Revisiting the new player experience and how it needs improvement

[Chris71i]

Having started playing second life in 2007, and  with  Bakes on Mesh now possible I decided to make myself a new account for the empty inventory reason alone. Within the first few days I had bought myself a body, some clothing got the free Genus head and ditched the start body. I love SL and  miss the days when sims everywhere were packed. A week in, I thought to do something novel and go to a welcome area and to help out some new players and welcome them and possibly experience being new for the first time in ages myself.  

I opened the destination guide and found a new player place that sounded cool called [redacted by moderators]. Unfortunately for me not long after I got there the spacebar key on my Mac became faulty and I couldn’t type spaces between words well. In the middle of a pandemic the thought having to go to the Apple store to fix it had me suitably unimpressed as continued interacting as best I could.  To my surprise I found 10-year-old avatars that seemed like regulars teasing me and making fun of my typing as a week-old new player and my new-found computer misfortune did nothing for my patience with it to boot. 

To my dismay in a new world of competing technologies and dropping player numbers in SL I thought this is so wrong.  So, I jumped on my other computer and explained they should be ashamed of themselves for doing things like that to new players in case they are discouraged. Second life is a steep learning curve and I think a lot of patience is required for new players from us or they will give up.  

One of the main elements of second life is it is a much nicer place to interact online than social media and that has maintained my interest for many years and continues to be the attraction for me. That open-mindedness and acceptance of people along with the helpful attitude you experience from most people inworld is the side of SL I would want any new player to see and hope they would.

Today, I thought I’d give the new player thing a go again and went to the [redacted by moderators] sim out of the newcomer friendly destination guide and tp’d in not sure what to expect.  It landed me in there a dance-floor and in a sim with 72 people the lag was horrid and took ages to rez.  Anyway, I get an IM within the first 10 seconds of arrival, “move away up the back or dance” to which I responded what happens in the event of non-compliance to the demand?  I couldn’t see anything while it loaded and couldn’t find where to move to anyway.   I wasn’t sure if the IM was automated bot or a person that typed it and waited for a reply.  Immediately I was ejected much to my dismay again with a typed response “that’s what you get for not obeying the rule” pfft.  To whoever that volunteer was I suggested that maybe a slow response may have indicated Sim lag or unfamiliarity with the controls of Second Life in a three-week-old account. 

Those welcome areas are a key inlet to new players as potential friends for the rest of us and a healthy inworld economy that makes SL viable. From what I’ve seen in the last few weeks it appears this is one area where professional development of human resources really needs to take place led from Second Life management itself.   If its listed in the Newcomer Friendly section of the destination guide, a high standard of staff/volunteer selection should apply so not just anybody can do it and only the best staff or volunteers are used. The initial  experience should be indicative of the friendliness of the rest of the grid so people stay. 
 

Edited December 13, 2021 by Dyna Mole

[cunomar]

I may as well be a new player as I have no contacts and I've been wandering the whats hot and newbie friendly sims about 3 weeks just trying to find whatever it was that made me stay at the beginning .

Twice in 3 weeks I took part (uninvited) in a public conversation because somebody was actually using real words to form a sentence and say something .

I assume all greetings come from bots also programmed to say dont forget to tip the DJ in otherwise silent sims .

The highlight of these 3 weeks is finding a horse i can rez and ride around on a frozen lake .

What you describe Chris is the arrogance of experienced players that always had me grind my teeth even when i was an accepted part of a large community . They would come for fun only to be derided and spat at . While at the same time having a perfectly sane and reasonable private conversation with me because i took the time to explain these are real people , strangers , so imagine how they might react to you in a rl bar .

They were usually booted from the sim before our conversation ended and I don't recall ever seeing any of them again .

How things change huh . I now assume there are no new players and a freebie av is just someone far more experienced than me creating another alt .

Edited December 12, 2021 by cunomar

[Ceka Cianci]

They definitely need some guidelines for those having welcoming centers.. If they don't already..

 

 

[Arduenn Schwartzman]

Sixteen years ago, as a newbie, I had the good fortune of landing in Calleta, the home of the Hobos. This was a group of very friendly, creative, and helpful people. Had I landed at Waterhead or any other regular Infohub, I might never have stayed in SL for this long. I think that the problem that Chris71i highlights, bullying newcomers, although maybe not a new one, is definitely something that has significant impact on the engagement of new players in SL. I can also imagine that this has been a headache for many Lindens and has been the cause of many corporate Linden brainstorm sessions. Nonetheless, judging from the OP's impression, it seems that the problem persists.

Maybe, new guidelines will work. The word 'guidlines' alone, however, might just scare away people from SL too.

Edited December 12, 2021 by Arduenn Schwartzman

[Chris71i]

1 hour ago, Ceka Cianci said:

They definitely need some guidelines for those having welcoming centers.. If they don't already..

 

 

Maybe what they need is to hire some  LL employees  to pretend they are new and document the experience as a feedback loop to management. Every new player is a potential revenue source and the reality is that is needed for the SL grid to be a viable business now and  into the future.   

I do remember being left to read signs and teach myself how to play was boring and confusing. The initial one on one advice from my mentors that were just random people I met made all the difference to persistence with learning the basics.  
 

if I had to sell anything about life inworld that differentiated it from other gaming experiences is the personal interaction and genuine interest people have in you. 

Through  my years of playing I noticed people who join SL are often bored, lonely or lacking something IRL and usually really nice people and those people gravitate to relationships and  maybe that is a key focus in those first couple of weeks of orientation. 
 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 12, 2021 by Chris71i

[Marigold Devin]

42 minutes ago, Arduenn Schwartzman said:

Sixteen years ago, as a newbie, I had the good fortune of landing in Calleta, the home of the Hobos. This was a group of very friendly, creative, and helpful people. Had I landed at Waterhead or any other regular Infohub, I might never have stayed in SL for this long. I think that the problem that Chris71i highlights, bullying newcomers, although maybe not a new one, is definitely something that has significant impact on the engagement of new players in SL. I can also imagine that this has been a headache for many Lindens and has been the cause of many corporate Linden brainstorm sessions. Nonetheless, judging from the OP's impression, it seems that the problem persists.

Maybe, new guidelines will work. The word 'guidlines' alone, however, might just scare away people from SL too.

Mine is a similar story. I landed in Korea2, and met up with a couple of other relative newbies who had been fortunate enough to be picked up on their first day by people who had shown them a few welcoming places. They shared these destinations with me. None exist now, but they were great. One was a smallish parcel of land on Boonootoo sim. Really, looking back, it was what they called camping, you placed yourself on a dance mat and were paid a few Linden dollars every hour, but we were really sociable people, would go exploring and meet up there regularly to chat and swap notes. Another place I was taken to was amazing - The Lost Gardens of Apollo - one of the guardians of the sim was just wanting to share this glorious experience with people, and I felt so privileged.  It only exists as a historical build now and is usually deserted. Another place we all regularly visited, again no longer in existence, was This Second. There were some shops I recall, and a couple of major real life companies used to advertise there, so I guess that was how it was funded.  We went for the music, which was soothing and sexy Spanish guitar music, and the hammocks and dance floor. 

One of the destinations our group shared a group of regions including Alady Island and Noob Island. These belonged to a wonderful and very generous-spirited person. There were plenty of freebies on offer, including accommodation that you could either use for the time you were logged in and therefore experience a different kind of home every time you were there. I plumped for a town house one day with a "sea" view, and a loft apartment another time. I rented an apartment for a few months so I could furnish it and have a home base, met a few more people, including one who came crashing through my window. He showed me a few more great places in Second Life, I returned to Boonootoo to share these with my original friends. 

Then I randomly was teleporting around the grid and found myself in a skybox. It was resellers store. One of the co-owners was very patient and kind and became my mentor and best friend.  He gave me a HUD called Hoppy Pay - again no longer in existence - to use to explore the grid, and I found a lot of new places and people that way too.  

Those initial experiences in Second Life are what makes people want to stay in the majority of cases I think.

13 minutes ago, Chris71i said:

Maybe what they need is to hire some  rediffepeople to pretend they are new and document the experience as a feedback loop to management.  Every new player is a potential revenue source and the reality is that is needed for the SL grid to be a viable business now and  into the future.   

I do remember being left to read signs and teach myself how to play was boring and confusing.  The initial one on one advice from my mentors that were just random people I met made all the difference.  
 

if I had to sell anything about life inworld that differentiated it from other gaming experiences is the personal interaction and genuine interest people have in you. 

Thought my years of playing I noticed people who join SL are often bored, lonely or lacking something IRL and usually really nice people and those people gravitate to relationships and  maybe that is a key focus in those first couple of weeks of orientation.   
 

 

Linden Lab has, over the years, attempted different ways of retaining users.  I recently created a brand new alt to see if the orientation process had changed and it had. It was far less tedious than the previous version had been (my perception of it at any rate, everyone has a preference obviously), and I had a choice of places to go to when I was ready to leave.  The problem is though, a lot of people just want to skip the preliminaries and get on with the game, and especially if they have a lot of gaming experience - which I certainly didn't - Second Life is bound to feel stilted and boring, because there are no actual aims or prizes.  Second Life is and always will be a niche market, but even so it's not doing too badly.  The recent upsurge in premium accounts because of the success of the new Linden homes must be proving very lucrative to Linden Labs. Having said that, there is always room for improvement, and any suggestions are taken on board. 

I remember a few years ago, I sent a letter - an actual snail mail - to Linden Lab suggesting what might be a good idea would be a dedicated island of mentors that anyone, new or old, could access if they got stuck with something, because here on the forums we were seeing very much a lot of the same problems coming up time and time again. Coincidentally, or maybe because several people suggested something similar at around the same time, Linden Lab did indeed create a couple of islands where with just one click of a "Help" button in world you could be teleported across and meet face to face with official mentors and other volunteers and find solutions to issues.  It unfortunately did not last long, and I don't actually know why.

There are also a lot of places that established residents will recommend via these forums as being places to receive extra tutorials on specific interests - building, scripting, textures, suchlike - and a ton of videos are available on Youtube.  

Human nature comes into play, and with the best will in the world, you can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make it drink! But as I said earlier, never be afraid to contact Linden Lab with any suggestions. They do listen, and of course they do want Second Life to continue going from strength to strength.

[Chris71i]

18 hours ago, cunomar said:

I now assume there are no new players and a freebie av is just someone far more experienced than me creating another alt .

i have found quite a few new players this last couple of years and helped them as best i could.  Experienced players know to join quality store groups to get free group gifts and often groups indicate  a lot about people. My 3 week old avi worked out to joined  ISON, Lelukta, Belleza, KC Couture and  Rowne in a matter of days. It would be an mazing coincidence for someone brand new to SL to find those quality stores and outlay $$$ in a week and a bit.  New players often think Freebie Galaxy and a couple of sex themed groups are the bomb unless someone told them different lol. 

Edited December 13, 2021 by Chris71i

[Ceka Cianci]

17 hours ago, Chris71i said:

Maybe what they need is to hire some  LL employees  to pretend they are new and document the experience as a feedback loop to management. Every new player is a potential revenue source and the reality is that is needed for the SL grid to be a viable business now and  into the future.   

I do remember being left to read signs and teach myself how to play was boring and confusing. The initial one on one advice from my mentors that were just random people I met made all the difference to persistence with learning the basics.  
 

if I had to sell anything about life inworld that differentiated it from other gaming experiences is the personal interaction and genuine interest people have in you. 

Through  my years of playing I noticed people who join SL are often bored, lonely or lacking something IRL and usually really nice people and those people gravitate to relationships and  maybe that is a key focus in those first couple of weeks of orientation. 
 

Until they decide to get around to doing something like that, they need to put the ones running the welcome centers in check.. 

Want to keep the welcome center? Follow the guidelines to keep the welcome center.. Don't want to follow the guidelines to keep the welcome center, lose the welcome center and all those new people landing on your land going to welcome centers..

I don't know what all it takes to make your land a welcome center, But it should be welcoming and not have new people rezzing right next to a dance floor and getting griefed by those running the place..

 

There needs to be some sort of repercussions for abusing what it's there for.

[Paulsian]

I tend to only hang out in official protected parts of the world: roads/parks maybe 3rd party roadside shops will catch my attention or things that interest me. Sometimes people with private regions or land are picky and cautious about new arrivals because of trolling; leaving a bad aftertaste for legit residents. I'm not into cults or conforming to private rules, only to do so and be rejected can be hurtful. I will not give any 3rd party that power or any of their underling moderators; whom are usually clicky and on power trips and too self absorbed to care about anyone else. I will travel around every once in blue moon but will not linger on private regions or land. I do travel outside the protected areas but I try to never get attached to places or people. Usually their agenda is revenue and if you're not willing to pay over and over make room for someone else. Especially if it being labeled a social area can be extremely hurtful. 

For new residents: If you right click world at top of screen and about land you will have better idea of who owns the land. To find some good chat spots: open map, make sure info hub is checked, and look around the map for the blue i logos (might have to zoom out). You'll notice some info hubs with a lot of people around and eventually meet some nice people and build meaningful relationships. I guess some of those can be privately owned, I personally stick with the ones that say owned by a linden. A lot of the times people are shy, just have a seat and relax you'll meet some pretty interesting people. Try not to take them too serious. 

I'm not a fan of the destination guide slide show at the top of the screen. I wish that opened up to the big list or had a link in that slider somewhere: https://secondlife.com/destinations 

The most meaningful friends do not require a friends list. You will find the places and people you care about the most. 

Edited December 13, 2021 by Paulsian
correction

[Paulsian]

20 hours ago, Marigold Devin said:

The problem is though, a lot of people just want to skip the preliminaries and get on with the game

Exactly, when I first started and I saw the light (at the I think it was orentation island) with the big aquarium the one that once you leave you can never return. I was like heck yah im going to explore every meter of this world thinking it was like world of warcraft. Not the case at all. I did google search for the best 3D sandbox building game and had some expectations.

Funny story: When I was newer than I am now, I went to social island and discovered the portals. I took the music portal (unsure the logic for where those portals send people) I ended up on someones private biker club region and they only welcomed females. (dont get me started on how disturbing that is). I was confronted by a very angry person telling me to bugger off, so I was like cheers, went back to social island thinking that was crazy. Took the music portal again and it kept teleporting me to the bikers whatever. The guy was even more angry and I was like could you please ban me so I can teleport to somewhere normal? lol funny story actually, I will never forget unfortunately. 

I've recommended map overlays that show what is public linden owned and what is private. A total map overhaul would help everyone. Getting the Map button added to the Toolbar was a major milestone. Considering it's a building "game"/platform and new people love to build and learn building, if we could just get that little hammer added on the side Toolbar with maybe a sub pop up for educational sandboxes that does not require a group memberships, dare I say a Linden Academy, Linden Homes would benefit from a phone system that can be left on wall and or taken for new linden home residents who never built in 3D. Residents would click it and be provided with directory of resources tips and tricks via | Utility Linden Virtual Assistant Hologram | "Welcome to your new home, if you would like to change the style of home click the mailbox, while your there looking at the styles be sure to click the content pack and when you are finished I will help you place some home furnishings maybe a desk and office chair "when you have time lets learn some new building skills" "Would you prefer to learn about model trains, doll houses, or general building?" while seated at the desk we can practice with larger objects and then work to smaller object model sets as we progress.

It would be powerful to be able to explore and build with ease. Not get blocked, banned, bannished, bullied, and so on while trying to learn. I guess learning all this stuff the hard way is possible and has proven to be somewhat sustainable? I don't want anyone else to feel this way or have any negative experiences related to official content. This is the best building game/platform/world in the world in my option. It's an aquired taste of creations dating back going on 19 years. It has history that should never be lost. Roblox nope, Ylands nope, Facebook..Meta Never, Unreal blah. (The unreal engine is beautiful but not a fan of their building.) I only work with the best. If I have to work with what I got with the best I will do so. 

 

 

Edited December 13, 2021 by Paulsian

[Marigold Devin]

2 hours ago, Paulsian said:

Exactly, when I first started and I saw the light (at the I think it was orentation island) with the big aquarium the one that once you leave you can never return. I was like heck yah im going to explore every meter of this world thinking it was like world of warcraft. Not the case at all. I did google search for the best 3D sandbox building game and had some expectations.

Funny story: When I was newer than I am now, I went to social island and discovered the portals. I took the music portal (unsure the logic for where those portals send people) I ended up on someones private biker club region and they only welcomed females. (dont get me started on how disturbing that is). I was confronted by a very angry person telling me to bugger off, so I was like cheers, went back to social island thinking that was crazy. Took the music portal again and it kept teleporting me to the bikers whatever. The guy was even more angry and I was like could you please ban me so I can teleport to somewhere normal? lol funny story actually, I will never forget unfortunately. 

I've recommended map overlays that show what is public linden owned and what is private. A total map overhaul would help everyone. Getting the Map button added to the Toolbar was a major milestone. Considering it's a building "game"/platform and new people love to build and learn building, if we could just get that little hammer added on the side Toolbar with maybe a sub pop up for educational sandboxes that does not require a group memberships, dare I say a Linden Academy, Linden Homes would benefit from a phone system that can be left on wall and or taken for new linden home residents who never built in 3D. Residents would click it and be provided with directory of resources tips and tricks via | Utility Linden Virtual Assistant Hologram | "Welcome to your new home, if you would like to change the style of home click the mailbox, while your there looking at the styles be sure to click the content pack and when you are finished I will help you place some home furnishings maybe a desk and office chair "when you have time lets learn some new building skills" "Would you prefer to learn about model trains, doll houses, or general building?" while seated at the desk we can practice with larger objects and then work to smaller object model sets as we progress.

It would be powerful to be able to explore and build with ease. Not get blocked, banned, bannished, bullied, and so on while trying to learn. I guess learning all this stuff the hard way is possible and has proven to be somewhat sustainable? I don't want anyone else to feel this way or have any negative experiences related to official content. This is the best building game/platform/world in the world in my option. It's an aquired taste of creations dating back going on 19 years. It has history that should never be lost. Roblox nope, Ylands nope, Facebook..Meta Never, Unreal blah. (The unreal engine is beautiful but not a fan of their building.) I only work with the best. If I have to work with what I got with the best I will do so. 

 

 

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your own experience of Second Life. It reminded me of how steep that learning curve really is. I had some time off and when I came back it was almost like being back at square one. 

It is to be hoped that some of the Linden people do glance at these forums and take our comments on board - and I think they do - and your experience of the portal throwing you into a female-only club could have been enough to put you off Second Life altogether.  My suggestion to Linden Lab therefore would be to ensure when they create these new orientation/welcome spaces, they are checked at least once a week to ensure they are still as welcoming. 

I think also an emphasis should be placed on the in world search feature.  I cannot stress enough that everything is available in Second Life and can be found just via typing a keyword or two into the search box, whether it's building classes, coffee houses, Def Leppard tribute bands.  Most is available somewhere in world.  There are some splendid building groups, which I believe have their own sandboxes (but I might be out-of-date on this point), so they are safe places in which to learn to build and create at your own pace. 

Otherwise there are some jolly good tutorials created by residents over on Youtube.  

I have absolutely no experience of any other internet-based platform. Second Life was my first, so I have nothing to compare it with. 

I'm no creator though. I used to buy and sell mainland, but that stopped being lucrative and I really enjoy more than anything just exploring and appreciating what other people create.  The world map I always pull down from the menus at the top of the screen, because that was how we did it back in the old days (!). As well as having the little icons in the margins/task bar, everything is still available via all the menu options.  I still sometimes pull up the world map and head towards those areas where there are the most green dots. Sometimes it will just be a store or a skybox full of bot avatars, other times I drop lucky with a friendly club.

It's fun though isn't it?  

[Marigold Devin]

4 hours ago, Paulsian said:

I tend to only hang out in official protected parts of the world: roads/parks maybe 3rd party roadside shops will catch my attention or things that interest me. Sometimes people with private regions or land are picky and cautious about new arrivals because of trolling; leaving a bad aftertaste for legit residents. I'm not into cults or conforming to private rules, only to do so and be rejected can be hurtful. I will not give any 3rd party that power or any of their underling moderators; whom are usually clicky and on power trips and too self absorbed to care about anyone else. I will travel around every once in blue moon but will not linger on private regions or land. I do travel outside the protected areas but I try to never get attached to places or people. Usually their agenda is revenue and if you're not willing to pay over and over make room for someone else. Especially if it being labeled a social area can be extremely hurtful. 

For new residents: If you right click world at top of screen and about land you will have better idea of who owns the land. To find some good chat spots: open map, make sure info hub is checked, and look around the map for the blue i logos (might have to zoom out). You'll notice some info hubs with a lot of people around and eventually meet some nice people and build meaningful relationships. I guess some of those can be privately owned, I personally stick with the ones that say owned by a linden. A lot of the times people are shy, just have a seat and relax you'll meet some pretty interesting people. Try not to take them too serious. 

I'm not a fan of the destination guide slide show at the top of the screen. I wish that opened up to the big list or had a link in that slider somewhere: https://secondlife.com/destinations 

The most meaningful friends do not require a friends list. You will find the places and people you care about the most. 

Just want to add this link to another thread that you might find interesting.

 

 

[cunomar]

LL is damned if they do and damned if they don't with regards to policing the off putting hostile arrogance i'm sure plenty of newcomers encounter .

So i would suggest they invite a new player , who will make newbie mistakes , and simply follow them while having a little fun inflicting instant karma on offenders .

The uppity muppet who kicked the op might think twice about it next time if they got booted from sim to sim for 15 minutes in poetic justice .

Let it be known they are doing it and give the untouchables something to worry about .

Edited December 13, 2021 by cunomar

[Chris71i]

8 hours ago, cunomar said:

LL is damned if they do and damned if they don't with regards to policing the off putting hostile arrogance i'm sure plenty of newcomers encounter .

 

It is awkward for them. The new owners own a business they would want SL to represent the values of that organisation too. A new player is a new customer sampling the product they provide. I saw some old wood standing around skiting in open chat comparing  how many trolls/trouble makers they ejected from the welcome area which I felt out of place there   

It needs to be a professional friendly experience because we are that as a people in the world now and experience it daily.  Welcome areas represent whoever owns LL.  Don’t get me wrong there were well intentioned nice people there too as helpers but the format seems dated in some cases.  

If I’d just been to the Apple store and a nice RL or SL retail outlet experiencing professional one on one service then logged into SL to try it and had a contrasting experience to what I’m accustomed to I’d be like meh, next game..

Edited December 13, 2021 by Chris71i

[Bree Giffen]

LL can only build a welcome area and tell people to go out and explore. They can't control which residents can hang out in the welcome area. 

Unfortunately, SL is divided into small parcels and experienced residents, who could possibly provide a lot of random helpful information to new residents, can simply log in and out  directly to their parcels without needing to interact with anyone.....e.g. new residents.

How does one herd a group of experienced cats into helping the kittens? Corral them. Have them log into some kind of nexus where everyone has to pass through to get to their safe space. Hopefully as they pass by new residents they can have some small talk and pass along some useful information.

[Silent Mistwalker]

One more time.

NO!

[Lindal Kidd]

On 12/11/2021 at 6:04 PM, Chris71i said:

...I get an IM within the first 10 seconds of arrival, “move away up the back or dance” to which I responded what happens in the event of non-compliance to the demand?  I couldn’t see anything while it loaded and couldn’t find where to move to anyway... Immediately I was ejected much to my dismay again with a typed response “that’s what you get for not obeying the rule”

I'm sorry that happened to you.  All of the "newcomer friendly" places in the Destination Guide (well, pretty much ALL places in SL!) are owned and run by Residents, with little or no oversight from Linden Lab. The ones I belong to do try to ensure that their people are friendly, helpful, experienced, and not too quick on the ban-hammer, but people are people.  A snip like your "what happens if I don't, huh?" can be quite likely to irritate an overworked, unpaid helper person. The thing is, that a lot of people who act like that ARE trouble-makers and SHOULD be booted, and the helpers know this from unfortunate experience.

The Golden Rule in SL is "She Who Owns the Land, Makes the Rules". Everyone on resident-owned land (which is pretty much everyplace) is there on the land owner's sufferance. The owner, or her designated agents, can ban you at any time for any reason, or even no reason at all. What this means is, you'd better be polite to people.

So...welcome (back) to SL. Try some of the other Newcomer Friendly destinations before you decide that the world is full of unfriendly people, and keep the Golden Rule in mind!

[Chris71i]

17 hours ago, Lindal Kidd said:

 A snip like your "what happens if I don't, huh?"  I

I'm not new and I knew what was going on regarding being asked to move that's why I posed the question to the volunteer. I have previously  volunteered in a welcome centre myself and found some bossy people used volunteering as an outlet for ordering people around and were dictatorial in adherence to trivial rules with new players much to my dismay instead of a gentle helpful hand. Anyway what I didn't relay in this message was the snappy rude response I got when I explained the technical reasons occurring that limited my ability to see a not yet rezzed world. That volunteer is the wrong person for doing that job as "pfft" is not a suitable response to technical logic explaining timing and inability to move especially when trying to buy a couple of min.  I've seen new players disappear over that stuff before and discussed their shock at experiencing it...

Edited December 16, 2021 by Chris71i

[Torric Rodas]

17 hours ago, Lindal Kidd said:

I'm sorry that happened to you.  All of the "newcomer friendly" places in the Destination Guide (well, pretty much ALL places in SL!) are owned and run by Residents, with little or no oversight from Linden Lab. The ones I belong to do try to ensure that their people are friendly, helpful, experienced, and not too quick on the ban-hammer, but people are people.  A snip like your "what happens if I don't, huh?" can be quite likely to irritate an overworked, unpaid helper person. The thing is, that a lot of people who act like that ARE trouble-makers and SHOULD be booted, and the helpers know this from unfortunate experience.

The Golden Rule in SL is "She Who Owns the Land, Makes the Rules". Everyone on resident-owned land (which is pretty much everyplace) is there on the land owner's sufferance. The owner, or her designated agents, can ban you at any time for any reason, or even no reason at all. What this means is, you'd better be polite to people.

So...welcome (back) to SL. Try some of the other Newcomer Friendly destinations before you decide that the world is full of unfriendly people, and keep the Golden Rule in mind!

It is always unfortunate when an Alt with an axe to grind comes looking for a bad experience and then edits events to fit their agenda.

[cunomar]

I'm not sure I understand the point of that comment Torric , are you saying it doesn't happen ?

I used to hang at a newbie friendly place who pretty much made everyone staff in order to keep traffic numbers up , and every time someone got the ability to boot , out went whoever was the least likely to retaliate . So typically a newbie .

[Artorius Constantine]

Second Life is not a game. We know that but new players don't.

The main question I get is "So what do you do in Second Life?" My answer of "Anything you want!" seems great to me but gets lost on a new player.

SL NEEDS a game region or two. Something for new players to do to get them into the world. A tutorial like any other game you play that starts you off with simple instructions then teaches you through a quest then gives you something to do. The last part is key. New players need to be told what to do, they expect it, they want it, they need it.

LL should create a region for Zombie hunting or whatever game play style they want, maybe even a couple different types of game focused regions. Then new players get a tutorial and are given a quest. Make them build to survive, to teach building, make them "camouflage" to learn how to change clothes. You have to lead people by the hand into the world, show them what they can do, THEN you can release them into the wild.

Even full PVP/ loot games do this, no one sends new players straight off into a battle without a tutorial. SL isn't a puzzle game, people don't want to try and figure out what they have to do/ are expected to do. SL doesn't expect people to do anything, there's no base game play, that is what loses us new players. They simply don't understand because it is so different to anything they have ever done, video game wise.

I'm building a Video game myself right now and I spent almost a month just on the tutorial section. And it's barely enough.

When I joined (over a decade ago) we had a small walk through tutorial that explained almost nothing then tossed you into the mix. I (like a previous poster) learned and socialized while camping on dance pads. I also joined up to make Machinima so I had a specific purpose already in mind. Probably the only reason I stuck around too.

[Rowan Amore]

2 minutes ago, Artorius Constantine said:

Second Life is not a game. We know that but new players don't.

The main question I get is "So what do you do in Second Life?" My answer of "Anything you want!" seems great to me but gets lost on a new player.

SL NEEDS a game region or two. Something for new players to do to get them into the world. A tutorial like any other game you play that starts you off with simple instructions then teaches you through a quest then gives you something to do. The last part is key. New players need to be told what to do, they expect it, they want it, they need it.

LL should create a region for Zombie hunting or whatever game play style they want, maybe even a couple different types of game focused regions. Then new players get a tutorial and are given a quest. Make them build to survive, to teach building, make them "camouflage" to learn how to change clothes. You have to lead people by the hand into the world, show them what they can do, THEN you can release them into the wild.

Even full PVP/ loot games do this, no one sends new players straight off into a battle without a tutorial. SL isn't a puzzle game, people don't want to try and figure out what they have to do/ are expected to do. SL doesn't expect people to do anything, there's no base game play, that is what loses us new players. They simply don't understand because it is so different to anything they have ever done, video game wise.

I'm building a Video game myself right now and I spent almost a month just on the tutorial section. And it's barely enough.

When I joined (over a decade ago) we had a small walk through tutorial that explained almost nothing then tossed you into the mix. I (like a previous poster) learned and socialized while camping on dance pads. I also joined up to make Machinima so I had a specific purpose already in mind. Probably the only reason I stuck around too.

I proposed something like this in another thread some time ago.  Instead of breezing  through the start area, give incentives for.completing tasks.  Changing clothes, opening boxes and using.whatever is in there, finding something in search, etc.  The new player is given 'points' like some stores do.  At the end, they can exchange their points for selected merchandise in that region.  Merchandise from actual SL creators.  Maybe a rotating set of items.  

 

[QwiQ]

The only issue I had when I arrived last year was truthfully just other residents.

When I joined, you went through the whole induction thing which taught you the basics of how to get around and how to communicate, then you end up in some sort of communal open area with a mix of newbs and older residents just milling about.

It's just really off putting, it's silent because no one is talking in open chat, and daring to IM anyone was usually absolute carnage.

As a male avatar if I IM'd another male avatar, then it was tumbleweed city. I'm guessing because shooting the breeze with another guy wasn't his gameplan for SL that day (or any day).
IM a female avatar, and be prepared to jump through hoops to prove you're not the alt of some ex/current lover trying to catch them out in some way.

Most of the "New Resident" areas I visited were pretty much the same until luckily someone pointed me towards the Caledon Oxbridge University.

This place and the genuine open people there were what stopped me from throwing in the towel within the first couple of days. 

It seems to me it could act as a model and an inspiration for how new residents should be welcomed into SL.

(Please note I have no affiliation with Caledon, other than as a grateful noob 🙂)

[Lindal Kidd]

Thanks for the nod to COU, we're happy that we were able to give you a better start in SL!

Other excellent newbie-helping places are New Resident Island (White Tiger Mentors), Firestorm Help Island, Ajuda SL Brasil (for Portuguese speakers), New Citizens Inc. (NCI, several locations), and Builders Brewery.

[QwiQ]

23 minutes ago, Lindal Kidd said:

Thanks for the nod to COU, we're happy that we were able to give you a better start in SL!

Other excellent newbie-helping places are New Resident Island (White Tiger Mentors), Firestorm Help Island, Ajuda SL Brasil (for Portuguese speakers), New Citizens Inc. (NCI, several locations), and Builders Brewery.

Thank you Lindal, I didn't know you were involved with COU!

Yep, there's so much more I could say about the place, and a whole raft of people who spent time tutoring, guiding and just chatting.

I also second the Builders Brewery; again just lots of genuine and helpful people willing to give up their time to help a noob stick one prim on top of another 🙂