Second Life Forums Archive - Gateways into Second Life by Glenn Linden

Adz Childs

Artificial Boy

Join date: 6 Apr 2006

Posts: 865

12-09-2008 11:42

Gateways into Second Life by Glenn Linden
http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/12/09/gateways-into-second-life-by-glenn-linden/
Comments for this blog post are closed. This is perplexing. If you have something to say, say it here. (I guess).

Text of the post follows

From: SL Official Blawg

Gateways into Second Life by Glenn Linden
Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 at 12:22 PM by: glennlinden

About a year ago, we began to experiment with alternatives to the usual Second Life registration pathway, which we call the Community Gateway program. The program is designed to provide a customized initial entry experience for new Residents based on their choice of preferred language or particular interests.

An important objective of the Community Gateway program is to give Residents a choice of registration options and initial locations, with the goal of enabling program members to attract new Residents and grow their communities. Members are committed to supporting and engaging new Residents, and their efforts are evaluated based on their success in attracting new registrations and the length of time those registrants engage in Second Life.

Today, we have 22 members of the Community Gateway program–14 non-English language specific Community Gateways including Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish. The remaining members simply offer a unique experience, some created by businesses as a portal for a web community and others created by passionate individuals or groups bringing in like-minded people who share their interests.

Overall, we are pleased with how well this program is working. On average, Residents arriving inworld through a Community Gateway become actively engaged in Second Life. So, as we redesign the Second Life registration and initial user experience, we’re planning to add additional program members to expand the range of initial community experiences for new users. If starting a Community Gateway is of interest to you, watch for an upcoming blog post with more information on how to get involved.

If you’re a Second Life Resident, you may have already discovered some of these locations for the chance to practice a language, visit a foreign city, or just engage with a friendly community and participate in interesting events.

Here is the current list of Community Gateway members and where to find them (sorted by language then alphabetically):

English:
Anshe’s Dreamland - Welcome Passage/63/63/27
Avatar Island - Avatar Island/92/130/23
Azure Islands - Azure Islands Welcome/118/182/59
Big Pond - Pondessa/125/164/31
Dublin in SL - Dublin/234/146/25
Orientation Station - Scholar/112/87/26

Portuguese (Brazil):
Mainland Brasil - MLBR Copacabana /227/104/39

German:
Frankfurt - FFH LAND/127/4/25
New Berlin - New Berlin/193/184/31
Vienna Freebies - Wien/90/130/28

French
France Pittoresque - Seychelles/48/89/21
Gaia - Gaia/141/82/27

Italian:
ISN Virtual Worlds - Italy Orientation/46/140/26

Spanish:
MundoSL - SecondMind /101/138/241
Spanish Orientation Island - Spanish Orientation/61/137/35

Dutch:
NL 0031 - DNBmedia/142/232/24/

Japanese:
MagSL Net - Nozomi/128/128/22
VirtualWorld Walker (Meltingdots) - Walker Orientation/119/102/44
Mobile Factory - MobileFactory/128/86/2

Korean:
Sera Korea - Sera%20Korea%2015/35/232/32

Chinese:
3Immersions - Lenovo 133/129/28
Ansche’s Dreamland - Welcome Passage/63/63/27

We encourage Residents new and experienced to visit these Community Gateways. We hope you enjoy exploring these interesting communities.

_____________________

http://slnamewatch.com — Second Life Last Name Tracking — Email Alerts — Famous People Lookup — http://adz.secondlifekid.com/ — Artificial Boy — Personal Blog

From: Tofu Linden

Hmm, there's nothing really helpful there, but thanks for pasting.

Ceera Murakami

Texture Artist / Builder

Join date: 9 Sep 2005

Posts: 7,750

12-09-2008 11:45

Of course, there are a lot of other communities in SL that will simply be using the SLURL feature to send people to new registration destinations inside SL. Like most of the colleges and universities probably do, or will, offer a web page link to their sim and/or personalized orientation sire in SL, from their own college or university website.

_____________________

Sorry, LL won't let me tell you where I sell my textures and where I offer my services as a sim builder. Ask me in-world.

Adz Childs

Artificial Boy

Join date: 6 Apr 2006

Posts: 865

12-09-2008 11:54

Okay. First comment.
When you send a friend a referral link (such as http://www.secondlife.com/join/?u=b494b5309a2a0ef3a6ea71c8bd7e4bd) to a friend, if the friend clicks on a Community rather than going through the regular registration portal, the referral information is lost forever, and you have no chance of ever getting paid.

_____________________

http://slnamewatch.com — Second Life Last Name Tracking — Email Alerts — Famous People Lookup — http://adz.secondlifekid.com/ — Artificial Boy — Personal Blog

From: Tofu Linden

Hmm, there's nothing really helpful there, but thanks for pasting.

Adz Childs

Artificial Boy

Join date: 6 Apr 2006

Posts: 865

12-09-2008 12:01

Second Comment
Glenn Linden,
You listed Portuguese (Brazil): Mainland Brasil - MLBR Copacabana /227/104/39 and you provided a link, https://www.mainlandbrasil.com.br/
Please be aware that this is not the same link that appears on the Join A Community page to which new user are occasionally redirected to by random chance. The one that appears on the Community Menu page is http://www.secondlifebrasil.com.br/cadastro/avatar.aspx It's a dead link.

PLEASE SEE
[WEB-899] Some 3rd Party API pages linked from the Select A Community page are bugged or dead
https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/WEB-899

_____________________

http://slnamewatch.com — Second Life Last Name Tracking — Email Alerts — Famous People Lookup — http://adz.secondlifekid.com/ — Artificial Boy — Personal Blog

From: Tofu Linden

Hmm, there's nothing really helpful there, but thanks for pasting.

Glenn Linden

Linden Lab Employee

Join date: 1 Aug 2006

Posts: 5

Comments

12-09-2008 18:18

Adz, Thank you for bringing the bad link to our attention.
Ceera, yes, DirectSLURL is a wonderful way to bring people to your location or event whether or not they've previously registered for Second Life.

Glenn

SuezanneC Baskerville

Forums Rock!

Join date: 22 Dec 2003

Posts: 14,229

12-09-2008 18:42

From: Adz Childs

Okay. First comment.
When you send a friend a referral link (such as http://www.secondlife.com/join/?u=b494b5309a2a0ef3a6ea71c8bd7e4bd) to a friend, if the friend clicks on a Community rather than going through the regular registration portal, the referral information is lost forever, and you have no chance of ever getting paid.

Glenn, how about a response to the above?

_____________________

-

So long to these forums, the vBulletin forums that used to be at forums.secondlife.com. I will miss them.

I can be found on the web by searching for "SuezanneC Baskerville", or go to

http://www.google.com/profiles/suezanne

-

http://lindenlab.tribe.net/ created on 11/19/03.

Members: Ben, Catherine, Colin, Cory, Dan, Doug, Jim, Philip, Phoenix, Richard,
Robin, and Ryan

-

3Ring Binder

always smile

Join date: 8 Mar 2007

Posts: 15,028

12-09-2008 19:45

From: Adz Childs

Okay. First comment.
When you send a friend a referral link (such as http://www.secondlife.com/join/?u=b494b5309a2a0ef3a6ea71c8bd7e4bd) to a friend, if the friend clicks on a Community rather than going through the regular registration portal, the referral information is lost forever, and you have no chance of ever getting paid.

From: SuezanneC Baskerville

Glenn, how about a response to the above?

intended.

_____________________

it was fun while it lasted.
http://2lf.informe.com/

Ian Undercroft

Registered User

Join date: 3 Nov 2007

Posts: 86

Resident

12-11-2008 08:24

I think that it's to be welcomed that attempts are being made to improve the initial entry experience into Second Life. Obviously, new residents must be attracted and, more importantly, retained. To this end, the idea of enabling new residents to choose initial locations which are well run and truly reflect Second Life has merit. However, I have a major issue with the Community Gateway program, as it presently exists.

Until recently I used to attend regularly one of the listed Community Gateway locations. The very popular location in question always struck me as extremely well run and to be a great place to meet and socialise with different people from varied backgrounds. I always thought of it as coming close to recreating in Second Life a little part of real life. Until recently I have always made a point of recommending that location to other Second Life residents and, in particular, to new residents in search of somewhere to visit and to meet and get to know other Second Life residents.

However, with the opening of the Community Gateway that location has undergone a notable change. Very new residents are now present in significant numbers. Much of the open chat is given over to the same old questions raised by new residents (How do I change clothes? How do I sit? How do I get a job? How do I get money?) and the answers to those questions. Regularly new residents are to be seen in states of suspended animation (whilst attempting to edit appearance) and undress (whilst attempting to change clothes). Additionally, there are instances of the other more objectionable forms of behaviour displayed by a minority of new arrivals.

Whilst I'm sure most Second Life residents are only too willing to help new residents every once in a while, this becomes extremely dull and tiresome when such help is sought and expected day in and day out. The position is made worse by the fact that many of the new residents plainly have not bothered to make any serious attempt to familiarise themselves with the guidance afforded to them when they first arrive at the Gateway.

Unless there is a significant increase in the number of Community Gateways, thus diluting the number of new residents arriving at a particular Gateway, it seems to me that visiting a Community Gateway offers little to an older resident (without any special interest in helping new residents) save to remind him or her of how awful Help Island and Orientation Island were and why, having escaped, they have never chosen to return.

I no longer visit the location to which I have been referring. In my view, it is no longer the great place to visit and to socialise which it once was. I know of many other residents who take the same view and either no longer visit or do not visit as frequently as before.

The relatively small number of Community Gateways which presently exist may provide a new resident with a more pleasant arrival in Second Life, but it seems to have been overlooked that they also inflict on the older resident an unwelcome reminder of the horrors of Help Island and Orientation Island.

Adz Childs

Artificial Boy

Join date: 6 Apr 2006

Posts: 865

12-11-2008 09:00

As far as I can tell, the list of communities has never been added to. This is the original list that appeared when this "four to six week" experiment was launched in June 2007 (http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/06/05/an-experiment-for-new-residents-community-registration-portals/). My sense is that this is yet another LL project that was launched with fanfare and neglected, but that may be only because I have been around long enough to develop some cynicism. My apologies for any criticism that comes out too harsh. LL is a big company with alot of sub-projects to lose track of. To be fair, based on Glenn Linden's blog post, there is at least someone keeping an eye on this sub-project. I think Glenn Linden's blog post was a way of declaring that the experiment is over, and they intend to keep the system. I hope he sees the faults in the system. It is certainly not a completed product. Right? I hope he sees that.

_____________________

http://slnamewatch.com — Second Life Last Name Tracking — Email Alerts — Famous People Lookup — http://adz.secondlifekid.com/ — Artificial Boy — Personal Blog

From: Tofu Linden

Hmm, there's nothing really helpful there, but thanks for pasting.

Key MacMoragh

grrr....

Join date: 16 Sep 2008

Posts: 659

12-11-2008 09:55

I've tried many times on different days to create an account through the Italian gateway, but it has never worked at all.

I also tried (several times, different days) to create an account with the Dreamland gateway, but it always failed and gave unhelpful error messages.

I didn't try any of the others.

Desmond Shang

Guvnah of Caledon

Join date: 14 Mar 2005

Posts: 5,250

12-11-2008 13:24

I've been intentionally quiet, but think it is time to say something.

I fully intend to open a Caledon community gateway: University of Caledon Oxbridge, in conjunction with NCI for the benefit of everyone on the grid.

Back when the original regAPI project was brewing about two years ago I had considered it then, but felt that my estate wasn't ready. A gateway wasn't something I'd want to do 'halfway.'

Now, the estate is ready.

There have been a lot of rough times recently, a lot of trials and tribulations, the openspace thing, a down economy and all sorts of factors. Taking everything into consideration, after much reflection I think that taking part in this program is the right move.

One of the Linden Research newhires mentioned that he was looking for a way to put delight back into the world. I well know there is no way to manufacture delight. It just happens, spontaneously and serendipitously - there is no package or program or theme that will ever create sustained delight. Amusement perhaps, but that's all.

What we can do, though, is provide the ingredients to let the garden grow delight by itself. And that starts with people discovering a world that is friendly, rich with possibility, and open. Done right, I think that the gateway program is the first, best way to put the delight back into the world.

* * * * *

For those wondering and cynical, I have done my usual 'homework' before making a decision. No, I'm *not* rolling out acres of land to take in a wellspring of new residents because of a gateway - this may sound counterintuitive to the cynics. But here's why. Having had NCI active in Caledon for about a year, I know the 'conversion rate' of NCI students to paying estate residents. One might consider NCI students to be the 'cream of the crop' of new residents - but even those students had a very minimal financial impact.

I personally have a lot of research to suggest that few-days-old residents aren't likely to spend *anything* - and if and when they do, they are likely to be far and away from the gateway that brought them in. Maybe I'm wrong, but every study I've done (and I've watched many other gateways) shows this to be the case.

So where is the benefit? It's purely the magic of real people coming together for real community. Not shoppers, not campers. Just the Real Deal with real people, and the very thing that actually adds delight to the world. If anyone wonders where any of my success has come from, it's been here. Everyone knows the difference between real activities and friends, and the 'campbot' desolation of areas that are fast-buck SL.

Delight is obviously not enough to pay the tier. But Caledon is now at the size where it is time that it takes part as a good 'citizen of the grid' among all the other communities out there. I see it as a kind of responsibility.

We are going to give this our best shot, and it's been a joy to work with the people involved in this project from the Linden Research side.

_____________________

Steampunk Victorian, Well-Mannered Caledon!

Key MacMoragh

grrr....

Join date: 16 Sep 2008

Posts: 659

12-11-2008 13:50

From: Desmond Shang

I fully intend to open a Caledon community gateway: University of Caledon Oxbridge, in conjunction with NCI for the benefit of everyone on the grid.

I'm glad. I've been hanging around there sometimes... one of my alts uses it as "Home". It'll be nice to have some newbies to help along.

Gateways into Second Life by Glenn Linden
Adz Childs Artificial Boy Join date: 6 Apr 2006 Posts: 865	12-09-2008 11:42 Gateways into Second Life by Glenn Linden http://blog.secondlife.com/2008/12/09/gateways-into-second-life-by-glenn-linden/ Comments for this blog post are closed. This is perplexing. If you have something to say, say it here. (I guess). Text of the post follows From: SL Official Blawg Gateways into Second Life by Glenn Linden Tuesday, December 9th, 2008 at 12:22 PM by: glennlinden About a year ago, we began to experiment with alternatives to the usual Second Life registration pathway, which we call the Community Gateway program. The program is designed to provide a customized initial entry experience for new Residents based on their choice of preferred language or particular interests. An important objective of the Community Gateway program is to give Residents a choice of registration options and initial locations, with the goal of enabling program members to attract new Residents and grow their communities. Members are committed to supporting and engaging new Residents, and their efforts are evaluated based on their success in attracting new registrations and the length of time those registrants engage in Second Life. Today, we have 22 members of the Community Gateway program–14 non-English language specific Community Gateways including Dutch, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese and Spanish. The remaining members simply offer a unique experience, some created by businesses as a portal for a web community and others created by passionate individuals or groups bringing in like-minded people who share their interests. Overall, we are pleased with how well this program is working. On average, Residents arriving inworld through a Community Gateway become actively engaged in Second Life. So, as we redesign the Second Life registration and initial user experience, we’re planning to add additional program members to expand the range of initial community experiences for new users. If starting a Community Gateway is of interest to you, watch for an upcoming blog post with more information on how to get involved. If you’re a Second Life Resident, you may have already discovered some of these locations for the chance to practice a language, visit a foreign city, or just engage with a friendly community and participate in interesting events. Here is the current list of Community Gateway members and where to find them (sorted by language then alphabetically): English: Anshe’s Dreamland - Welcome Passage/63/63/27 Avatar Island - Avatar Island/92/130/23 Azure Islands - Azure Islands Welcome/118/182/59 Big Pond - Pondessa/125/164/31 Dublin in SL - Dublin/234/146/25 Orientation Station - Scholar/112/87/26 Portuguese (Brazil): Mainland Brasil - MLBR Copacabana /227/104/39 German: Frankfurt - FFH LAND/127/4/25 New Berlin - New Berlin/193/184/31 Vienna Freebies - Wien/90/130/28 French France Pittoresque - Seychelles/48/89/21 Gaia - Gaia/141/82/27 Italian: ISN Virtual Worlds - Italy Orientation/46/140/26 Spanish: MundoSL - SecondMind /101/138/241 Spanish Orientation Island - Spanish Orientation/61/137/35 Dutch: NL 0031 - DNBmedia/142/232/24/ Japanese: MagSL Net - Nozomi/128/128/22 VirtualWorld Walker (Meltingdots) - Walker Orientation/119/102/44 Mobile Factory - MobileFactory/128/86/2 Korean: Sera Korea - Sera%20Korea%2015/35/232/32 Chinese: 3Immersions - Lenovo 133/129/28 Ansche’s Dreamland - Welcome Passage/63/63/27 We encourage Residents new and experienced to visit these Community Gateways. We hope you enjoy exploring these interesting communities. _____________________ http://slnamewatch.com — Second Life Last Name Tracking — Email Alerts — Famous People Lookup — http://adz.secondlifekid.com/ — Artificial Boy — Personal Blog From: Tofu Linden Hmm, there's nothing really helpful there, but thanks for pasting.
Ceera Murakami Texture Artist / Builder Join date: 9 Sep 2005 Posts: 7,750	12-09-2008 11:45 Of course, there are a lot of other communities in SL that will simply be using the SLURL feature to send people to new registration destinations inside SL. Like most of the colleges and universities probably do, or will, offer a web page link to their sim and/or personalized orientation sire in SL, from their own college or university website. _____________________ Sorry, LL won't let me tell you where I sell my textures and where I offer my services as a sim builder. Ask me in-world.
Adz Childs Artificial Boy Join date: 6 Apr 2006 Posts: 865	12-09-2008 11:54 Okay. First comment. When you send a friend a referral link (such as http://www.secondlife.com/join/?u=b494b5309a2a0ef3a6ea71c8bd7e4bd) to a friend, if the friend clicks on a Community rather than going through the regular registration portal, the referral information is lost forever, and you have no chance of ever getting paid. _____________________ http://slnamewatch.com — Second Life Last Name Tracking — Email Alerts — Famous People Lookup — http://adz.secondlifekid.com/ — Artificial Boy — Personal Blog From: Tofu Linden Hmm, there's nothing really helpful there, but thanks for pasting.
Adz Childs Artificial Boy Join date: 6 Apr 2006 Posts: 865	12-09-2008 12:01 Second Comment Glenn Linden, You listed Portuguese (Brazil): Mainland Brasil - MLBR Copacabana /227/104/39 and you provided a link, https://www.mainlandbrasil.com.br/ Please be aware that this is not the same link that appears on the Join A Community page to which new user are occasionally redirected to by random chance. The one that appears on the Community Menu page is http://www.secondlifebrasil.com.br/cadastro/avatar.aspx It's a dead link. PLEASE SEE [WEB-899] Some 3rd Party API pages linked from the Select A Community page are bugged or dead https://jira.secondlife.com/browse/WEB-899 _____________________ http://slnamewatch.com — Second Life Last Name Tracking — Email Alerts — Famous People Lookup — http://adz.secondlifekid.com/ — Artificial Boy — Personal Blog From: Tofu Linden Hmm, there's nothing really helpful there, but thanks for pasting.
Glenn Linden Linden Lab Employee Join date: 1 Aug 2006 Posts: 5	Comments 12-09-2008 18:18 Adz, Thank you for bringing the bad link to our attention. Ceera, yes, DirectSLURL is a wonderful way to bring people to your location or event whether or not they've previously registered for Second Life. Glenn
SuezanneC Baskerville Forums Rock! Join date: 22 Dec 2003 Posts: 14,229	12-09-2008 18:42 From: Adz Childs Okay. First comment. When you send a friend a referral link (such as http://www.secondlife.com/join/?u=b494b5309a2a0ef3a6ea71c8bd7e4bd) to a friend, if the friend clicks on a Community rather than going through the regular registration portal, the referral information is lost forever, and you have no chance of ever getting paid. Glenn, how about a response to the above? _____________________ - So long to these forums, the vBulletin forums that used to be at forums.secondlife.com. I will miss them. I can be found on the web by searching for "SuezanneC Baskerville", or go to http://www.google.com/profiles/suezanne - http://lindenlab.tribe.net/ created on 11/19/03. Members: Ben, Catherine, Colin, Cory, Dan, Doug, Jim, Philip, Phoenix, Richard, Robin, and Ryan -
3Ring Binder always smile Join date: 8 Mar 2007 Posts: 15,028	12-09-2008 19:45 From: Adz Childs Okay. First comment. When you send a friend a referral link (such as http://www.secondlife.com/join/?u=b494b5309a2a0ef3a6ea71c8bd7e4bd) to a friend, if the friend clicks on a Community rather than going through the regular registration portal, the referral information is lost forever, and you have no chance of ever getting paid. From: SuezanneC Baskerville Glenn, how about a response to the above? intended. _____________________ it was fun while it lasted. http://2lf.informe.com/
Ian Undercroft Registered User Join date: 3 Nov 2007 Posts: 86	Resident 12-11-2008 08:24 I think that it's to be welcomed that attempts are being made to improve the initial entry experience into Second Life. Obviously, new residents must be attracted and, more importantly, retained. To this end, the idea of enabling new residents to choose initial locations which are well run and truly reflect Second Life has merit. However, I have a major issue with the Community Gateway program, as it presently exists. Until recently I used to attend regularly one of the listed Community Gateway locations. The very popular location in question always struck me as extremely well run and to be a great place to meet and socialise with different people from varied backgrounds. I always thought of it as coming close to recreating in Second Life a little part of real life. Until recently I have always made a point of recommending that location to other Second Life residents and, in particular, to new residents in search of somewhere to visit and to meet and get to know other Second Life residents. However, with the opening of the Community Gateway that location has undergone a notable change. Very new residents are now present in significant numbers. Much of the open chat is given over to the same old questions raised by new residents (How do I change clothes? How do I sit? How do I get a job? How do I get money?) and the answers to those questions. Regularly new residents are to be seen in states of suspended animation (whilst attempting to edit appearance) and undress (whilst attempting to change clothes). Additionally, there are instances of the other more objectionable forms of behaviour displayed by a minority of new arrivals. Whilst I'm sure most Second Life residents are only too willing to help new residents every once in a while, this becomes extremely dull and tiresome when such help is sought and expected day in and day out. The position is made worse by the fact that many of the new residents plainly have not bothered to make any serious attempt to familiarise themselves with the guidance afforded to them when they first arrive at the Gateway. Unless there is a significant increase in the number of Community Gateways, thus diluting the number of new residents arriving at a particular Gateway, it seems to me that visiting a Community Gateway offers little to an older resident (without any special interest in helping new residents) save to remind him or her of how awful Help Island and Orientation Island were and why, having escaped, they have never chosen to return. I no longer visit the location to which I have been referring. In my view, it is no longer the great place to visit and to socialise which it once was. I know of many other residents who take the same view and either no longer visit or do not visit as frequently as before. The relatively small number of Community Gateways which presently exist may provide a new resident with a more pleasant arrival in Second Life, but it seems to have been overlooked that they also inflict on the older resident an unwelcome reminder of the horrors of Help Island and Orientation Island.
Adz Childs Artificial Boy Join date: 6 Apr 2006 Posts: 865	12-11-2008 09:00 As far as I can tell, the list of communities has never been added to. This is the original list that appeared when this "four to six week" experiment was launched in June 2007 (http://blog.secondlife.com/2007/06/05/an-experiment-for-new-residents-community-registration-portals/). My sense is that this is yet another LL project that was launched with fanfare and neglected, but that may be only because I have been around long enough to develop some cynicism. My apologies for any criticism that comes out too harsh. LL is a big company with alot of sub-projects to lose track of. To be fair, based on Glenn Linden's blog post, there is at least someone keeping an eye on this sub-project. I think Glenn Linden's blog post was a way of declaring that the experiment is over, and they intend to keep the system. I hope he sees the faults in the system. It is certainly not a completed product. Right? I hope he sees that. _____________________ http://slnamewatch.com — Second Life Last Name Tracking — Email Alerts — Famous People Lookup — http://adz.secondlifekid.com/ — Artificial Boy — Personal Blog From: Tofu Linden Hmm, there's nothing really helpful there, but thanks for pasting.
Key MacMoragh grrr.... Join date: 16 Sep 2008 Posts: 659	12-11-2008 09:55 I've tried many times on different days to create an account through the Italian gateway, but it has never worked at all. I also tried (several times, different days) to create an account with the Dreamland gateway, but it always failed and gave unhelpful error messages. I didn't try any of the others.
Desmond Shang Guvnah of Caledon Join date: 14 Mar 2005 Posts: 5,250	12-11-2008 13:24 I've been intentionally quiet, but think it is time to say something. I fully intend to open a Caledon community gateway: University of Caledon Oxbridge, in conjunction with NCI for the benefit of everyone on the grid. Back when the original regAPI project was brewing about two years ago I had considered it then, but felt that my estate wasn't ready. A gateway wasn't something I'd want to do 'halfway.' Now, the estate is ready. There have been a lot of rough times recently, a lot of trials and tribulations, the openspace thing, a down economy and all sorts of factors. Taking everything into consideration, after much reflection I think that taking part in this program is the right move. One of the Linden Research newhires mentioned that he was looking for a way to put delight back into the world. I well know there is no way to manufacture delight. It just happens, spontaneously and serendipitously - there is no package or program or theme that will ever create sustained delight. Amusement perhaps, but that's all. What we can do, though, is provide the ingredients to let the garden grow delight by itself. And that starts with people discovering a world that is friendly, rich with possibility, and open. Done right, I think that the gateway program is the first, best way to put the delight back into the world. * * * * * For those wondering and cynical, I have done my usual 'homework' before making a decision. No, I'm not rolling out acres of land to take in a wellspring of new residents because of a gateway - this may sound counterintuitive to the cynics. But here's why. Having had NCI active in Caledon for about a year, I know the 'conversion rate' of NCI students to paying estate residents. One might consider NCI students to be the 'cream of the crop' of new residents - but even those students had a very minimal financial impact. I personally have a lot of research to suggest that few-days-old residents aren't likely to spend anything - and if and when they do, they are likely to be far and away from the gateway that brought them in. Maybe I'm wrong, but every study I've done (and I've watched many other gateways) shows this to be the case. So where is the benefit? It's purely the magic of real people coming together for real community. Not shoppers, not campers. Just the Real Deal with real people, and the very thing that actually adds delight to the world. If anyone wonders where any of my success has come from, it's been here. Everyone knows the difference between real activities and friends, and the 'campbot' desolation of areas that are fast-buck SL. Delight is obviously not enough to pay the tier. But Caledon is now at the size where it is time that it takes part as a good 'citizen of the grid' among all the other communities out there. I see it as a kind of responsibility. We are going to give this our best shot, and it's been a joy to work with the people involved in this project from the Linden Research side. _____________________ Steampunk Victorian, Well-Mannered Caledon!
Key MacMoragh grrr.... Join date: 16 Sep 2008 Posts: 659	12-11-2008 13:50 From: Desmond Shang I fully intend to open a Caledon community gateway: University of Caledon Oxbridge, in conjunction with NCI for the benefit of everyone on the grid. I'm glad. I've been hanging around there sometimes... one of my alts uses it as "Home". It'll be nice to have some newbies to help along.

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