Oh no, Infohubs

Oxygen kills bacteria.

Accountable staff who will police them on a full-time basis to keep griefers away.

(That's the same thing that residents do on their own land.)

Hey Everyone,

I've actually been doing a little work with the Infohubs and the Help Island so to see this thread and all your comments is great. I'm going to go back and make a few comments.

Thanks!

Whee! Good to see you, Blondin! Thanks for stopping in.

Pooley has a stage but I don't think anyone uses it. Lag aside, a problem with this idea would be scalability.



In theory, a stream could easily be placed in the maintenance owned hubs. Issue with this though is explaining to new users HOW to activate audio and explaining what to do. Orientation itself is difficult enough w/o adding that in as well. And from my understanding, new accounts are created with audio and video defaulted off.

They have the Moles for building projects, how about something like that to keep the Infohubs orderly, helpful and up to date?

U mean Freebies on the Infohubs? I would be skeptical as trying to decided WHICH freebies to offer could cause controversy



True, but some could argue that a few of the hubs might benefit from a re-location. The griefing and lag at some places causes a bad experience.

I do my best to regularly TP around and eject the pile up of Bots

Hubs have Maturity ratings and with the new Adult Content plans in the mix, there will be Adult Hubs as well. You should be fine to change at all but the pg



Number 1 is in the works. Some of them have Number 2 but I would think that would rely on space. Number 3 seems to favor one set of freebies over another. I like Number 4 And the newer hubs seem to accomplish Number 5.

Well, it seems that the OI experience hasn't been used in quite some time. Here's how registration currently works:

A person can either register an account through SL.com or through a Community Gateway from one of their websites. If they pick the community gateway route - then that is where they will land and have their first hour experience. If they register with SL.com and follow all the steps, the first place in-world where they land is HELP ISLAND. Only new accounts are allowed on HELP ISLAND and once you leave, you can't get back. They can stay as long as they like but once they decide to leave, they are taken to either an INFOHUB or some other Showcase location. It depends on which LM they decide to use.

Changes are coming to Hanson. Stay tuned

True, but strangely there was a freebie dispenser, once, long ago, at the Waterhead infohub... if you need a copy of the dispenser, I'd be glad to send you one.

The idea back then was monthly or yearly freebies being added to the vendor. It would still be nice to have some things like some clothes, shoes, shapes and skins.. the basic neccessities that new users too often can't locate in their inventory (the old "I clicked something and my pants are gone, please help!" problem). The thing is, though.. you could run it like a volunteer effort, like the contests that are held for Busy Ben's, etc.. people submit items to a monthly, or even yearly contest, and those items that make the cut, go into the library.. those the runners up end up in the givers at infohubs.

perhaps it's not scalable.. perhaps what's honestly needed is an "Adopt an Infohub" program like we've seen experimented with in years past... where individual groups could provide support. I dunno, but the state of "no support" as it currently stands, and Linden Lab's love/hate relationship with the official "mentors" group(s?) clearly shows that something needs to be done differently.

Then again, maybe doing nothing at all, and leaving the things as empty bus stops on a rainy day works already. The griefers run off most of the people, who quickly find other things to do.. leaving only the professionally offended to AR anyone who shows up naked, and the bots whose sims got restarted. At least it's predictable.

You said you wanted a "Predictable Experience".. you never said anything about it being a good experience. It's really hard not to be cynical, I'm sorry.

Easier said than done

Over the past few years I have tried to get new rezzies away from the Linden owned'Infohubs' I liken them to a ad for LL's form of SL... people need honest help, 24/7 such as NCI, Oxbridge University and many others. As far as neww people are concerned, they get no actual help at infohubs, they are simeply mini Welcome Areas, which should be called 'Unhelpful Areas. When LL comes to realize it takes people to run help areas they will continue to fail at it.

Ya, you end up with "zOMG FIC Kontent!" Still, would be nice to see something. Even just some changes of clothing, or fun attachment objects (No, not THAT fun attachment object) And so on Sorta like the old (2003) Linden freebie walls that used to be at infohubs.

Course, one could also provide a way to send folks off to places like the Stillman Free Bazaar (Linden-owned), Free Dove (Resident Owned) or other well stocked freebie places.

I'd also suggest the "Resident Advertisement" boards like at the Violet/Ambat/Miramare/mauve infohubs as ways for any resident to help send folks to other content.



Too true I think we know of at least one (Named in this thread earlier) that has been a major source of contention for some time.

I like this idea. How about it, LL? Give the Forum a region for a year and see what's possible when a bunch of established residents put together an area for newbies. There's enough builders, scripters, people willing to give advice, people willing to stand around and chat and make people feel welcome, people that can point newbies here and there to get them started up, and there's *always* plenty of ideas from people who actually *live* inworld a great deal of the time about things a newbie needs to know (see the sticky on this forum for starters).

Push the boat out. Take a chance

The Public HI and OIs still exist and are open to all.
They have all the tutorial content - even a small freebie store.
Help Island have a sandbox surrounded by tutorials on prim-shaping, scripting and texturing.

InfoHubs are implied to perform a different function - a more socially focussed one - and one primarily directed at new users.
I really don't think that anyone with an elapsed login time of X (?) has any business to be in one unless they are there to actively assist newbies.


Aside:
While I was on Help Island Public 2 - the quieter one - a few minutes ago, both islands went dark under a blizzard of particle spam being generated from Help Island Public. On that island, the chat channel was totall flooded by the usual spoofed claims to be a menber of the Patriotic .... and suck my ....... etc.


Would it be possible to monitor the chat channel in these Linden spaces and zap any device/avatar that is spewing chat at an unreasonable rate?

Any decision LL makes will come with controversy. The quesetion is not whether the decision is controversial, but sensible and fair.

To me it would make sense that you want to keep "Adult" items out. You would want to avoid items that overtly advertise for a business (because it would be unfair to the businesses items that weren't selected). And you would probably want items that you were fairly confident had no copyright problems.

You could even offload some of the work by having residents suggest packages, and then your only involvement would be to review the proposals.

Here is the other idea. You could have one box of true freebies. And then another that is a "gift basket." The gift basket has free items that businesses have paid LL to include. The free items should be actually usable items with functional use besides being mere advertisement- but they would allow more leeway in advertising a business (say, a T-shirt with a business name on it) and the actual freebies could be packaged with landmarks or other promotional material. And you would be truthfully make clear to the newbies picking up the baskets that the items in them are there because a business paid for their placement.

For some businesses, that might be money better spent than on a Classified.

This was, I blush to say, originally my idea. I stopped mentioning it because it came up just about when we were creating the Hangout, and I thought it would be best to see how that worked out, longer term.

The Hangout seems to be a success - it's a really good place for forumites to frequent, I wish more did, particularly newbies. Hey, btw, here's an idea for it - we should put up a sign there that says: "Are you alone? Want somebody to drop by? Join the group "The Forum Cartel" and give a shoutout in group chat!" We should also, sometime, hold a regatta - we border on an obscene amount of sailable water.

There is an actual process for applying to create a community gateway, I would give a link to it but the Knowledge Base is down for maintenance. I don't believe LL gives you the land - you acquire it yourself and staff it yourself. It's a big commitment of time, energy and money!

To see an example of 'what's possible when a bunch of established residents ...", and also how much work it would be, check out Caledon Oxbridge.
.

This actually sounds kinda cool. Frankly, the Busy Ben's/Luna Oaks/New Port lotteries have seemed difficult to manage, with newbies who have no interest in selling anything winning spots, people building houses on the water in New Port (as opposed to selling boats), etc. Those projects might also have some issues of their own.

Maybe this could be a mole project of sorts? Not like the "Mole Mart" content place, but like you said. Stuff like those old dispensers, or some changes of outfits, etc. I think of all the content from Nautilus, from clothing to houses, for example. One could have an asian outfit in Violet, a mid-century outfit in Bay City, etc. Also sort of gives the new folks at the hubs a chance to learn both "buying" things as well as wearing clothing and attachments. All skills they will use for some time to come.



At their best, these make the hubs something very special. The Violet infohub is lovingly taken care of by Ingrid Ingersoll, and he care shows. It is a gem. I wish more hubs were as well crafted, with lots of places for gathering, good tutorials and information, beautiful (but still easily cared for) graphics, etc. Nova Albion, watched over by the City Slickers group, does seasonal decorations, helps direct what can be a very challenging hub, and does a lot to give the place a sense of community not found elsewhere. Ross had deep, Resident-crated content. Isabel has the Shelter watching over it, etc.

Hubs like Ahern and Waterhead (and new ones like Degrand, Moose Beach, etc.) don't have this luxury. I think many might argue that Waterhead and Ahern are also two of the more "challenged" hubs on the grid as far as griefing and similar issues. Yes, I know there are Resident Mentors/Volunteers that visit these locations too -- but there isn't really the same "purchase" into the location itself.

As a result, i am definitely fond of the idea of at least some Resident involvement like Nova Albion or Violet. It's like the "Adopt A Highway" idea.

For myself personally, what happens at Moose Beach and Bay City (Hau Koda) hubs does affect me as a Bay City resident, and makes me (and others in Bay City, esp. some who border these) want to help make the whole experience better overall. A happy info hub means less griefing and hassles for us + the potential that some of those new folks will eventually be buying in our stores, dancing in our clubs, making products we want, etc.

Hmn, that sounds workable. I'd be loathe to think having "t-shirt with logo" would be a good option. Maybe some guidelines. Would have the product with no overt logos + one LM to store location. Focus mainly on things people can use in a hub (Clothing and avatar attachments, not vehicles or things that require being rezzed). Let's say the gift basket content is changed out on a six month bases. Maybe manage it from a central location and make the gift baskets work like some sort of "affiliate vendor" so the Linden-in-charge need only muck around once instead of going to every hub every time the content shifts.

While I have it in mind, that would seem a good idea for places like Busy Ben's/New Port/Luna Oaks, too. Rather than a public lottery, have people purchase a spot for a set period of time, much like the way the Holiday Marketplace worked. That might encourage a higher level of content in these places and help assure that those buying a spot actually intend to use them.

(Wouldn't this also mean some money for LL, too?)

Hmmm, infohubs...

1: Get rid of ahern and watershed, they are a waste of time and space and populated mostly with blingtard show off morons. Whenever i go there to peek around its the same thing time after time, loudmouth on voice thinking he's god, all the little blingtard morons surrounding him/her/it and the obvious noobies standing in the corner wondering what to do next.

2: The rest of the info hubs, like bear, the hubs ran by NCI (although NCI has its problems with some people thinking they are god as well), and all the new info hubs popping up, set up a new group which has the lead staff of ALL the info hubs in the same group. Have the info hubs STAFFED by a linden at least during the weekend when its more busy. Give the info hub head staff more powers and say in what infohubs should be about. With the new group any problems/greifers/issues can be spread across the entire infohub network within minutes.

3: Have the mentors be a part of the info hubs more so than they have in the past, 2 mentor groups, one front line at the help and OI sections, and one group in the trenches at the infohubs.

4: More info then the scant info already at the info hub...heck, maybe get torley to make special info hub greeting videos with his over enthusiastic happy voice.

Thats off the top of my head in the first few minutes of me thinking of my own personal experiences in the idiot infested hubs i've been to in the past. The first time in 2006 i spent 2 days at a hub, lost, confused, shouted at by loudmouth blingtard morons and quit.

The only reason i came back last year was due to ill health and some of my friends being on SL.

Ya know, a blog saying that LL is encouraging Lindens to wander these areas or saying that gteam members are required to spend one hour of their day in them, would do good things to LLs currently fairly-damaged image. Popular belief is that these areas were long-ago abandoned by LL.

edit: and TY for the reply, Blondin.

I think the Grouped Hub is the best bet. We get to know the regulars and they get to know us. And in knowing each other we have respect for each other. It is in that relationship that spawns a community. It becomes their City too. You should not have a great deal of members coming and going from a HUB group. It should be a simple number of people willing to dedicate their time and efforts in helping the HUB produce knowledgable residents. But at the same time have FUN doing it. OMG I have met so many of my freinds just helping them when they were new. Some have become content creators, owners of Sims with wonderful music performances, Builders, scriptors, You name it...they are out there if given the chance to just be and learn.
There is such a thing as TMI when you are new. Alot of information is great at a HUB but don't expect anyone to go read them all and don't just point to them if someone asks you a question That is why you need to be there, talk to them, find what they are interested in. Just help direct them to what they want to do and be patient. I know hearing the same question over and over makes one a bit short in answering. If that is the case then log off. Take a break.
I believe the Lindens have alot on thier plate. And in using a Group to help with the day to day activities in running a HUB then they will save themselves alot of time.
Nova Albion info hub had been forever a rezzable area. It was why it got a bad wrap in the last several years because of griefing activities. Recently we were able to get LL to change it to No rez. Now the hub has been very quiet. No complaints to my inbox, no auto rezzers or green squirrly giant popcorn flying around. Now it is peacful with very few new residents coming into it. I assume that is due to all the new hubs put in place. Most of the established residents went elsewhere while others found refuge in the Barcola Sandbox which is fine. That is what it is there for, but not at the hub. My point here is that all hubs are no rez no push and n some cases no script as well. It is not at the hub itself you will encounter major problems. It is the adjoining regions or private owned lots that have rez enabled. That is where the congregation of established residents will gather. They want to be able to rez things, show a slide show of their RL summer Vaca, or somethng they just made. Most are not out to ruin someones day, but sometimes it happens and then ya deal with it appropriatly. The more often the Hub Group is there and makes themselves known, the less problem that will occure.