So, did the telehubs do anything?

Ok, so they look nice and all, but did they really effect the game at all? I was expecting a major shift in traffic around all the Sims, but they just seem to be a waypoint for teleportation...

If they haven't done anything, what's the point?

LF

Think long term, Lordfly. Looong ass term!
People dont move around very often, and thankfully they dont leave the game very often either.
The whole rural/urban thing, if it will ever come to fruition, will take a lot longer than just these couple months 1.1 has lasted.

I use the telehubs about half the time and get personal teleports about half the time. So far there doesn't seem to be much difference in the surroundings of the hubs but like Eggy said, give it time.

Although I'm not sure how urban the telehubs can get with so much empty Linden owned land around them.

I think the hubs are too close for such a setup to ever really develop. Really for the size the world is, for a rural/urban shift to happen there should be only 4 telehubs, 6 max. The grid isn't big enough for more than 6 'cities' really. However I doubt the players would ever stand for that much travel required, which is another prevention from the rural/urban deal happening. Right now the longest it takes me to get anywhere, even if its not 'near' a telehub is about a minute maybe two, without any speed aid. There is no way that is enough of a difference to cause the rural/urban shift.

Its sorta like gas for cars. Electric cars aren't going to become common or make sense until gas is more than $10 a gallon. It takes drastic measures to induce big change, and a 1 minute travel time isn't drastic.

Yea i think one hub in each corner of the map (where 4 ish sims meet) and one in the center would better help trafic flow and creat reason to use. I... realy never thought they were worth their while in the first place.

I sort of like the telehubs. But, with the option to invite a player to teleport directly to my location, why cant we just teleport directly to a landmark?

Just a little history for those interested. Before 1.1, we used to have to pay to teleport. Costs were distance based, more expensive for long distances.

I used to spend all my time in Teal. If I wanted to go to Stage 4, it would take me about three minutes to fly down there. If I was running late, I would just pay the L$18 to teleport directly to the stage instantly. Teleporting was rare for me and I really felt like a bigwig when I teleported somewhere, as if I had arrived via limo or something.

Teleport tours of the world were common. The teleport fees would be refunded instead of prizes being awarded at those events.

Its sort of interesting how teleporting has evolved, and I think it will continue to do so. I worry a bit about teleporting, because I think a lot of people dont really understand the scope and size of the world. You miss a lot of new and interesting builds by teleporting everywhere. So, if your not in a hurry, take some time and fly to your destinations and explore the world on the way.

Perhaps if the telehubs could be placed in the coordinate center of each sim, you'd be guaranteed that people would see 'some' part of it.

But rather than enforce via design, I like the option to wander on my own. I do find new things every time I do...

Adversity breeds invention. If it didn't take 2-3 minutes to get from De Haro to Stillman back in late May/early June, I probably wouldn't have bothered with flying machines, and I wouldn't have been recruited into Kazenojin by Realtime Rogers. My entire SL experience would have proably been a lot more boring for me if that wasn't a challenge.

Today, jetpacks (and the FinalFlight script) are free, so I don't know how much it would matter if we only had four to six telehubs. It might encourage more "urban" environments...

...with lower FPS...

eh.

Check out the Stillman telehub...let me know how you think the changes might affect the issues you've raised.

One thing about the telehubs that always struck me as odd is the fact that they're only used as the destinations for free teleports, rather than the source. When they were first introduced, telehubs were compared to airports, which allow rapid transportion over long distances. But you have to travel to an airport before you can use it. You don't have to travel to a telehub to use it.

Personally, when I materialize at a telehub, I head straight for the landmark beacon that marks my ultimate destination; the landscape around the telehub has barely rezzed before I'm on my way. If free teleportation existed only from telehub to telehub, I think the land surrounding them would become more valuable. People would fly toward telehubs, instead of only flying away from them, and they'd be more likely to see what was nearby.

i agree with ama, jake and loki.

first, reduce the number of hubs to four or five. then require us use a telehub to port to another. it will force us to fly around a bit more.

the overall effect will be that we can get all teh way across the map quickly but we'll have to fly through at least a few sims to do it. there really is a world out thereto be missed if we're always accepting port offers or casting to the nearest hub and racing to the marker.

I have to say it; I miss the old teleports, even if we did have to pay - and i was spending a good 200 a week on teleports, too, some weeks with my events. Teleporting is a great convenience, but not if you have to fly through six sims afterwards. The telehubs are a nice idea, but I invariably find it awkward to socialize at them. If we could maybe choose several places we could tp to directly, like going home is, that ould be great.

I was thinking the same thing about requiring us to go TO telehubs in order to TP. I was in the game during beta (just a couple of weeks) so I remember flying around. Now that I have subscribed I was surprised that I could just teleport for free! I am sure that I am missing a whole bunch of stuff.

I think I will take Loki's advise and just spend more time getting to know all the create buildings and wonderful things that this community has created. Even with limited travel across sims, I am totally amazed by what this community has done in this Second Life.

Jake is right. The first day that 1.1 was released, I flew up to a telehub and spent about 10 minutes trying to figure out how to teleport somewhere. I was looking for a way to get into it, a button to push, anything. I totally forgot about that. The fact that you dont have to use a telehub to depart is the missing link to why they may not be working as planned.

I think Jakes behavior is the norm, instantly leaving the TH to continue on to the destination. If you hang out at a TH, you will see this a lot. Some people do hang out at TH's, but it is not common. The major TH, like Stillman and Mauve, are a lot cooler that the minor ones. There is really no reason to hang out at those other than look at the clock, maybe.

I like teleporting, but I am also pro flight. I stop at a lot of places I would never see if I only teleported to my destination. A little more required flight might encourage the elusive dwell as well?

You people missed john's post entirely. And he has a very good point. Stillmann was pretty much abandoned in 1.0, and I went there very often since I had a lot of stuff at the bazaar.
Then 1.1 came along and Stillmann is totally crowded!

Observation: it's a really good idea to conserve the ability to tp *somewhere* from anywhere, because this reduces problems with people calling off the world, getting trapped in cages etc. Of course, the "somewhere" could be just one's own house and that's it.

Concrete example of why this is necessary. Imagine this:
- a glass cage
- when someone approaches the walls turn phantom
- when they are inside, the phantom turns off

Hugh

P.S. Personally I built my house right next to a tp because I am way too lazy to fly more than a few seconds

Agreed. You ought to always be able to teleport directly from where you are to your home location.

How about random tp? Best way to visit areas you wouldn't normally consider...

LoL! Yeah! Implement a Google Style 'I'm feeling lucky' random teleport button. It could even be linked to a keyword/category button related to the 'places' tab, too. Type 'shopping' and hit the random button.

And see if you're still feeling lucky after landing in the middle of a war in Jessie...

But can I venture a different idea? How about a teleport world tour? What if certain landmarks could be strung together into a circuit for direct teleportation - to be changed every now and then, of course. But it would be cool both for newbs to get a good feel for the place, and a whirlwind tour for people like me who are sad and don't get out much (been here about 6 weeks... and havent actually visited every sim yet ).

LOL kris, we HAVE one! We've had it forever. Or did they remove it? There's a bunch of teleport tour objects made by the lindens... that take you on a teleport tour. Err. They used to go to interesting landmarks that the world used to have. So they might not be very useful anymore if they are still around.

Really, Eggy? Cool!

I told you I don't get out much...

The only issue I've had so far with teleporting is that the vehicle sims and Cardova are blocked off if there is a sim-filling event in Oak Grove, as happened not too long ago.

I kind of wish vehicles had more value for transportation purposes, but when it's free to TP at the same time vehicles act choppy when crossing sim boundaries, I just don't see them ever having more than novelty value.

BTW, you don't need a phantom toggling script to "catch" you and make you stuck. I got stuck inside a no-exit building which rezzed around me while I was flying around yesterday (while lagged). It was probably a 1 in a 1000 chance of happening, but was amusingly annoying =)

I can't speak for some of the issues that others have raised, but I like the telehub on the ground. When the hub is up in the air, by the time you get to the ground, you've already moved a good distance *away* from the hub, so trying to get an urban environment around the hub didnt seem like it would work that well. the stillman setup looks like it could. lindens could rent out little plots for shops around the hub.


i, personally, love the telehub setup.. it encourages me to fly around the local neighborhood to get to my final destination. i also like the teleport option, but i can see where it could get over used. maybe it should cost $L to send someone a teleport offer? if someone has to pay for *you* to teleport, i bet the usage would go down.

Suggestions:

Dual-level telehubs.


Arrivals up top, Depatures at bottom.


Teleports from the middle of nowhere cost $20-$100, depending on your distance from the telehub.

Teleports from a telehub cost $2.

When you teleport from telehub, you would depart from UNDER the telehub, at LAND level.

The top level would only be where you appeared.

This land would initially be empty (no build, just green land), but: It would be for sale.

You only get the $2 rate if you are on the telehub plot.

Obviously, this land is going to get expensive, but we would see private 'airports', which is cool.

Given that height taxes are gone, too, one could imagine structures being built at the top level too----

Imagine things like a rental airplane yard, right at telehub level.

Of course, this stuff would have to be policied by the Lindens. It would be exciting, but a pain in the butt, if someone decided to make a telehub hostile with instakill autoguns or something.

No, no, no. Sorry but I feel strongly about this. Before 1.1 teleports cost money and if you were relatively active socially the costs could eat up your entire stipend by the end of the week. And don't forget, in 1.2 base stipends will be between $50 and $500 so $20-$100 for a single teleport would kill people. No one would teleport, or people would begin begging for personal teleport invites (assuming no charge), and people would fly long distances rather than pay the enormous teleport fees. End result: timewasting inconvenience in addition to extra expenses.



No, what you would see is people buying that land and using the new ability to charge people for short term access. $20-$100 to teleport from a non-telehub and only $2 to teleport from a telehub? How about I buy that land and charge $15 for 2 minutes access? Even with the $2 telehub charge that's still a savings of $3-$83 and I get rich in the process.

Teleports are fine the way they are now, and the cost to use them is just right: $0. If telehubs aren't getting the results someone expected then telehubs are a failure and can go away. We shouldn't have to bail out a failing telehub system just to support someone's incorrect social engineering theory. Free teleports mean free travel which means more travel which means more socializing, more collaboration, and greater community cohesion. Which means happier players and more money for LL.