Notes on the WelcomeHub

[AmeliaJ08]

17 hours ago, Jaylinbridges said:

I created a new alt last night too.  I  signed up for free Basic, and when I got my account details, there was the button to download the SL Viewer.  I already had the SL Viewer installed, but I pressed the download button anyway, and it sent me the 7.0.0.580782 - GLTF PBR Material Import viewer, instead of the Default SL Viewer.  Since I didn't want to remove my Default viewer and use an Alpha/Beta viewer, I logged into my existing SL Viewer with the new alt name and password.  (I was not logged into SL on any other viewer.)

It sent my alt to the Firestorm gateway, the same as you.  I do not think this is random.

LL is figuring out my new Basic account is an alt somehow, and therefore sends me to anyplace but their new Welcome Hub.

FYI: 

I used my normal IP.  I used a new email address.  I used a new fake birth date. I used a different security question.  I used my normal desktop computer. All you need to do is start up a viewer, but not login, and LL has all the unique information about your computer.  They must compare this to their existing database, and decide to send you to anywhere but the Welcome Hub if your pre log-in data finds a match.

So, thinking I should have used the viewer they sent me on the LL new user login page, I installed the alpha PBR test viewer they sent me.  I hope a real newbie does not get this lag test program.  It took one look at my graphics and set me to between Low and Mid.  Ugh - 2006 graphics.  It set the LOD to 1.15, so low that the trees less than 128m away at the Firestorm hub did not rezz at all.  Anti-aliasing was disabled. DD was defaulted at 128m, no way to turn off ALM of course, and well graphics looked like sh*t.  

But I was able to find a LM to the Welcome Hub, using Destinations and the Social Casino. Once I managed to get to the Welcome Hub I noticed the signs were half rezzed or not at all.  The arrows on the floor that guide you through the intro steps also did not rez. The entire floor of the welcome area was just a fuzzy white.  This was because of the PBR test viewer.  I have never had any rezz issues with either FIrestorm or the SL Viewer, using High-Ultra settings at the Welcome Hub before, with the same computer.

So how does one get the actual first time SL user experience?  LL has made that nearly impossible for existing residents and their alts.

Alts are detected using hardware ID.

 

That is surprising they are sending you to the Firestorm gateway though, regardless of alt detection that really should be something that is determined by viewer name.

 

[AmeliaJ08]

14 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

The Firestorm Gateway is great...several sims....a basic area and then an easy gateway to a more social Firestorm area...very clear instructions...lots of people around to help who messaged me...even a Linden there....gateways to various interests after completing the tutorial.

Not sure a LL Welcome area is even needed, but where is the official LL Welcome area does anybody know?

Yeah Firestorm gateway should be the model. They have several people 'working' there at nearly all times as far as I have seen and also welcome oldbies who might be bored/feeling generous to assist anyone new without much in the way of tension as far as I have seen.

 

Weirdly it's also quite a social place, I've dropped in there just to meet new people and it nearly always went well. Assisted a few people as well, it's a good place to find people who maybe need to see something fun and I'd hope that sort of thing helps retention.

[Luna Bliss]

Does anybody know if there is a list of all Gateways?

[Persephone Emerald]

1 hour ago, Luna Bliss said:

Oh I was just bein silly.

But seriously, would it matter if the truly new person went to the Firestorm welcome area?  There was nothing specific about the Firestorm viewer that I could see (I did not investigate this thoroughly though)...maybe they'd just think the area had cool name.

And, the Firestorm welcome area is great -- very effective

The Firestorm gateway would work fine for a newbie, though the freebies there are a bit old. Once they go through to the social area, there are helpers who are equivalent to SL mentors and who can help with any questions the newbies might have. There will of course be a lean in favor of the Firestorm viewer, but helpers there should be able to help with LL viewer questions.

The Calderon gateway is good too.

The real problem is what happens if newbies land at a less helpful gateway.

Edited July 20, 2023 by Persephone Emerald

[Rowan Amore]

3 hours ago, Jaylinbridges said:

Unless LL has bought Firestorm recently, the LL gateway should send you to the SL Welcome Hub.  Some say they send you to any random gateway hub that is registered to be a newbie hub.  If so, what is the purpose of the SL Welcome Hub?  We think they are routing alts to anywhere but the new Welcome Hub.   Because who wants to help an alt?

This is the Linden Lab Gateway Page. SIgn up here, and get sent to the Firestorm or other gateway not run by LL.

https://join.secondlife.com/

 

I wonder if this is new behavior.  When I was there, 3 bots all appeared at the same time, one after the other then quickly tped away.  Perhaps they were getting too many of those types clogging up the area?

[Solar Legion]

New behavior or not it is long overdue.

With the present Hub in place and accessible to everyone there is no longer too much need to spin up a new account (yes yes, debatable). A step they honestly should have taken some time ago alongside reintroducing the Mentors.

ETA: I type this as I stand near the Motown exit of the Hub, pondering if I ought to examine the Hub proper or continue around the complex. They even covered the notion that a new user might be coming into here at the behest of a friend and have a waiting area for the existing users to go to, to meet up.

ETA2: Would I like to offer some help? At times, probably. Won't be able to do so in any official capacity as one of their prerequisites .... Well, Linden Lab dropped support for Linux some time ago and I am not going to go through WINE or Proton (be the WINE through Lutris or another application and proton through Steam) just to run their official viewer.

Edited July 20, 2023 by Solar Legion

[Luna Bliss]

My alt visited the Firestorm Gateway again, and I have to say again that it's great!  There's even a group you can joined named FS/SL Gateway, and ask questions.

[Marigold Devin]

With all the people in this thread creating new alts to go and try out the Welcome Hub as if a new user, that's going to eff up the figures at LL somewhat, and if those alts are never used again they'll look like new users they failed to retain. 

[Perrie Juran]

5 hours ago, Luna Bliss said:

Does anybody know if there is a list of all Gateways?

I was wondering the same. All I could find is a very old list. It's over ten years old.

https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Community_Gateway

[Luna Bliss]

45 minutes ago, Marigold Devin said:

With all the people in this thread creating new alts to go and try out the Welcome Hub as if a new user, that's going to eff up the figures at LL somewhat, and if those alts are never used again they'll look like new users they failed to retain. 

Oh I sincerely doubt very many of us are doing this....not enough to skew the numbers a great amount.

[Luna Bliss]

I just visited the SL Welcome area...and it's great!  Wow I was totally impressed. Looks lovely, organized well, very clear instructions (even little movies to watch on various topics).

A couple of mentors were there with their tags visible, other avatars were standing around (some appeared to be new residents and others might have been older ones looking to help out).

I like how the Welcome area is connected to Belli, and that little ride from the Welcome area to Belli was fun and a good way to introduce people to some of the nicer residential areas in SL.

[Jaylinbridges]

3 hours ago, Marigold Devin said:

if those alts are never used again they'll look like new users they failed to retain. 

Nonsense, my new alt has already found a job as a pole dancer... She is saving up for Lola boobs, and a skybox in Belli.

Edited July 21, 2023 by Jaylinbridges

[Drayke Newall]

3 hours ago, Perrie Juran said:

I was wondering the same. All I could find is a very old list. It's over ten years old.

https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Community_Gateway

There is no list provided anymore. Only solution is to go to the destination guide and search gateway. The issue with this is that the search is only based on keyword as there is no category.

Search Destinations (secondlife.com)

The other option is to select 'Help & How To' category and then select 'Newcomer Friendly Spots' and there are more listed there. I dont think this is all the gateways and the category also has non gateway regions as well.

Newcomer Friendly Spots | Second Life Destinations

[Persephone Emerald]

1 hour ago, Jaylinbridges said:

Nonsense, my new alt has already found a job as a pole dancer... She is saving up for Lola boobs, and a skybox in Belli.

Mine got a cute dress and some lingerie from the Firestorm freebies, a pair of earrings, and the newbie girl AO from Body Language in the Shopping region of the Welcome Hub. She's not ready yet to get a job as a pole dancer, but I did overhear a couple mentors say she was cute, so maybe she stands a chance at selling her body for linden dollars?

[Alwin Alcott]

6 hours ago, Marigold Devin said:

With all the people in this thread creating new alts to go and try out the Welcome Hub as if a new user, that's going to eff up the figures at LL somewhat,

with the thousends of sign ups they claim to have daily,  a handfull forummers won't make a difference i think.

[Luna Bliss]

11 hours ago, Persephone Emerald said:

12 hours ago, Jaylinbridges said:

Nonsense, my new alt has already found a job as a pole dancer... She is saving up for Lola boobs, and a skybox in Belli.

Mine got a cute dress and some lingerie from the Firestorm freebies, a pair of earrings, and the newbie girl AO from Body Language in the Shopping region of the Welcome Hub. She's not ready yet to get a job as a pole dancer, but I did overhear a couple mentors say she was cute, so maybe she stands a chance at selling her body for linden dollars?

lol it's amazing how we can so easily get attached to our identity creations. Mine that was created for this investigation has moved into a Belli home with another alt and wants to buy a piece of furniture for the home already.  I have to remember to send her some money today.

[Silent Mistwalker]

22 hours ago, Perrie Juran said:

I was wondering the same. All I could find is a very old list. It's over ten years old.

https://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Community_Gateway

The page is only 2/3 years out of date. 🤔

Quote

• This page was last edited on 13 April 2020, at 10:16.

Edited July 21, 2023 by Silent Mistwalker

[Drayke Newall]

16 minutes ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

The page is only 2 years out of date. 🤔

According to the edit history Oz Linden edited the page to add "Current information on creating community gateways can be found on the Linden Lab Official:Community Gateway page."

So wasn't an update to the actual list but to tell everyone that its out of date and to go to the new page on how to create them.

Edited July 21, 2023 by Drayke Newall

[Orwar]

4 hours ago, Silent Mistwalker said:

The page is only 2 years out of date. 🤔

   Psst, it's 2023 now, keep up! 

[Silent Mistwalker]

5 minutes ago, Orwar said:

   Psst, it's 2023 now, keep up! 

I cna typo if I want to!

[BJoyful]

I've really been enjoying visiting the WelcomeHUB in the past couple of weeks.  The makeover is really beautiful and thoughtfully designed.  I noticed many Residents' requests/suggestions I've read in Group chats and here on the Forum have been implemented as well as many features which came as nice surprises to me.

The Mentors are doing a great job welcoming new Residents and helping them as needed.  I feel its being managed very well and have seen numerous new Residents come back after a few days or weeks which makes me feel they return because they had a good experience and trust the guidance they received.  Some have new questions, others return just to chat and some offer updates of their progress.

The question I'm asked in IM by new Residents most often is "Are you a real person?"  After I assure them I am, I usually ask how they are doing in SL or if they are enjoying SL.  Almost all have said they are doing fine or have a specific question.  Most mention that they have followed the orientation and would like to explore or meet people.  I suggest using the Destination Guide or offer a short list of activities they might like.  They have been receptive, appreciative and eager to experience SL.

I hope to see them again, enjoying SL as much as I do.  I think they are getting a great start in the new WelcomeHUB.

Thank you to all the Lindens and Moles for listening to and considering the wants and needs of all Residents and for making  decisions for the benefit of all Residents in this huge, wonderful, crazy, beautiful, virtual world.  

Best wishes to all for an enjoyable Second Life ♥

[Persephone Emerald]

I considered posting these pictures to the SSP thread, but these regions are not technically named SSP. 

These are new regions west of the snow lands on Satori. Possibly setting up a 2nd Welcome Hub or just the work regions for updates to the current ones?

[BJoyful]

5 minutes ago, Persephone Emerald said:

These are new regions west of the snow lands on Satori. Possibly setting up a 2nd Welcome Hub or just the work regions for updates to the current ones?

Maybe those Regions were a Sandbox-type place where the Builds were prepared?  Or maybe they are other-language versions?  I think there are two other language WelcomeHUBS that I heard about.

Edited July 22, 2023 by BJoyful
afterthought

[Randall Ahren]

1 hour ago, BJoyful said:

I feel its being managed very well and have seen numerous new Residents come back after a few days or weeks which makes me feel they return because they had a good experience and trust the guidance they received. 

What's your estimate of the percentage of residents that return after their first login?

[Alwin Alcott]

6 hours ago, BJoyful said:

 have seen numerous new Residents come back after a few days or weeks

i wonder how many residents you remember after weeks or days   ánd what's the amount on the thousends new subscribers daily?

I think we need the official figures for seeing retention getting better. But those aren't published in many years.
And .. i don't know if works that well, seeing the trip my new alt made past week.