A Positive Brainstorming / Suggestion Box Thread - Ideas for Improving Second Life Sociability, Usability and Retention

[Love Zhaoying]

1 minute ago, animats said:

Useful reading: "The Gamer's Brain", by Celia Hodent. She's the neuroscientist who made Fortnite's user experience a huge success. She writes about what you can, and can't, expect users to do and go through.

Suggestion: LL should hire her as a consultant! 

[Fluffy Sharkfin]

23 hours ago, animats said:

Then SL could have Lawnmower Simulator (yes, there is such a game.)

Don't forget Pressure Washer Simulator!

LL could start up a whole new in-world industry... premium members could hire non-premium members to come to Bellisseria and mow their lawns, wash their cars, etc. which would boost the economy and also help with immersion and realism with the addition of a fully functioning class system in SL!  

[Love Zhaoying]

7 minutes ago, animats said:

This is entertainment, not the military.

..except a lot of users probably would love it if SL had more "Military Roleplay"!

[Love Zhaoying]

5 minutes ago, Fluffy Sharkfin said:

Don't forget Pressure Washer Simulator!

I'm afraid that someone will message me wanting to clean my..Windows!

[EliseAnne85]

2 hours ago, Caeruleiae said:

No, people do not simply log in and find their way around easy, even those that do for their selves, what a stupid thing to say. It's been way too long since you were new. It hasn't been that long since I was. I know how hard it can be to find information and find things to do, clearly you don't because you know where it all is already. I talk to new people, all the time. I understand their frustrations. We see people come here and ask what there is to do. We see people inworld with the same question.  I had to search, outside of sl, even outside of the sl website, to find most of the things I know. That still has nothing at all to do with the post I commented on, and my post. Both of them were talking about THINGS TO DO IN SL, not instructions on how to find them, but actual things to do. 

I'm starting to understand why some new people get frustrated with the forums.

I don't remember all of what was there when I started in mid-2000's but it probably was basically the same.  We log in, learn to walk, and have to ask others around us if they could help.  Is there anyone there when you begin as a newbie to help?  Although I know your post was directed to someone else, I wanted to chime in here.

The way I view Philip Rosedale's take on Second Life is that it's much like real life in that much of it we have to put effort in and figure a lot of things out ourselves just like in real life, and often that takes the initiative to ask for help from someone/anyone near by.  That's kind of like real life.  If someone in real life were to ask me where is the nearest restaurant, I'd say it's around the corner to your right.  And, so we apply that to SL, ask for help.  And, then work on that awhile until you get it.  SL also reminds me of that line from a Doors song "into this world we are thrown".  We are thrown into this world and we make it want we want it to be step by step once we learn some basic tools.  I, personally, like it that way in that my SL is up to me and I feel some sense of achievement and that achievement is put in my court which has boosted my real life self esteem and made me learn it's not difficult to ask questions in real life from those I don't know.

I don't know if having a lawn to mow or whatever else you subsequently suggested would not turn boring as many things do in SL.  

As for what to do in SL.  There was a thread on that about a year ago and it was amazing to read the long list of things people do in SL.  

I'd guess the younger generation is coming from games where there are little things to do like water a lawn; whereas I think my generation came in viewing SL as a meet and greet and chat place where we could interact as avatars have a home, a job, a family, or whatever we imagined.  It was ours to create.  That aspect could be dying for younger generations.

Edited February 16, 2023 by EliseAnne85

[benchthis]

1 hour ago, Love Zhaoying said:

2 hours ago, animats said:

Useful reading: "The Gamer's Brain", by Celia Hodent. She's the neuroscientist who made Fortnite's user experience a huge success. She writes about what you can, and can't, expect users to do and go through.

Suggestion: LL should hire her as a consultant! 

I'm all for professional help. I don't think LL/SLs "problems" are that complicated. If it's going to take an outsider to question every person at LL / SL more than once maybe shadow them for long periods of time to get to the bottom of why things are not evolving you have my vote.

 

Edited February 16, 2023 by benchthis

[benchthis]

1 hour ago, Love Zhaoying said:

..except a lot of users probably would love it if SL had more "Military Roleplay"!

I'd join just for the uniforms. 

[Love Zhaoying]

2 minutes ago, EliseAnne85 said:

I don't know if have a lawn to mow or whatever else you subsequently suggested would not turn boring as many things do in SL.  

Every parent / spouse: "Why don't you go mow your own lawn, then?"

Suggestion: Signup boards for mentoring time slots at "safe hubs".

[Caeruleiae]

2 hours ago, EliseAnne85 said:

Is there anyone there when you begin as a newbie to help? 

When I joined, no, just other new people around, but I didn't leave the tutorial area that day, or even the next day I logged on. I stayed there while I was reading up on sl. The day I came back and planned to leave the area there was someone there, but she was very obnoxious and annoying people. 

I know people do have to look around for help, and there is lots of it out there. New people do have to figure out where to look, who to ask, how to find things. It's not as intuitive as people think, at least not for all new people. For people who have been here a while, it is intuitive, because they know where everything is, how to find things, who to ask, where to go, what to look at, what to ignore and every other million things people brand new to sl won't know right away. It probably could be simplified a bit for new people. I don't have an exact answer on how it can be done, but I've already read other threads here that talk about new users and they all mention this experience being poor and hurting retention. 

2 hours ago, EliseAnne85 said:

I don't know if having a lawn to mow or whatever else you subsequently suggested would not turn boring as many things do in SL. 

Everything in sl is boring to someone. It's okay that we don't all enjoy the same activities. I would never find myself bored with mowing grass, tending to gardens and things like that because I enjoy it very much. I may be the only one in sl too, but that's okay.

2 hours ago, EliseAnne85 said:

I'd guess the younger generation is coming from games where there are little things to do like water a lawn; whereas I think my generation came in viewing SL as a meet and greet and chat place where we could interact as avatars have a home, a job, a family, or whatever we imagined.  It was ours to create.  That aspect could be dying for younger generations.

What's mostly causing a dying of anything, is people speaking for younger generations as if we have no voice. It gets extremely irritating constantly being told what my generation is and is not doing, capable of, ruining, being lazy about, not wanting to do, and every other thing. I can only speak for myself and mention things other people in my generation have said, but we're really not a bunch of lazy, hand it to me, make my decisions for me, give me something to do all the time no good do nothings. We're capable of creating our world our imagination too, even if we may occasionally ask for a little direction. Open ended issues affect all generations, though, even people who have been here a long time, and much older than I am in rl have said they grow tired of the same things in sl. 

[EliseAnne85]

53 minutes ago, Caeruleiae said:

I can only speak for myself and mention things other people in my generation have said, but we're really not a bunch of lazy, hand it to me, make my decisions for me, give me something to do all the time no good do nothings. We're capable of creating our world our imagination too, even if we may occasionally ask for a little direction. 

First off, I think it may be inherent in everything to ask for a little direction wherever it may be, especially in real life.  

Plus, I never meant to imply your generation was a bunch of lazy, hand it to me, make my decisions for me...etc....generation.

The difference I thought I might be seeing (or perhaps it's not there at all) is you and Ayashe (who keeps mentioning other games that are brimming over with people now) is that there is something to do or build.  And, in some other posts, I'm seeing recommendations for tasks that people can do.  So, I'm assuming, perhaps too much, that other games have some kind of tasks for younger people, who are growing older in those games now, to do. 

However, I don't know anything of other games - from Minecraft to Roblox - nothing.  So, I don't know what people who are grown up now, coming from those games, find when they come to SL and find there isn't that stuff from the get-go of tasks or things to do.  SL is not like other "games", we all know that much.  When many of us oldbies came to SL a long time ago, there wasn't any expectation like the generations today coming from other games.  SL was portrayed as a virtrual world where you interact with others as an avatar and it had no expectations.  That's the difference I was wondering about.

And, as far as things to do in SL.  Yeah, mowing the law wouldn't be my thing in SL, but it might be yours alone is basically what SL is now.  One can probably find a working lawn mower on MP.  I know I used to have a real working sprinkler system for one of my homes.  And, I've made fully animated bathrooms where one could even give themselves a facial and paint their avi's toenails, and made full animated vanities to where one's avatar could even put on perfume.  It's fun for awhile but it's still not at the crux of what SL needs, imo.  I believe you can find animated just about everything, but it can be expensive today.  It wasn't so expensive when I had sculpty animated full bathrooms that sold for about 100 L and had the works.    

I've thought SL could use something from the beginning where new residents could win gift cards so they can learn to customize their avatar and play fun interactive games from the beginning is more along the lines of what I mean when I say give new avatars something to do.  I mean a game of some sort, with prizes (gift cards).  

[Prokofy Neva]

8 hours ago, benchthis said:

One more thing I like about the directory style destination guide, it has information about the destinations, including maturity ratings. 

Edit: At the bottom of the list is adults only destinations which is fine. When I browse different categories there are A ratings, that could be confusing for new users because they would not know that some region owners place the A for Adult, even there this is not adult content. They set it this way maybe to have no restrictions or increased presence in search results. Maybe introduction to a new rating catagory U Unrated? Just because a destination is rated A does not mean we can show up in our birthday suits. That's a little problem that needs to be looked into. Possible solution suggestion.  

Or the rating process needs to be a little stricter. I'm pretty sure i'm not allowed to show up naked and golf at that place rated A. Should it be M? Since it's rated A why isn't it with the Adult content? What's the difference? The difference needs to be brainstormed and updated. 

 

I've even got some venues in some of these categories. But I gotta tell you, this list, as good as it is, is not how people come to those venues. They come because I have inworld clients and update a server regularly inworld, or they see my picks or word of mouth -- as they do for other listings. This list probably rarely gets pulled down. As an oldbie, I  "just know" it's there, but I myself forget to look at it, especially when I see some sections are really out of date. 

For excample Cica's latest I got not from this, not from the Linden splash screen, which will have it sometimes, but from an inworld artists' group pointing it out. That's how SL works.

[benchthis]

1 minute ago, Prokofy Neva said:

8 hours ago, benchthis said:

One more thing I like about the directory style destination guide, it has information about the destinations, including maturity ratings. 

Edit: At the bottom of the list is adults only destinations which is fine. When I browse different categories there are A ratings, that could be confusing for new users because they would not know that some region owners place the A for Adult, even there this is not adult content. They set it this way maybe to have no restrictions or increased presence in search results. Maybe introduction to a new rating catagory U Unrated? Just because a destination is rated A does not mean we can show up in our birthday suits. That's a little problem that needs to be looked into. Possible solution suggestion.  

Or the rating process needs to be a little stricter. I'm pretty sure i'm not allowed to show up naked and golf at that place rated A. Should it be M? Since it's rated A why isn't it with the Adult content? What's the difference? The difference needs to be brainstormed and updated. 

 

Expand  

I've even got some venues in some of these categories. But I gotta tell you, this list, as good as it is, is not how people come to those venues. They come because I have inworld clients and update a server regularly inworld, or they see my picks or word of mouth -- as they do for other listings. This list probably rarely gets pulled down. As an oldbie, I  "just know" it's there, but I myself forget to look at it, especially when I see some sections are really out of date. 

For excample Cica's latest I got not from this, not from the Linden splash screen, which will have it sometimes, but from an inworld artists' group pointing it out. That's how SL works.

 

3 minutes ago, Prokofy Neva said:

8 hours ago, benchthis said:

One more thing I like about the directory style destination guide, it has information about the destinations, including maturity ratings. 

Edit: At the bottom of the list is adults only destinations which is fine. When I browse different categories there are A ratings, that could be confusing for new users because they would not know that some region owners place the A for Adult, even there this is not adult content. They set it this way maybe to have no restrictions or increased presence in search results. Maybe introduction to a new rating catagory U Unrated? Just because a destination is rated A does not mean we can show up in our birthday suits. That's a little problem that needs to be looked into. Possible solution suggestion.  

Or the rating process needs to be a little stricter. I'm pretty sure i'm not allowed to show up naked and golf at that place rated A. Should it be M? Since it's rated A why isn't it with the Adult content? What's the difference? The difference needs to be brainstormed and updated. 

 

Expand  

I've even got some venues in some of these categories. But I gotta tell you, this list, as good as it is, is not how people come to those venues.

Do you think if LL/SL updated it, cared for it, nurtured it, and provided new and existing users easy, in your face, access to the destination directory your venues would get more way more traffic than you've ever seen? How would you feel if your venues were contantly full and constantly getting new traffic? That is where I'm going. Not only will this help new and existing users find the specific destinations they seek easily, the land owners will have less stress wondering if they are going to be able to pay bills. 

This small change would reenergize the world.  

I uninstalled the viewer the other night, found myself closing my eyes and picking a place to land and wondering down a road. At the time I forgot about the destination directory, sure I had access to the destination floater but been through there and done that. I just wondered and wondered gave up and uninstalled the viewer. 

I could install the viewer now and travel around the destination directory but I don't want to. I don't want to play whatever this game is anymore. It took a few years but I'm at a place where I could leave here and never return, but I don't think that is what I'm meant to do. 

 

[Prokofy Neva]

18 hours ago, benchthis said:

 

Do you think if LL/SL updated it, cared for it, nurtured it, and provided new and existing users easy, in your face, access to the destination directory your venues would get more way more traffic than you've ever seen? How would you feel if your venues were contantly full and constantly getting new traffic? That is where I'm going. Not only will this help new and existing users find the specific destinations they seek easily, the land owners will have less stress wondering if they are going to be able to pay bills. 

This small change would reenergize the world.  

I uninstalled the viewer the other night, found myself closing my eyes and picking a place to land and wondering down a road. At the time I forgot about the destination directory, sure I had access to the destination floater but been through there and done that. I just wondered and wondered gave up and uninstalled the viewer. 

I could install the viewer now and travel around the destination directory but I don't want to. I don't want to play whatever this game is anymore. It took a few years but I'm at a place where I could leave here and never return, but I don't think that is what I'm meant to do. 

 

I don't think the Lindens can justify the staff time. They have another approach, which is to feature their friends, get traffic to their friends, and show that they've grown Bellisseria and helped out a few Mainland safari destinations mainly for more wealthy Bellisserians. And that's fine for what it is, and it produces the necessary success reports for bosses, but it's not enough obviously.

There is no way you can take a list that long and put it "in your face". The destinations is already a thing you can get by pulling down World/Destinations - a lesson that newbies may miss in the cacophany of onboarding. Should they force that view, of that particular toast on the viewer, on newbies for 30 days? Possibly.

I personally don't need my venues to be "full" but others may, and again, I think the way to fill them is through groups, classifieds, picks, etc. as indicated. 

Avatars are avian creatures. They fly. They dislike hard-to-do things and living on mountains; they like to live on flat coastal land and have simple dance balls to click on or other one-click activities. So they need billboards they can click on and teleport to from Welcome Island or infohubs. Again, this is an allergy that needs to be overcome, and when it is, the world will be better.

 

 

Edited February 17, 2023 by Prokofy Neva

[Qie Niangao]

Did someone already observe? There are two very different "Destination Guide" interfaces. One is the newbie spoon-fed version from World / Destination Guide with like 14 categories, each with maybe 20-30 entries and no subcategories. The other is the firehose Destination Guide webpage you can open in the viewer from Search, discussed above. At least some of the spoon-fed destinations and categories are selected from the firehose ones.

This is the right way to do it. Maybe the firehose should be more readily discoverable from the spoon-fed interface, and it's impressive to see a broad range of places available to explore, but there's no point in overwhelming newbies with complexity to start.

That's how I feel about avatars, too. I pray the spoon-fed NUX avatars are good enough that only the most fashionista 1% need to consider anything from the firehose for at least six weeks. The basic task of dressing the dolly is fraught with peril. ("I bought this fancy face skin and now my mouth is on the top of my head. What you mean, 'UV map'? I thought I was learning Second Life, not inventing it!") Even arrivals who came for the purpose of avatar customization are apt to give up in disgust if they see the whole convoluted incompatibility exercise that is the SL avatar. Given that mess, hide as much as possible as long as possible, until they're truly hooked.

And this will be unpopular, but I feel the same way about viewers. Let a hundred flowers bloom, sure; let developers scratch their own itch, sure; but newbies using the Linden viewer? Good! 

Sure, your favorite viewer has all these handy shortcuts indispensable for you. That's for you. For a newbie, those are "twisty little passages, all different." Nobody ever left SL because their viewer lacked those features. Nobody. But people do leave because it's too damned complicated. It does newbies no favors to proselytize the one true TPV.

[Caeruleiae]

12 hours ago, EliseAnne85 said:

So, I don't know what people who are grown up now, coming from those games, find when they come to SL and find there isn't that stuff from the get-go of tasks or things to do.  SL is not like other "games", we all know that much.  When many of us oldbies came to SL a long time ago, there wasn't any expectation like the generations today coming from other games.  SL was portrayed as a virtrual world where you interact with others as an avatar and it had no expectations.  That's the difference I was wondering about.

I think even though sl is pretty open ended, there has always been stuff to do. When there were more people, or maybe less spread around, it might have been easier to find those things or learn about them. I'm not really sure since all I have to go on from then is what other people have said or I read. Even though I mentioned direction, there is lots to do in sl. This thread is just ideas about more things people could do, or maybe changes to the things that already exist that would help keep people-new or old, no matter age, around longer. 

If you look at like minecraft, there are things to do there, but you can also play open ended, where you decide what things you want to do, there are no set tasks quests or stuff like that. Sl is a lot like that, but way way more, I think that's where the disconnect starts a bit. It might be that for some people there's too much to do but too little information or direction to find it. For others it might be that what there is to do isn't entertaining enough, maybe. A lot of the people I talk to just need direction on how to find the things to do, or even just ideas on the kinds of things they can do-I think that makes sense.

12 hours ago, EliseAnne85 said:

  It's fun for awhile but it's still not at the crux of what SL needs, imo.  

I think things to do, a purpose, is the crux of what sl needs, no matter what the idea is. People need a purpose to stick around anywhere. The purpose could be anything, but no one is going to stick around just because, of any generation. They need a reason to want to be here, that's what sl needs. Even way back when I'm sure people stuck around sl because they wanted to be here, not just because it exists.

12 hours ago, EliseAnne85 said:

I've thought SL could use something from the beginning where new residents could win gift cards so they can learn to customize their avatar and play fun interactive games from the beginning is more along the lines of what I mean when I say give new avatars something to do.  I mean a game of some sort, with prizes (gift cards).  

Stuff like this would be a very good idea. Something that helps grab people from the start and give them a starting direction. So, now they have this gift card, or prize or game to play in sl to get that prize. That's a good purpose for sticking around at least for a little bit. Going forward from that they can find more directions, more purpose, more things interesting to them. That keeps people around. 

[Love Zhaoying]

Some interesting discussion regarding "younger generation" - and what they experience coming into Second Life with their Gaming experience.  Because if we're not part of that generation, "we ain't them".

I renew an old suggestion that proper "Surveys" of users by LL and professionals at doing "survey-type things" would help with a lot of questions.

However, noting that some have said in the past that "Surveys don't work". lol. (My response to this has been previously, then how are companies supposed to do business / know their target customers?" 

🙂 

 

[Zalificent Corvinus]

3 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I renew an old suggestion that proper "Surveys" of users by LL and professionals at doing "survey-type things" would help with a lot of questions.

LL's idea of a survey seems to be  a guy from marketing loitering by the office coffee machine and asking 5 employees from billing for their opinions on SL, which they dont actually use.

Outside professionals ask all the wrong questions, and/or all the wrong people.

Remember the shouting about people from Europe being selected for a survey and asked questions that assumed they were ALL Americans.

 

Surveys CAN work, when not conducted by incompetents.

[EliseAnne85]

52 minutes ago, Caeruleiae said:

I think even though sl is pretty open ended, there has always been stuff to do. When there were more people, or maybe less spread around, it might have been easier to find those things or learn about them. I'm not really sure since all I have to go on from then is what other people have said or I read. Even though I mentioned direction, there is lots to do in sl. This thread is just ideas about more things people could do, or maybe changes to the things that already exist that would help keep people-new or old, no matter age, around longer. 

If you look at like minecraft, there are things to do there, but you can also play open ended, where you decide what things you want to do, there are no set tasks quests or stuff like that. Sl is a lot like that, but way way more, I think that's where the disconnect starts a bit. It might be that for some people there's too much to do but too little information or direction to find it. For others it might be that what there is to do isn't entertaining enough, maybe. A lot of the people I talk to just need direction on how to find the things to do, or even just ideas on the kinds of things they can do-I think that makes sense.

I think things to do, a purpose, is the crux of what sl needs, no matter what the idea is. People need a purpose to stick around anywhere. The purpose could be anything, but no one is going to stick around just because, of any generation. They need a reason to want to be here, that's what sl needs. Even way back when I'm sure people stuck around sl because they wanted to be here, not just because it exists.

Stuff like this would be a very good idea. Something that helps grab people from the start and give them a starting direction. So, now they have this gift card, or prize or game to play in sl to get that prize. That's a good purpose for sticking around at least for a little bit. Going forward from that they can find more directions, more purpose, more things interesting to them. That keeps people around. 

I don't know how to separate the quotes and respond by part, so I will do my best.

First, I want to say that I think the avatar is the most important part of SL as this is how we interact and/or present ourselves in a virtual world.  So, I mention beginner games where one can win prizes or a gift card so it gives them a start to learning how to make "themselves" as a representation.  And, they learn to dress, teleport to stores, see what stores have to offer, etc, etc.  

When I was new all those years ago, I wanted a job.  Jobs were more plentiful then but now many jobs are taken up by bots or there are corporate sellers now who make items compared to more hobby sellers in SL's beginnings.  So, I think players starting in SL's beginning had more access to getting some funds to build their avatar by getting a job and we had no wait time either.  And, this is what I think beginner games and prizes could help fill the void of.  

There is a part of the PROFILE area where one fills in what they want to do in SL  and one checks those boxes.  Such as be hired, build, explore, etc.  That part of the profile is still there, although I think it was used way more in SL's beginnings.  

SL wants to make itself over with PBR and make it look good more like most other games.  I don't know if it will help much because of one thing - the cost.  The cost to buy stuff could become very high.  However, PBR is said to be easy, so perhaps it might work in that more people can or will eventually 'build' and that could help bring the cost down.  It's all a gamble right now.  But, four texture uploads per face to build for a hobby is a lot of money, especially when people want things for a few quarters or a dollar.  But, we have a war on now and very high inflation so it's difficult to judge what extra money people will have for entertainment at this time.

As to your point about having a purpose to stay in SL.  Very interesting insight.  I'd have to say that's very true.  Plus, fun is another one, imo and even making money and then going shopping is fun to me.  We can make tons of fun for events too but unfortunately that tons of fun all translates into lag, so we have to carefully plan events because of the lag it can cause with too much stuff.   To give an example, I am a Dinkie now so I hang out with the Dinkies and Tinies quite a lot.  We had an event called "The Crazy Circus".  My was that ever cleverly scripted.  Then one of our furries did a dance with about five bots on each side of her and the bots and she were all dancing in sequence kind of Janet Jackson style or what J-pop or C-pop are now.  Now, the Dinkies and Tinies can view all this with tons of us (60 and up) in the seats because we are very low lag, but translate that into human avatars, and it's too laggy to do shows like this, although the PBR beta viewer is said to be getting some good performance.  Many of us will have to wait n see.  But, seeing Jenny dance with her bots was just absolutely amazing!  

Edited February 17, 2023 by EliseAnne85

[Love Zhaoying]

2 minutes ago, EliseAnne85 said:

I don't know how to separate the quotes and respond by part, so I will do my best.

Yeah, even though "multi-quoting" can "work" it depends on your browser, etc. 

It doesn't work for me on the phone.

And even on the PC, if I am "editing" a post, quoting something "new" often adds a "new" post.

Too bad this ain't a thread about Forum Feedback!!!

I'd be all over that like a cheap fursuit.

[Ayashe Ninetails]

1 hour ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Some interesting discussion regarding "younger generation" - and what they experience coming into Second Life with their Gaming experience.  Because if we're not part of that generation, "we ain't them".

I suppose I'm a bit lost as to the separation of younger vs. older when it comes to experiences within SL. When I first joined in 2005, I WAS the younger generation - early/mid 20s, with two whole decades of gaming experience behind me already - both on PC and on consoles. In fact, I came here directly from a popular MMO (Everquest 2) for the sole purpose of avatar customization and roleplay. Gaming was already booming way back when a lot of us started here in the early days - with WoW being the king, but other online games were also pretty popular.

Funny enough, a guildmate I roleplayed with knew how frustrated I was by EQ2's crappy character appearances and he's the one who told me about SL. He said to me hey, come try this Second Life thing, you can look ANY way you want, it's great! And we can roleplay there, too! Okay sure. I downloaded, jumped in, and...what the heck?! Why is it so basic? Where's the character creator? Wait what do you mean I need Photoshop to customize my clothing? Can't I just...wait what? This looks just as bad if not worse what in the hell??  What the heck is this inventory? What the hell is a Ruth? How do I get this off me? Why am I wearing a BOX?!

So a few days later, we went our own separate ways in SL (I hated it and I think he was over my whining at him for bringing me here, LOL) and I found...SHOPPING! Managed to cobble something together and eventually got hooked on that aspect of the "game." 

I didn't find any tutorials that told me hey, if you're looking for a super easy customization tool like you're used to, buckle up, kid! It's all sliders and spending money and camping and crawling our massive grid for freebies and external programs! I had to figure all that out myself (same as today, except there are at least some more resources on YouTube and blogs now).

The only real differences I've noticed between then and now is 1) I could build and design my own fashion accessories, which alleviated the need to shop AS much and got me into building as a hobby/business, and 2) Freebie gardens and super cheap yard sales were eeeeeeeverywhere, so you could go for long stretches without having money and do alright - provided you were okay with camping and hunting for money trees.

Long story short, I eventually left years later and came back to SL a few years ago, loooong after mesh had been implemented, and it was Day 1 all over again, and I hated it....AGAIN. My reunion with my SL bestie of 16 years resulted in her yelling at me demanding I rush out immediately to get a mesh body and head - and I had to learn that ENTIRE process from scratch (Omega, appliers, AND BOM), AGAIN, but now with mesh! Oh and yeah, if you want to restart your business - learn Blender. No...no I don't think I will, thanks.

So, I've been there, twice, and whether you're 20 or 60, just getting out the starting gate in SL is a pain in the butt. If you have ANY familiarity at all with gaming and the usual standards that are employed across that industry (inventory management systems, UI design, how tutorials are set up, character creators, chat features, etc.), you'll come in here like what the absolute #$@!? 😳😂 It was like this in 2005, and it's like this now.

[Love Zhaoying]

2 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

I suppose I'm a bit lost as to the separation of younger vs. older when it comes to experiences within SL.

That is natural, as we are each in our own "bubble" according to our experiences, our friends, etc.

Speaking for myself: Some of us who've been in Second Life for many years, it's hard for us to imagine the "new user" experience. We ain't them.

 

[Ayashe Ninetails]

1 minute ago, Love Zhaoying said:

That is natural, as we are each in our own "bubble" according to our experiences, our friends, etc.

Speaking for myself: Some of us who've been in Second Life for many years, it's hard for us to imagine the "new user" experience. We ain't them.

The new user experience hasn't really changed from whenever we all joined. I mean, not counting hubs and mentors and all that - I have no idea about any of those things since I didn't make use of them (the first time, I just got dropped in somewhere and he came and got me right away).

But learning the ropes - similar process. And it's rough. I spend a lot of time helping newbies with their makeovers these days and it's not unusual for it to take several hours just to get them into the basics (body, head, skin, hair, teaching them how to use their huds, teaching them how to shop/find cheap groups for gifts, helping them learn to make custom shapes to save money). It's just a lot of work. NUX needs to hurry!

[Love Zhaoying]

5 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

The new user experience hasn't really changed from whenever we all joined. I mean, not counting hubs and mentors and all that - I have no idea about any of those things since I didn't make use of them (the first time, I just got dropped in somewhere and he came and got me right away).

But learning the ropes - similar process. And it's rough. I spend a lot of time helping newbies with their makeovers these days and it's not unusual for it to take several hours just to get them into the basics (body, head, skin, hair, teaching them how to use their huds, teaching them how to shop/find cheap groups for gifts, helping them learn to make custom shapes to save money). It's just a lot of work. NUX needs to hurry!

Pretty sure we didn't have anything - at all - 16 years ago when I joined!

 

[Ayashe Ninetails]

3 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

Pretty sure we didn't have anything - at all - 16 years ago when I joined!

Just good ole Ruth and a prayer. 😂

[Love Zhaoying]

7 minutes ago, Ayashe Ninetails said:

Just good ole Ruth and a prayer. 😂

Silly!! In case you were a little serious:

We had the "System Avatars", which looked OK.

We had Furries - but from what I remember, Luskwood was "State of the Art" for awhile.

Oooh! Suggestion: The NUX avatar should include some Furry options!