What causes SL's high dropout rate?

I don't think there is a high dropout rate.

People that leave are in different classes.

1) The griefers. They get booted and banned and either move on to another place online, or make an alt. I don't count these as "dropouts" when they leave. More like cutting away the dead wood to let the green grow. Good riddence.

2) The "reporters". As mentioned in previous posts, most are only in-world 5 minutes and since they have ZERO drive to put any effort into learning anything, they think SL is a failure. Like the griefers, good riddence once these wastes are off the grid.

3) Those that do not want to take the time to learn anything. Not even the effort of asking others. That "the learning curve is too steep" comment is BS. If you can turn on a computer and log into SL, then you can learn. Not everyone will be a great builder/texturer/scriptor, but that's not needed to enjoy SL.

4) Those that think the cost is too high. Again, BS. It's free to play. And if a person spends the 10 USD a month here that they do in WoW, they'd have more L$ then they'd know what to do with. Even pocket change here can go a long way as long as you're frugal.

5) Those leaving due to RL issues. Either that SL has become an addiction and interfering with RL, or just that RL has become more important (which it should be). This is a valid reason to put SL on the shelf for a bit, but doesn't always mean a "dropout". The accounts are still there, and these people may be back after RL settles.

6) Those fed up with technical or political issues from LL. Valid reason, but not an important one. SL is still being built. I've heard a few of the "oldies" state it should never have left "beta" status. I sorta agree with that one. More than likely, these people have moved on to stable platforms like WoW.

7) Those expecting SL to be a "game" with a storyline, quests, leveling, and a set point for LL to tell them what they need to accomplish in SL. When faced with the wide open possibilities of being able to do anything they want, they don't know what they want. I'd say this type is a HUGE % of the dropout rate. They log in, try SL for a few days, just don't "get it" and leave for another "game". Without a "reason" handed to them to stay, they can't come up with one on their own. These sheep just follow each other back out the revolving door that let them in.

Those leaving because of the griefers. Yeah, no other place online has them. (That last sentence is sarcasm, btw)

In short, SL is like any other online (or RL for that matter) social venue. People will come, and people will go. Some will stay, and some will move on. Regulars are always a minority. Be it in SL, a RL bar/club, on WoW, or anything you want to name online or in RL where people interact.

"dropout" based on people poking their heads in and then moving on is as retarded as LL basing the "population" on alts, bots, and those that pop in and move on.

~Jessy

I chose a couple, but I think the newbie experience is the biggest issue.

Mari

You know I love you Colette, but this is not true. There is much about virtual reality metaverses that require a lot of learning. My Mom is pretty savvy and well educated, but I dropped her in Oi and watched her go, and boy was she lost...didn't know how to do anything. She could barely talk to people. Had trouble walking around and flying. Editing her apperance was a huge curve for her, because she isn't a gamer. Searching was cumbersome, even though she was affluent at Google and Wiki. Telling her to go search for clothing and 'skins' confused her...

All of those are just a few things that require a learning curve...and they have nothing to do with building. We're talking about non-gamers...just the fact that you control a 3d character around a virtual world is a learning curve in itself...asking them to use the alt-zoom and camera is like telling a baby to tie their shoe laces...

SL is so niche it hurts. Thing is, it caters to a number of niches, which makes it tough for residents to gauge sometimes. It's great for aspiring graphic artists and programmers. It's great for real-world artists and musicians who want a new way to share their art with others. It's great for people who just need a sort of escape from the day-to-day of their 1st lives. It's a great platform for lonely folks, including people with disabilities who are otherwise unable to move about in the real world and make friends. (I count myself in this category, since all of my real-life friends and family live over a thousand miles away. I talk to my SL friends literally every day, and my 1st-life friends/fam maybe every couple of weeks on the phone.) And of course, it's great for the antisocial teen griefer to whom any attention is good attention.

Somehow all these different groups of people manage to co-exist and form this weird sort of exclusive community. A lot of people leave because "it's not a game." A lot leave because their low-end computers with integrated graphics chipsets make SL an ugly and frustrating experience. I'm quite sure a lot of folks leave because the new user experience is goddam unintuitive, buggy, and frustrating. But I think a lot of folks leave because it's simply not for them.

I have to agree with Colette. I'm not a gamer either, but I spent a few hours or so on OI and went in world. I had a grasp of all the basic functions, the only thing i had to figure out was the Box rez thing. I spent the whole first eek with the appearance sliders, and had a decent self made look in about a week. So every users experience will vary I guess, some will find it more daunting than others, but I still feel the learning curve for non content creation is over rated.

Excellent points...My Mom is a pretty cool lady...pretty tolerant. And she will jump on with me from time to time when something is really cool, or there is an event she's into...

But a lot of them time she comments on how childish and vulgar a lot of the residents are...I guess she's right...there are a lot of immature people roaming the grid, and I suppose she's right about part of the community. I guess I can just look past the idiots and children...but for her, it's annoying to jump on and listen to the vulgar chatter that you or I might otherwise ignore...to her, it's a bad sign, and doesn't seal any deals.

What keeps her coming back is what she sees me doing with the platform...I show her the best of SL...and forewarn her of the worst.

To each is own, I suppose some people are more apt to jump right in...but I've had enough experience showing friends SL...and they all stumble over the same things--especially if they are non-gamers.

A colleague (in fact two) signed up.

The first flew around a bit and then logged off. Never to return - his account is still there.

My boss joined and decided - like many guys - that it was not "real" because it would never go rl. He also looked about a bit and logged off.

There's a few people I rather wish had had that attitude about the place LOL.

Actually, I'm a bit concerned that it might be becoming so. I know that some people just don't care about creating anything, but I get the feeling there are some people who would enjoy SL a lot more if they had more control over their environment. And having control over your environment doesn't really count if all you can do is make it look bad. And looking bad is subjectively defined..



But that's just the thing, they don't want to have to be frugal in a virtual world. They'd have L$2660 a month, which could buy them a few outfits or a skin and some change... but that's a far cry from WoW, where for their US$10, they can have an unlimited amount of content.



I don't think this is true. I think this is a common misrepresentation. It's not at all that the new folks "don't know what they want". It's more that they feel that in a world where everyone can have everything they want, nothing means anything. If in the real world anyone could snap their fingers and have a mansion, would there be any satisfaction in having a mansion?

Psychology has shown that happiness derives from three things: genetic tendancy, ability to set and achieve goals, and improvements in circumstances (but _not_ existing good circumstances continuing to be good; Bill Gates does not spend every day deliriously happy just because he is still Bill Gates).

I think the problem with goal setting in SL is that too many goals are either a) goals that not everyone can have, so it's not so satisfactory to work towards them; or b) goals which can be met instantly by spending US$, which sounds fun, but then what is your new goal?

Agreed. It's not that hard and is even somewhat intuitive, other than building/rezzing items. What is so hard to grasp about the arrow keys to move? Or chatting? Some people let themselves get overloaded way too easily just because it's a computer in front of them and stop parsing information.

Oh come on Michael it's not the be all and end all to be a gamer. Also, everyone I have found who is socially adept and on my wavelength tend to have also been ops in IRC - then I find out a lot of them ARE gamers. But the overwhelming amount of whining idiots out there in online game land does not necessarily prepare them for SL.

A little from column A, a little from column B (and C, D, E, Q etc).

Yumi, I wasn't suggesting that non-graphic designers couldn't see the potential...I was only suggesting that those already involved with it are 'in like Flynn.'

A comment on the learning curve and content creation....not on all accounts but in some, learning to create isn't all that difficult. There are plenty of classes and people to help teach how to create things. There are many people who realize that it takes a lot of time and dedication to make things and don't want to spend their time doing so........that is what can be frustrating about content creation and misinterpreted as being difficult.

I agree, Stormy. Anyone can make something.

Making something breathtaking takes time patience and dedication.

1. People are expecting a game with structured rewards and better graphcs.

2. Newbies show up at welcome areas with no idea what to do.

3. Some regulars at welcome areas are mean or trolling.

4. Griefers targeting newbies at OI

5. People are expecting easy money and sex.

6. The actual experience is so different from the media hype.

7. There is so much to learn.

I don't mind spending a few $ here and there for cool stuff. However.. once you collect a few things, some nice clothing, a nice avatar is built etc. you are left wondering "what next?"

I mean, what do you actually DO once the initial newness is over.

Yea, I have a really cool avatar.. but I don't really like talking to people. Honestly I'm sick of guys coming up to me when I'm not in the mood for it, then getting upset at me. If I'm in a shopping area, chances are I'm not wanting to drop my clothes and have sex. If I did want too, I'd stand there and/or approach someone.. or better yet, I'd go to a club or a hangout type of place for that.

Like many, I got myself a skybox and some furniture and maybe that hot tub that I've always wanted but couldn't afford in RL. Some of these things are downright beautiful. It ends up making me feel sad because:

1. I am not creative enough to build or design that stuff.
2. I can't afford most of it in RL
3. Once I have it, it sits there unused taking up valuable PRIMs most of the time.

(if my mind were able to actually find value out of floating in a pool on a nice island it might be different.. but its just not real enough to trigger that kind of mental value)

If I could build or design something it would be cool. I don't even think I'd need to make money to enjoy selling the things I'd create.

I'd love to play around setting up a store, or setting up a full SIM with a "theme" could be fun.. but $1600+ and then more $ monthly on top of it? There should be a way to design a SIM offline on your own PC using your own resources and THEN pay if you wanted to actually use it in SL. In general there should be more capabilities to do more on your own just like the Internet. Not everything is hosted by one company. Being a bit of a techie geek my value might be hosting SIMS, not creating content.

Thats a lot of mixed up thoughts.

I guess for me, I hope something new comes along to peak my interest or I'll be out soon. At least I spent some $L and helped the SL economy.

BTW: can you sell a fully loaded Avatar?

Yeah my Mom would be pretty annoyed by the juvenile nonsense too. The Adult stuff wouldn't bother her if used with discretion, but she has little patience for Jackases. But she wouldn't go near SL anyway. We bought her a computer awhile back, she uses it strictly for email, getting pictures of her grandchildren and shopping. It would be fun to see the tongue lashing she could give to the average griefer though.

my guess? griefers x sensational journalism + social barriers with a healthy dash of technical issues. then there are those lookin for all the Slex, and find out that its not as frequent as they heard/ read about, or they have to pay an "escort".

Yes, but what generation are these people? Baby Boomers? Older? I know it seems easy...I get frustrated even watching some new people play...because I just can't understand how the arrow keys to walk is so difficult!

But see...it is for some people. Let's keep in mind, that this forum is never a good community to relate to the 'average' new citizen. This forum consists of the hardcore...the seekers...the bringers...the go-getters.

I'm telling you, there is a lot about a 3d metaverse that confuses the hell out of people that have never touched a game before. You or I may catch right on...and do most of the time.

But the non-gamers will walk around forever, never using the alt-zoom because it's so damn tricky....how many buttons do I have to hold at once, and zoom on what, and swerve the camera around...uh...it never goes the way I want...whoa! That zoomed way too far out...where am I? What happened Help....shit, I'm never using THAT again.

And that's just one example of the things people never use and don't realize is essential to grasp before exploring.

Stop being negative because you don't like me...it's clear as day. If you want to be instantly negative to me for no reason, don't post please. Thank you.

It's in all generations - fear knows no bounds, nor does laziness (not reading the instructions).

That's why I tell them view menu> camera controls. But even then some are too lazy. "I still don't see x object and i did use camera controls" even though it's less than 10m away from you but below by a few meters.

Some people that are having difficulties walking and such with arrows...... Lag is a cause. I run into walls all the time because my computer lags, not to mention SL lag in general. I do understand what you are saying though, some people do have difficulty understanding what might be second nature or completely obvious to gamers or just other people who have knack for understanding things. Just because someone doesn't get it, doesn't make them stupid however, and it is sad that some of these people leave without getting the hang of things. But then again, SL and other online games or communities isn't for everyone. Not everyone who joins, whether they can work it or not, are going to want to stick around. It is what it is.........

I'm beginning to think you have a persecution complex Mike,

She wasn't being negative - she was just saying SL isn't just made up of gamers -

But instead is a cross section of people who use the internet.

-------------------

Which in my experience is true also. A lot of *my* SL friends aren't gamers in the least. Some are.

A lot of my friends aren't artists/builders creators in the least, but some are.

I also know some gamers and creators who have quit SL just like the non-gamers and creative.

I think a little computer knowledge is a big help, really. I never, ever gamed at all, unless you count solitaire and online spades. I didn't have a huge problem picking things up in SL, at all. My mom, on the other hand, would never "get" it. I can't even get her to understand e-mail, or how to program the DVR to record. It's kind of like she has a "technological mind block" or something. Her cell phone even stymies her sometimes. And I don't think it's necessarily her age, either. It's just that she's not had a lot of exposure to anything tech.

I, on the other hand, have been exposed to computers since word processing was white letters on a completely black background. So, a lot of SL was rather intuitive, I think. Mostly common sense, but I certainly wouldn't have learned to make prim skirts without some help.

My 13-year old nephew immediately picked up on how to use SL onetime when I was foolish enough to leave it up on my screen while I answered a phone call. I came back, and he had used my av to explore my entire house and land, and had never even watched me "play" on SL before. He plays console games, but not PC games.

I think the crashes, etc, are a large reason why some people leave. A RL friend and co-worker of mine tried it out, but only lasted about a week. She was playing on a laptop, and I think maybe her graphics card was the problem, but she was tired of the technical difficulties, basically. I'm trying to get her back on, though, but on her desktop.

EDIT: Sorry. My point was more that people who spend more time on computers seem to pick things up a little easier than someone who uses it purely for e-mail or surfing purposes. Familiarity with some windows programs seems to make SL a little more intuitive, also, though I'm not sure why.

The lack of information when you first sign up, an easy to follow guide to places to visit and maybe even a pointer in the direction of the Linden Village would be helpful.

As for quests, give people a quest, tell them where to find the nearest xcite store, I'm sure that would improve retention!