The New User Experience and Orientation Island

Just wanted to thank everyone who has posted in this thread. I'll keep it open in case anyone else would like to share their experiences.

Thanks again,
-Pathfinder

1) What do you remember about your experience on Orientation Island?
Learning how to customize the looks of my character

2) What was the most helpful thing that happened to you in SL when you were a new resident?
People's acceptance to new people.

3) What was the most frustating thing that happened to you as a new resident?
Had a bug that made my avatar turn invisible (to me) whenever it took any time to load anything.

4) After your free trial was over, what was the main reason you decided to stay?
I activated my account before the trial was over

5) How do you think we could make the new user experience and Orientation Island better?
Well there was no information of what to do next, but it didn't take long to figure out that I could just kinda do whatever.

I'm glad you bumped this, cause somehow I missed it. Very many good ideas here. I first tried the game in February of this year, and there are still many basic things I still don't know.

I would especially agree with the person who says that all basics should always come before anything more complex - never assume the new player knows ANYTHING techy. You can't get too basic. (You could always say something about how you know it's so basic, so as not to alienate new techy-type players.) Very frequently this game assumes a level of knowledge I don't have, but that doesn't mean I don't want to or can't learn everything.


1) What do you remember about your experience on Orientation Island?

I was anxious to get off of it, cause I had friends waiting for me. But I also wanted to do it fairly thoroughly. I spent at least an hour making my first avatar. That is the avatar I have still. That was fun! I didn't find anything on the island very confusing at all. (Although I had trouble with the ball, but after working with it a while, I just moved on.) I learned how to fly with no problem. (Maybe this part has been made more obvious since some of the respondants on this thread went through Orientation.)

2) What was the most helpful thing that happened to you in SL when you were a new resident?

Barnsworth explaining to me how to fix my preferences so I could . . . actually . . . play. Before his help, the EXTREME and HORRID lag made me almost quit the game. (And I don't care if lag is or isn't the correct word.)

3) What was the most frustating thing that happened to you as a new resident?

Without a doubt, the fact that I virtually couldn't play the game I very much wanted to play, due to the lag. (I have 256 memory.) I strongly feel that there needs to be a special section on the Orientation Island devoted to this. There needs to be a notecard CLEARLY POSTED there explaining SPECIFICALLY what to do if you have trouble moving:

"When you get to the Mainland, you may find you are experiencing too much lag, or inability to move around quickly when you click to move. Did you know you can go to the bar at the top of your screen, and click this and that (I forget what they are), and change your preferences? If you are having trouble moving, or find you move some time after you click, or that you have clicked and held too long so that when you finally do move, you go way farther than you expected, try changing the following things:

a. Check your whatever. Is it on whatever? Try changing it to this.
b. Next, check your whatever else. Change it to this.
c. And then change this next thing to whatever.
d. Now log out (is that necessary? I forget). Come back. Do you move better?
e. If not, try this, that, or the other, or contact whoever.

The same advice should be CLEARLY POSTED at the Welcome Areas. (But well-written - I'm not really writing it here; I'm just trying to give the general idea of how basic it should be.)

I feel this is extremely important, as I almost didn't stay because of it, and was just lucky to know someone who would help me. I just thought it was just the way the sucky game was, lol. (Remember - don't assume everyone knows the techy basics.) I wonder how many people have quit because of their "lag" and never come back.

You can't even explore or enjoy the game because of it, a fact which isn't always apparent on Orientation Island, but becomes HORRID once you get into the game, IMPOSSIBLE even, if you are one of those people who absolutely, vitally, must know and know right away, that you can change those preferences to a minimum level that will allow you to move around. (Lag may be a fact of life, especially if your system isn't good, but I'm talking about CRIPPLING lag here, which can be improved if you just know how. People should be told early on that they CAN improve it, and exactly how to do that.)

4) After your free trial was over, what was the main reason you decided to stay?

The fact that I could play it forever for $9.99. The fact that nothing else out there offers so much in the way of creative possibilities. That I had friends here already.

5) How do you think we could make the new user experience and Orientation Island better?

Mainly what I suggested above, and other people had lots of good suggestions, too. Overall, I very much enjoyed my experience on Orientation Island, and thought it was well presented.

coco

I imagine it's not everyone who goes to the Ivory Tower of Prims and what happens to them is that they fall into the fountain, and can't fly out of the fountain, and then get stuck under the building or stuck in the fountain.

I will never forget that horrible hour. I kept clicking on stuff. Struggling. Trying to fly. I was hopping mad. Here was this thing called "University of Prims" but here I was trapped in the fucking fountain. I think probably part of the problem was that it was a building that rezzed around my av, and had poorly marked entrances, and entrances only on one side, so flying to it, if you happened to crash into the building, and fall down the side by not flying right or loosing your grip somewhere, you might never come out of there.

I often think of those moments when people tell me to "go to the University of Prims". Of course later I did. Of course I walked through the tutorials and did the stuff. I learned some of the things. But I didn't learn them half so well as I'd learned them from other players like Barnesworth simply showing me how to do it in person, one-on-one (classes in a group also merely left me behind).

The problem with telling somebody to go fly to the university of prims, especially when that building isn't built to be very accessible (it has a wierd teleportation system that is hard to grasp the first few times when you are new), is that they get hobbled by the very access issue.

That's why, as much as this will cause snorting derision from all the tekkies and their cousins, the technologically proficient, I suggest really basic Flight School for new avs. How to take off, the several differen options. How to land. How to get into a building. How buildings rez up around you. I'll bet if you put just one signpost in the welcome area that says HOW TO FLY on it with a little walk through and some training videos (which you could easily put in now with the new technology) that you will see a higher rate of newbies staying in the game and not giving up.

If Barnes had not been there to teleport me out of my nightmare in the fountain at the University of Prims, I might well have said, "Fuck this, it's no better than Sociolotron" and gone back to playing ATITD. Now, would you all have been better off? Well, think about it?

I think it would be a good idea to have a landmark to the Ivory Tower of Primitives in your landmarks right at the outset. It's only word of mouth that gets people there... not a very reliable way of making sure new players can get to this very important place that will greatly enhance their SL experience. It's a great resource, one I took full advantage of when someone finally gave me the landmark to it my first week here.

Playing with the ball definitely, maybe some more things to throw around would be cool?
The introduction to changing my appearance was very useful too, nobody wants to stay looking like a newbie for long



I think the sandbox near the welcome area was best, being able to go there and just... mess around. I met people in there who were nice and willing to help someone new, and it made my joining the world of SL much easier i think.



Hmmm... tricky one. Nothing springs to mind.. Possibly not having any money to buy all the cool things i saw. But i certainly don't think new users should be given more to start with. It encouraged me to make something unique to sell. The day i made my first 1000 from sales of my snowboard-hoverboards was a good one



I love the freedom offered by SL... the ability to be who i want, do what i want, make what i want. In so many games i find myself thinking "but if only A had a B attached to it...." or "This game would be so much better if you could do X", and in SL, i can make it happen for myself.



I think having someone to walk through with you... an experienced user, simply to answer any questions you might have. That would be very helpful.

(1) What do you remember about your experience on Orientation Island?

not much... i did the basics and wanted to get going into the whole world...

2) What was the most helpful thing that happened to you in SL when you were a new resident?

I stumbled upon lusk, met some good people (found a good community), and in particular met a really nice, really helpful person (hi Chromal) who answered my questions.

3) What was the most frustating thing that happened to you as a new resident?

Weak documentation. I know this is tough with a world changing so fast, but as a new user, I saw no product manual... practically no useful doc at all! and i didn't discover the forums for a long time.

I also wandered around for the first day and was a bit dismayed by the endless stream of malls and "RENT THIS SPACE" signs....

4) After your free trial was over, what was the main reason you decided to stay?

well, i was sold from the first few seconds even if my first few moments in world were not spectacular. SL is an intersection of many of my interests from the creative to the commercial to the academic/theoretical to the sci-fi.

5) How do you think we could make the new user experience and Orientation Island better?

Clearer documentation -- a good FAQ that spells out things like pricing and land and tier, group rules, placing attachments on your avatar and adjusting them, what an alpha channel is, how one can buy/sell $L, etc etc...

A note that the wiki and forums exist.
A link to the ivory tower.
A notecard with screenshots showing how to do some simple tasks.

perhaps some anecdotes from various members on what they did their first days to get acclimated

1) What do you remember about your experience on Orientation Island?

Hubby and I rezed in together. He went straight for the Linden Bucks and I struggled to put the beachball on the platform and fell off the path into the water so many times he was at the welcome gate waiting for me by the time I fixed it and got back on the path.

2) What was the most helpful thing that happened to you in SL when you were a new resident?

A) The Cat that someone gave me at the Welcome Gate out of the goodness of their heart because I admired the one they had so much.

B) Finding Stillman and then learning how to get stuff out of a box at Stillman. Once my basic needs had been met, the next most helpful thing were the classes given by Siohban, Hank Ramos and Toy. Last but not least was finding the Ivory Tower of Primatives and the Cordova Sandbox.

C) The birds that Higbee gave me. A single moment of kindness and encouragment on his behalf started me out on the path I took in SL.

3) What was the most frustating thing that happened to you as a new resident?

A) Not knowing how to extract things out of the boxes - always winding up with stuff on my head. Grrrrr....

B) Messing up my Avatar when I opened a box for a male AV and not having a way to get it back because I did not save it. It was horrifying, one second I was at Stillman a blond wonder woman and then next second I was bald and looked like I should have been in handcuffs.

C) Constructing a pre-constructed (Siggy's) house was a challenge too, (I unlinked it). Several copies wound up on peoples land in various sims until I finally learned how to position and link things.

4) After your free trial was over, what was the main reason you decided to stay?

It's an awesome place, the creativity is practically unlimited. It's like having a room full of people drawing on interactive echa sketchs sharing their ideas and dreams.

The personalities behind the Avatars are facinating and most were warm and friendly and helpful. I got hooked on creating spaces in SL that I'd imagined in RL. It activated a part of my mind that had been dormant for awhile.

Oh and the huge, naked, blue Shriek at the welcome gate sort of caught my attention as well.

5) How do you think we could make the new user experience and Orientation Island better?

At the start, force them to remove items from boxes with a reward - open the box, find something cool and then explain that this is how it's done when they leave the island.

Distribute a note card that details how to find certain information (forums, wiki and now live help), as well as has landmarks to learning places such as the Ivory tower of Primatives. Inclusion of information on the SL Economy would be nice too. Nothing too detailed, just something to get them going if they become frustrated.

Lose the guns at the welcome area. Let them create or buy their own.

Create a Linden owned area such as a "teaching arena" SL Residents should have a place where they can schedule to teach classes and are protected from firebombing by someone who has just arrived beliving that SL is a war game.

Perhaps even a Linden University, where people can choose what they want to learn. Now that you have streaming video, you could combine the two. Live classes scheduled by events and streaming video that runs all the time.

Mentors and Greeters and Educational Event Holders should have a class before they are turned loose on the newbies. I'm a mentor but I don't feel like I help much because I'm at a loss as to how to hold helpful events. I help where I can on an individual basis, but I'd like to do more within the parameters of my schedule.

I'd go even farther to recommend having a Linden sim that includes a gathering area, a university and a park. Someplace to hang out. Let the SL Residents create it but make it Linden managed by tools whereby disruptions are not allowed. In other words, no damage, no fly, and PG. It would not hurt for newbies to be greeted by the occasional Linden there as well as SL Residents that choose to hang out in the same spot.

I think there is a real benefit in mixing the newbies in with the SL Residents early, I just think that newbies need a place where they can learn things without disruption and they need to have access to people willing to help them without [the helpers] having to fear being neg rated multiple times by someone's alt.

.

1) What do you remember about your experience on Orientation Island?

It took about 5mins and seemed kind of mysterious. I only remember vague daydreams of it now.

2) What was the most helpful thing that happened to you in SL when you were a new resident?

Liasons at the welcome area.

3) What was the most frustating thing that happened to you as a new resident?

Learning all the ins/outs of building.

4) After your free trial was over, what was the main reason you decided to stay?

The people I had come to befriend.

5) How do you think we could make the new user experience and Orientation Island better?

Stream short basic training videos alongside the in-world examples.

Ahh, my newbie experience in SL!
1) What do you remember about your experience on Orientation Island?

It was rather unforgettable, actually. I spent a lot of time on the island, for two reasons really. One reason was so I could get used to SL controls. The second reason was because I spent about 3 hours customizing my character...


2) What was the most helpful thing that happened to you in SL when you were a new resident?

a) Finding out how to take those pants out of that damned box. b) Watching building contests


3) What was the most frustating thing that happened to you as a new resident?

Not knowing how to take those pants out of that damned box. LOL


4) After your free trial was over, what was the main reason you decided to stay?

Finding a place where I can express my creativity so freely and so thoroughly. I can customize my avatar? I can make my avatar a skin all her own?! Wow. I really was able to bring to life my different personas(characters).


5) How do you think we could make the new user experience and Orientation Island better?

I'll admit that I wasn't "sold" on SL at first. Being a traditional gamer, the idea of a virtual world that wasn't wrapped around a combat system was kind of awkward at first. Part of that was my fault, I'll also admit.

I think what I didn't realize during my first few hours inside SL, on the orientation island, was what was possible in SL. I was given a taste of what I could do; move around, fly, change my looks, and manipulate simple objects. Okay, that and talk to a creepy(but cute!) parrot.

I'd suggest somehow giving a deeper taste, on the island, of what is possible in SL. A small "game" scripted by maybe a resident, a small "ride" detailing something about SL, or a cool movie screen with a pitch about what you can do in the world. Nothing big, really. Hold a contest over it! I dunno.

The island teaches people some of what they need to know(okay, besides how box-containers work). However, I think it could get them more pumped up about diving into the real SL world.

I remember making some clothes, then saying to myself "How do I get off this island?! I want to explore!"

After I couldn't find a canoe, and trying to fly to the border didn't work, I came back to where I started. It was there I discovered that I had to find the temple.

Discovering the scripting wiki.


Two things:

a) Trying to understand what (Mature) meant. (I'm serious) -- For the longest time, I thought it meant that the sim was stable -- e.g. it was fully developed. Eventually, I found some PG sims and realized that Mature was a counterpart to PG. Sheesh.

b) Finding a list of FAQs and a Player Guide from the SL.com site -- I had found the starter's guide, but had trouble finding anything else. Eventually I found it under "Wiki" under the support menu.


Land, Scripts, and the Sandbox. I spent some time at the sandbox building, and found it to be GREAT fun. The prospect of having my own 512m plot was too good to pass up.


A "Hitchhikers Guide to the Grid" would be wonderful. I'm fond of the "Greeter" program, but some of us would prefer to find things out on our own. I think the "Starter's guide" is great, but an online reference system would rock

The scripting wiki is awesome -- straight to the point, with code examples. Reminds me of the php.net style, which is great when I'm trying to code something. However, the design and layout of the scripting wiki wouldn't work as well if it were to be used for a highly visual context -- like texturing or building.

The layout and design of the support wiki is suffering from this problem. Compared to the rest of the SL.com website, it's a bit dull and uninviting. The content is good -- don't get me wrong, but the layout and format does need a makeover to reflect the rest of the SL.com site. Graphics and screenshots, more FAQs, and a clear link from the SL.com site would be great for new players. Plus, changing the name would be good -- or seperate the support wiki from a "SL Online Field Manual" or "SL Online Handbook"

At least, that's what I'd love to see. My two linden cents

That it was obscure until it downed on me exactly what was meant by the direction, which didn't take any amount of time at all. Familiarity was not long in arriving.

People saying hello and dragging me into conversation while doing beginning stuff in the Sandbox.

While I was working on something in a sandbox, a griefer appearing from nowhere and encapsulating me in what amounted to a floating farting detached butt. The only reason I escaped was because I was taught a little trick by a scripter the day previous. Otherwise I probably wouldn't still be here.

People! Wonderful, entertaining people! That and the feeling of the ability to create and destroy things at my whim. The creation part is emphasized and I look forward to many fun new things to make.

Nothing that isn't already implimented by the denizens of SL already. I'm pretty much knowledgable on how to do any of the things people do in SL, merely because I talked and communicated and learned.