Update on Design for New Resident Orientation

Update on Design for New Resident Orientation

Summary:
* New resident start area temporarily moved to Ritch simulator – we’ll direct them to Natoma, please don’t crowd around Ritch too much
* In order to reduce object density around the new Ritch start area, please don’t build right around the start point – we’re going to clean it up daily
* Natoma will remain the primary commercial area – new residents will receive landmarks to the region
* In a few weeks, a start simulator separate from the mainland will debut for new resident orientation

Details:

First off, thanks for all the great feedback in the forums – nice to hear some veterans wax nostalgic about their first few days in SL. An interesting take-away for me involved the distinction between two separate experiences: learning about how to interact with the world (for example, how to move) vs. learning about the world itself (where should I go, I want to do ____). I think we successfully address this distinction in the new proposal.

Over the coming weeks you’ll see some changes to the new resident orientation. Currently, new residents appear in Natoma where they are met by a deluge of people and objects. The enthusiasm is great, but we want to give new players a few minutes to get their feet wet and learn about the world before they start interacting. Also, as we expand the size of the beta, Natoma itself is running a bit slow with all those avatars running around, especially you showoffs with scripted attachments

So in the coming days we’re relocating the start area to Ritch where new players will be met by Linden liaisons. After getting a bit of an orientation, they’ll be encouraged to visit Natoma, and given a landmark to simplify the journey. So don’t worry – Natoma will still remain a bustling commercial mecca. We ask that you don’t crowd around the Ritch Start Center during this part of the beta. Also, we’re going to be cleaning up the area surrounding the start location on a nightly basis in order to keep down the number of objects present during start-up. We appreciate your assistance during these intermediary steps leading up to the launch of…

New Start Point
Soon new players will begin on a single sim training area with the chance to learn about Second Life before joining you on the mainland. This land will be a small separate piece of the world where new residents spend their first few minutes playing through some learning stations. Then once they teleport to the mainland they’ll have tons of questions for you, money to spend, etc.

Replicas of these demo stations (and eventually several with a more advanced curriculum) will be located on the mainland so everyone can stop by for a refresher course. As this new experience comes together there will be opportunities for some experienced residents to help us test. Just keep your eyes open for announcements.

The overall goal? Support getting as many people as possible into Second Life, help them understand the complexities of the world and then rely upon this great community to help get the newer residents involved.

Keep Living.

hunter

Cool! I know when I first logged in I was totally clueless and somewhat embarrassed because I didn't know a thing about the world. A little mud-school-type-thing would be really helpful! Great idea

Love the ideas, here.

I'm a lil worried about the residents who've already made Ritch their home sim, tho -- what kind of performance issues this is going to cause for them, or if they're going to have to pack up and move.



I don't know that I'm what you would considered "experienced" or not, but I'd love to help in any way I can.

#!

We chose Ritch (which is lightly populated) to minimize disruption. It was a combination of factors slowing Natoma, not just more avatar traffic.

Thanks for offering your help Shebang - we'll post when there are additional testing duties above and beyond the call of beta.

see ya in world

hw

Thanks

-a newbie

xoxo

* In order to reduce object density around the new Ritch start area, please don’t build right around the start point – we’re going to clean it up daily

Are ya'll gonna wear those funny lil orange vests??

oo oo oo i would pay for one of those orange vest textures!!!!

Heya Senator,, if ya wanna pay,, ya gotta play... course that's usually the otherway around for us normal folkz,, but U always been a lil bass ackwards.