Transforming the Second Life Experience with Big Spaceship

Technically they have the Moles. They pay them 10 USD Prior to tax. The legal minimum wage here in the UK is is £5.35 They do get project input, but it is in terms of design not scope/define or underlying purpose.

No future effect .. all paid for by the opensim bait n switch ..

Hello Everyone,
I was to follow the web link to the page for "Big Spaceship" and wandered through some of the "projects" they had made, to say least they are interesting and if done well for Second Life I feel this could be an advantage, though as long as they allow the "human aspect", being that the Mentors and other helpers, stay within this approach then it will add to the entry experience of our world of Second Life.
I also may think that some input from the Mentor and helper groups could prove worth while to aid in the design maybe of this "sign in/entry" platform that is to be created, though it would need be limited or filtered, this however is just a suggestion.
So many people are concerned that the Mentor groups as a whole may be disbanded, but there is always need of "human interaction" for support and help, many will still seek such and there need be an option on this new "platform" for such in my sight.
Let us all not panic in this dawning of a new era for Second Life, Second Life must grow and move forward to be best at what it is, changes need be made, but hopefully without too many sacrifices along the way, intergration is the biggest call for us all right this moment..



Friend and fellow Mentor Kieohae Jewell

Thanks for the laugh Katt, I'm thinking of having a comedy night on my island and you're more than welcome if you can keep pulling crackers like this out of your hat. Maybe when people have got over their sense of humour failure that is prevalent at the moment though hey

On topic, where will the line be between Big Spaceship and the Linden teams? If Big Spaceship aren't doing inworld content are they going to advise Linden teams on design principles to attract customers and then your guys will try to apply those principles inworld?

I'm trying to see how this bridges the gap between website signups and inworld experience.

Katt, I'm seeing a lot more Linden activity in this post then on the Openspace thread. I'm finding that trend rather disturbing because it really makes suggestions on what your company is considering where its priorities lie. Nuff said about that sordid topic.

With that off my chest, this development sounds interesting enough, although I've run into dearth of friends interested in trying SL out. I'm at a loss to recommend it anymore. But it would be fun to see some more content made by the big professionals. I could only imagine what something like Industrial Light and Magic could do here. So much of the grid seems to be the same, mainly clubs. Maybe I don't get out enough anymore (heh, isn't that a funny thing to say!) but it seems like the parks, games, and the pretty places to go and visit have mostly dried up.

*sigh*

I think the discussion about the other topic has little relevance to this topic. Perhaps some self moderation out of politeness is in order before forum moderator involvement becomes necessary.
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But to be on topic there seems to be some sort of assumption that first hour begins when the person is dumped into a welcome area full of angry people waving flags and generally disturbing the peace.

So let us consider what a new resident is and how they get to that point.

The first part of the first hour experience is first becoming aware of Secondlife.
This includes effective marketing. A very major first hour experience component.

Then being compelled to sign up for secondlife.

Then easily signing up for secondlife.

Then the easy automated software installation process.

Then the first encounter with the logon screen.

Only after the new customer has navigated the above can they click the connect button to be transformed into a new resident.

Once the new resident has landed they need to undergo a "wizard style" sequence of screens to be familiarized with the UI's major components.
This "wizard" will be explaining the new UI so discussion of the old UI aspects are not really relevant. This leaves us in a dilemma for the discussion since we are not part of the new UI process. However I will forge ahead.

One series of wizard slides will describe attach points and how you can transform yourself from a business person avatar to some sort of mythical warrior, etc etc. (Armor, weapons, etc). This would feature the new attachment manager screen I have recommended and established a pjira entry for.

So, for those that wish to discuss this topic, aside from attachments, what have you had the most difficulty explaining to a new resident?

Perhaps a better in world showcase system?

A better events system for both in world and out world?

A better in world shopping system that negates the need to go out world for shopping?

A better profile system that separates personal profile "picks" (declarations of love, poetry, etc, all critical aspects of the true SL experience imho) from a potentially unlimited number of location picks?

Separation of social/communications groups from the land management group system and allowing more than 25 social/communication groups?

The landmark system? Perhaps master location landmarks so when a business is moved the master landmark owner can update where all those landmarks out there point to?

Come on there has to be more than just me thinking about how to improve Secondlife before we hit 1 million concurrency and make SL the compelling grid to be part of.

It seems to me that LL suffers from a lack of communication, both internally and with the residents, particularly those who comprise the vast majority.

Internally, there is a group of Lindens who work with and co-ordinate the efforts of the Mentor community as relate to the new user experience; new Help Islands have replaced the old Orientation Islands and a concerted effort to provide the new user with guidance in this new format has RECENTLY been implemented.

This initiative is only WEEKS old! And the dedicated efforts of the volunteers of the Mentoring community and the Lindens who work with us have hardly been given a chance to impact the New User Experience...

Now LL intends to contract the services of (yet another) third party in order to REDO what has just been done by a dedicated core of Lindens and Volunteers working together.

I submit that it's probably NOT as much about the new user experience as it is about "marketing" and demonstrating some kind of effort to muffle the sucking sound as an increasingly alienated user base abandons SL for the "open source" grid.

By contracting a third party to fix something that isn't broken ( ok, it's NOT ideal, if behavior is any indication, there are still a LOT of "kids" in the adult grid. ) LL gains the ability to focus attention away from the real reasons people are leaving in droves, among them rising costs and diminishing returns for the small resident.

Residents who spend time and money to create content and build this society have every right to be upset when their voluntary contributions to this world are squandered and mismanaged.

The residents who built this world have more experience, insight, and technical savvy than any subcontractor brought in to "improve" the marketing image of SL.

That resource is free, but when the goodwill upon which it is based is abused it will dry up.

Without the goodwill and voluntary contributions of residents, the marketing department will end up trying to polish a turd.

Get Marketing to work WITH Ops.

LISTEN to residents or lose them.

As many others have said, I have no immediate plans to abandon SL, I've "invested" two years and thousands of dollars in this "Brave New World" and I'm not going to toss it away lightly, but .....

As i strongly suggest to remain focused on a problem when half ot the grid is on "whining mode", instead of continue to move on other matters, pretending that we operate as separate entities with half brain yelling at you, and with the other half apprecciate your efforts. It is just not possible: people will look at you in the wrong way, *even* if you do something good... today. I won't say bravo to someone that is offering to me a icecream, if five minutes before he robbed into my home.

Big Spaceship is awesome. They are masters at what they do. Second Life getting a make over is much needed. SL can be difficult to learn and a new User Interface would do the trick.

How do you know they are not experienced in SL or have no experience in "the area"? Do you know who they are?

And what does their website prove anything? So it has a silly flash thing and not all the bells and whistles others have. I saw a decent list of clients and verifiable clients. Maybe they should put more time into the website instead of this project with LL.

I think this is a follow through on what M Linden promised at SLCC. He said he wanted to improve new user experience, and this is it. I, for one, welcome new users (as well as improved stability and better viewer--one can always dream). Let a thousand flowers bloom and let thousands of Lindens flow in!

I agree with most of this quoted above, the first section shows to me some lack of *interest* mmmm or *stay power* (sorry many words I do not know), though I understand what has been written *smiles*.
I do agree with the "free accounts" issue, though my time is only as a young one in this world and have not experienced what the time was like before my SL birth.
I also agree with a "trial" time, though maybe some what longer than a week, and if there could be a definite line to seperate "Adult" and "Teen" sign up would be an advantage.
Just this past few weeks, at time of writing this, I have made contact on the Help Islands with several residents that (hopeful being teens and not adults) found them selves in the wrong place.


I have now again spoken my worth ..... Kieohae

Lots of good questions and comments here, thank you!

Big Spaceship will be working on the Viewer, the inworld experience, and some work to the SL.com site. (And no, I don't anticipate our adopting a Flash interface for the web site.)

Big Spaceship won't be creating inworld content -- builds, or objects -- they'll be working with Linden teams on "to research, design, prototype and test web sites *and user interfaces* that dramatically lower the learning curve for experiencing Second Life." The User Interface of the Viewer -- which buttons and menus go where, what they look like, and how to make things more functional. How it works.

While one objective is to make SL easier for new Residents to register, get inworld, set up an avatar and start exploring and meeting people, we're also well aware that SL is also used by expert Residents doing content creation, building, etc. Making the world more inviting for new folks does not have to mean less depth for the experienced Residents, but it does mean that these things have to be carefully thought out so they work for all.

Of course, the experienced creative folks in the Second Life community are vital!

And, we'd also like to make this world easier for the new arrival.

If they had any experience in SL it would be in their portfolio; I flatter myself that I know how these things work.


It indicates certain things about their design sense and awareness of standards. Actually I would not wish to indicate any huge issue based on that, perhaps they can overcome it, but their website is a complete failure I fear. I would not hire them having seen it or recommend that a client of mine hire them.

Forty acres and a mule! No gods, no rulers! Insert your slogan here!

Katt,

Will the team at "Big Spaceship" be reading this thread and connecting to the pjira to read and participate in the first hour experience feature requests and defects?

Or will you be the only Linden that sees any of this?

I would like to know how and to what extent they will be engaged with those of us who wish to participate in a positive manner.

Big Spaceship wouldn't be a wholly owned subsidiary of Aristotle/Integrity would they?

Sometimes it is really funnny to read the forum posts. I have the strange feeling, it doesn't matter what LL does, there is always someone that will say "Why you do that, WE ALL (I) need this..."

If those people are really that mad, why don't they just leave, they keep yelling and whining about leaving... but they never do...

I would like a better first expression. I was lucky, as I was brought into SL by a friend that took care of me, but I know how overwhelming it was back then...

So I would say... Go get them guys in and let us see what they can do...



For people with lots of lag: Try what I did, Install Linux and the Viewer... No Lag anymore even in a maxed SIM... (Installing of Linux, has become very easy, try ubuntu)

I think it would be useful for there to be an offline New Resident tutorial program that could be downloaded separately so people who have just signed up can learn and practise - chose their starting avatar, and so forth, in the privacy of their own computer.

Then, confident that they can walk and talk (and change skins, alter their shape, and know the UI layout), they would log into SL proper feeling much more in command. The tweaking done in the tutorial would be carried over to their SL avatar.





I love this idea, Argent.

So many here wish to pull this apart, we must take focus on this what is being stated within this postings regarding this new form of "Sign up - World Entry" topic.
I myself do not much like change I admit, but it is the way, we should stay positive, if you have suggestions just post them, all the negative does us nothing of good, all you great people who have been on this world of Second Life for far longer than I should place the suggestions (without malice or intent) here.
As well I say to the "younger" of us as well, it has no matter if you were born of SL when it first opened or just yesterday, if you have valid suggestions that are relevant to this topic I think the LL team and others would be interested.
I myself do not write much and my thought patterns are not as they once were but I do what I can and when I can to say and make comments...

Kieohae Jewell, friend and fellow Mentor


Originally Posted by Argent Stonecutter
How about letting us invite people and provide them an avatar and inventory to pick up, legitimately... it's against the TOS to create an account for a friend, but wouldn't it be nice to be able to set one up for them?

Mmm a "gift" sign up account, that would be of interest to many, such as say husband and wife and such.

First was being helped by an NCI member (New Citizens Incorporated) and belonging to that group where I could ask newbie questions and not be jeered at.

Second was Torley Lindens tutorials that WERE on the front page of the second life website - but are now somewhere obscure that a newbie would not find.

I cannot speak highly enough of these 2 sources of help - the first hour is immaterial really as it is about learning to move the avatar and how to get around. The NCI input is also an ongoing process as the classes are brilliant, when I got around to attending them, and it is refreshing to find people not trying to give me vampire bites or give me LM's to their sex parlours. And these forms of help are RESIDENT based, not an outside agency that does not understand SL. (Well I know Torley is a Linden - but he seems more a resident to me.)

Other thoughts:
if I could change one thing as a newbie I would suggest getting rid of that horrible walk and building beginner avs with a decent walk to start with. It brands you as a newbie and I found most people avoided me until I was at least 2 months old!

That's a good idea. The basics of getting along in SL are not that difficult. A good tutorial and a couple of hours are all you need. Having an up to date and easily acessable knowledge base is also imperative, one shouldn't have to go hunting for blogs and wiki's for things that should be on official LL territory.

Should I create feature requests on behalf of people that put them forth?

Hopefully people will go to the jira and create the proposed feature requests themselves but these are good ideas and they need to be in jira for "debate evolution (making the feature request better via discussion and rewriting), documentation, and voting purposes.

I.e.; I would feel odd entering a jira feature request on behalf of Argent lol.

Maybe Miss Ann, that if you submit such a request to state on the behalf of the originator *smiles*

I believe that the final selection of Big Spaceship came only after *inworld* meetings with the Linden team involved where the Big Spaceship team showed themselves to be very comfortable and at home there....
(As well as meeting many other preliminary requirements.)