good mesh clothing introduction. Somewhere in SL, there should be a "How to look as good as the SL ads" training center. Some vendor-neutral place that explains mesh, and assumes you're starting from zero. Someplace that keeps you from buying items that are not compatible. It's probably OK to omit the legacy systems that predate fitmesh and BOM; start new users off with the current, and easier to use, technology.

[Cara Lionheart]

20 minutes ago, animats said:

Nice. A few notes:

• Tutorial Room 3 has the same content as Tutorial Room 1. Tutorial Rooms 2 and 4 have unique content.
• Why shouldn't more than one person be in a tutorial room? There's nothing there but wall posters.
• A new user area should avoid narrow walkways and stairs with no railings. New users can't steer that well yet.
• How to wear mesh clothing is condensed to two paragraphs. I've been bugging the Caledon Oxbridge people to provide a good mesh clothing introduction. Somewhere in SL, there should be a "How to look as good as the SL ads" training center. Some vendor-neutral place that explains mesh, and assumes you're starting from zero. Someplace that keeps you from buying items that are not compatible. It's probably OK to omit the legacy systems that predate fitmesh and BOM; start new users off with the current, and easier to use, technology.

Hi animats, thanks for your input!  Let me respond to each one in turn:

• All of the tutorial rooms have the same content.  There is a large red "Start Here" sign with arrows which points down to the sign that tells you how to use them.  Following those instructions, you click it, choose which topic you wish from the menu, and all of the boards in the room change to display the information for that topic. So at any given moment, the tutorial rooms might be showing any of 6 different sets of boards.
• We certainly don't have an issue with multiple people being in a room together if they want to learn the same topics together.  But you can imagine, if someone is reading the "Avatar Appearance" boards and someone else comes in and chooses the "Camera Control" boards... well that could be disconcerting.  So we ask people to choose unoccupied rooms so there's no conflict.
• The hallways and stairways are extra wide particularly for that very reason.  We felt they were plenty wide enough but if we see anyone having trouble we will definitely make modifications, that's a very good point and one to watch for.
• I absolutely agree that the mesh clothing is basic information only and could be much more detailed.  These boards are meant to be just very basic for newbies who are just trying to sort out things to get started.  We also have panels with links to tutorial websites that go into much greater detail on specific topics, and our live classes are designed to be the next step in the learning process.  Currently planned are a DJ Boot Camp, Host Boot Camp, Roleplay Class Series, Free Mesh Avatar building lessons (as in how to build a fully mesh avatar completely for free), Avatar Modding for non-human avatars, and the list keeps growing!  If you'd like to teach a class, we'd love to have you!  And if you'd like to help me re-write some of the board content, I'd be more than happy to have the help there too.

Thank you so much for your input and advice, my dream is to build this into a community of people who work together to help others.  I'm sorry I missed you when you were here, I am at RL work during the day and must have been on my lunch hour.  Hopefully I'll see you around the city!

[animats]

Thanks. Mesh clothes, body, skin, and head shopping is the big hole in SL tutorials. That has to be put together by someone who really understands the clothing system and shops frequently, which I do not.

[Cara Lionheart]

29 minutes ago, animats said:

Thanks. Mesh clothes, body, skin, and head shopping is the big hole in SL tutorials. That has to be put together by someone who really understands the clothing system and shops frequently, which I do not.

I absolutely agree, which is why we're turning that over to the instructors who want to teach the live classes in a much greater detail.  I'm confident enough to put my own avatar together but I don't feel like my knowledge encompasses enough variety to be able to do that topic full justice.  I'm excited for the avatar classes we have coming up, they should be pretty great!  I will also keep trying to find more instructors to teach things like those you mentioned, specifically.  I agree they're very needed.