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LL scraps CG’s…let the madness begin….

Take a look at this pearl of a new idea from Linden “we have suddenly been lobotomised” Labs…

http://blogs.secondlife.com/community/community/blog/2010/08/19/a-new-approach-to-welcoming-residents

A bit TL;DR for ya?  Ok, let me break it down for you.  Back in the old days, when Mr Tenk smiled, when Mr. Underby ran around hugging cute puppies and when Ceejay didnt have an absinthe problem…there was InfoHubs, Help Island and Orientation Island.  When a new resident first appeared on this wonderfull grid they usually got dumped in Help Island (where there was no help) or Orientation Island (where they got greifed).

So…that system didnt work.  The new system that was brought in a couple of years ago was the “Community Gateway” system.  A span of regions based off of a real life city, or populated with volunteers as a means to help new resident.  Caledon Oxbridge is an example of this.  New Residents would bypass the old Help Island and Orientation Island mess and go straight to these new gateways if they went through the entire registration process.  This system weeded out the idiots and kept the good ones.

Today…its being scrapped.

Whats being put in its place?  The Destination Guide.

What does this mean?  It means any sim on that showcase or destination guide will be randomly picked as a new user enters this world.  Guess what folks…New Babbage is on that showcase and Destination Guide.

What will happen?  After Augst 19th the new system will come into effect.  After August 19th you will see a rise of 0 day old noobies with torches attached to their ass and boxes attached to their heads running around asking for sex.

Thank you Linden Labs…thank you very much…

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86 Comments

  1. Blackberry Harvey Blackberry Harvey August 19, 2010

    *spritzes himself with cologne*

    • Kimika Ying Kimika Ying August 20, 2010

      laughs, “As reasonable response as any.”  Now I’m picturing you standing at the train station holding a bunch or roses.   Perhaps I’ll join you and hand out city maps and free Trout Throwers, just to help get people started off right.

      • Blackberry Harvey Blackberry Harvey August 20, 2010

        Hurrah!  I’ll just hold up a limo sign that says “ANYBODY”.

      • Glaubrius Valeska Glaubrius Valeska September 10, 2010

        Dang, I never got a Trout Thrower?  Are they available in Steelhead?

  2. Mr Tenk Mr Tenk August 19, 2010

    i never smiled. i’ve had servos installed in my cheeks since then.

  3. Armand Foehammer Armand Foehammer August 20, 2010

    Well, when life hands you lemons, make lemonade. Perhaps this might be considered an opportunity, if we approach this with the right attitude…hmmm?

  4. Blackberry Harvey Blackberry Harvey August 20, 2010

    Does the intro to Babbage kit include some links to freebie period clothing?

  5. Stargirl Macbain Stargirl Macbain August 20, 2010

    Wait what, I…what? I….huh…..so this is what it feels like to go insane. 

  6. Victor1st Mornington Victor1st Mornington August 20, 2010

    As an added note, this also comes right behind the announcement from Phillip Linden in SLCC that the Teen Grid is being closed down, and the minimum age is residents on the adult grid will be dropped down to 16.

    Whats being presented is a double edged sword.  One one had the lower age resitrctions will bring in a lot more people interested in Steampunk who might spend more cash which is good for the economy within New Babbage.

    On the other hand the filtering of the greifing idiots is no longer there.  The Community Gateways got rid of the greifers, harrassers and general idiots BEFORE they ventured out into the grid as a whole.  Now that filtering is gone, 0 day old residents will be instantly dropped into New Babbage and other Destination Guide places with NO resident help, NO tutorial videos, NO idea how to move, how to chat, how to open their inventory…

    …the question is simple, can New Babbage handle something like this?  It basically means all regions and places in that destination guide now becomes a welcome hub for new residents.  Linden Labs is now putting the work of settling in new residents not on the volunteer sector that ran those community gateways, but on us…

  7. Armand Foehammer Armand Foehammer August 20, 2010

    Perhaps members of the militia should be endowed/deputized with powers to vanquish or expel

    grievers. Perhaps the Ladies Fire Brigade might be called upon to assist with the lost and huddled masses…

     

     

    • Mr Tenk Mr Tenk August 20, 2010

      babbage is very low-grief compared to other places i frequent. idiots with guns are more common, and they’ll usualy stop with a few words about it. we have a very small ban list for an estate of this size.

    • Wiggy Undertone Wiggy Undertone August 20, 2010

      My personal preference is not to do that.  The militia is a RP only organization.

  8. Mr Tenk Mr Tenk August 20, 2010

    great. they’ll end up in Underby’s basement if its a random hop into New Babbage.

     

    comedy gold i tell you!

     

    (they land at babbage square train station, in front of the crates)

    • Tepic Harlequin Tepic Harlequin August 20, 2010

      maybe we could put a trapdoor in front of the crates, i’m sure new people would love to explore the sewer system, it’s a great introduction to New Babbage….. (and i have rescued a few new people from the sewers, they are usually very happy to listen and learn while drying off…)

      • Wiggy Undertone Wiggy Undertone August 20, 2010

        With a ‘Don’t touch this button!” sign on the button that drops them into the sewers!

  9. Cyan Icewolf Cyan Icewolf August 20, 2010

    Hmmmm I think it’s a good time to update our welcome center a bit.

  10. Fuzzball Ortega Fuzzball Ortega August 20, 2010

    In regards to the Teen Grid closing, I did email Terrance Linden (anyone in Steelhead group would know how surprising something like me emailing a Linden is) regarding the ratings of the lands. He said the policy stands that anyone under the age of 18 will only have access to PG areas, leaving the Mature and Adult rated areas to the over 18 crowd. So, I’m taking his word on that.

    As for other newbs comin’ around….I always liked the policy of Shoot First, Then Decide If You Should Let Them In…….but the policy wasn’t approved, so I’d say welcome newcomers in and keep a close eye on them. Chances are, most of them will find areas that’s more to their liking, and you won’t see them, again. The others…….you just might have a chance to mold them into the Babbage way of life…..I’m sure Doctor Obolensky has a machine for that purpose.

    • Cyan Icewolf Cyan Icewolf August 20, 2010

      Hmmm a steampunk mold does that include a top hat for men and a bustle for women?

      • Zaida Gearbox Zaida Gearbox August 20, 2010

        Ah laike freebies, so Ah say YAY!!!  to dat idea.  But, it mah understandin’ dat RP is optional in Babbage?  How is it optional if you hafta dress in period?

        • Ceejay Writer Ceejay Writer August 20, 2010

          There’s no rule to my knowledge that period dress is mandatory.  And RP had better be optional still.

          • Bookworm Hienrichs Bookworm Hienrichs August 20, 2010

            Yes, RP is optional.  And I believe period clothing is also optional.  But the latter is, at least, encouraged, and providing it is courteous.

        • Stargirl Macbain Stargirl Macbain August 20, 2010

          I’m not sure roleplaying even happens in Caledon, but all of Oxbridge’s freebie avatars are “in-period”, including their Tiny avs.  I’m not sure it’s a matter of “have to”, but, how many Avs do you see in New Babbage that AREN’T dressing “period”?  The look of new babbage attracts a certain type of player, and generally that player wants to look “Steampunk” in some way.  

          I wonder if we were attracting a pile of Newbs if Oxbridge wouldn’t give us access to those avs to put on the freebie carts?

          • Grendel Footman Grendel Footman August 20, 2010

            I know Miss Aya had come fro Caledon, she said there was some small RP there but usually just within certian small groups, and was impressed with Babbage’s RP, (optional or not) for being a more city encompassing, community driven RP.

             

            and I loved Oxbridge’s freebee avi’s, the Badger was one of their tiny ones.  the one question I got though for Caledon, with this gateway program getting the axe, what are they going to do with Oxbridge?

            • Bookworm Hienrichs Bookworm Hienrichs August 20, 2010

              According to Frau Annechen Lowey, Oxbridge will be staying open.

          • Mr Tenk Mr Tenk August 20, 2010

            i think those avs were switched to ‘younger than 3o days only’ availibility due to a ridiculous stream of avs coming in to snatch them

            no, they are not going to share them

        • Edward Pearse Edward Pearse August 21, 2010

          You’re confusing RP with “theme”. If you look like you belong here but are quite happy to talk about RL, or make references to things outside of SL, or don’t talk in a bizarre accent (:-) ) then that’s theme. If you are always in character then that’s RP.

    • Grendel Footman Grendel Footman August 20, 2010

      or anyone who puts hat they’re 18 anyway.

       

      personally I’m all for noob season, is there a good taxidermist in the city?

    • Mr Tenk Mr Tenk August 20, 2010

      I have NEVER liked the policy of Shoot First. It gives your estate an unpleasant rep. As an avatar that was never one of the Beautiful People, I know first hand how wide spread the Shoot First attitude is and what kind of opinion it forms in my mind of the people who use it. First impressions are hard to change.

      There are nine steampunk listings on the destination guide. Out of how many total destinations? Do some back-of-the-envelope math.

      • Zaida Gearbox Zaida Gearbox August 20, 2010

        You beautful on de inside, Mr. Tenk.  Dat all dat matter.  Ramoo always said dat pretty is as pretty do.

        Is dere someway we could have note cards or someting to tell newbies just randomly teleporting into de train station what Babbage is and what we will/will not put up wid?

      • Fuzzball Ortega Fuzzball Ortega August 20, 2010

        ((The shoot first line was a joke. I stol…borrowed it from an episode of the Max Headroom series, which I’m currently watching the DVD set. The line from the series that I really like, “I know that right now, you’re looking at me and you’re thinking, ‘Wow, he could become a star’. So, before you get the wrong idea about me, let me just say very humbly……You’re right! I could!” doesn’t fit in with the current topic. Personally, I’m all for newbies coming to the Steamlands, they may actually like it. However, to be honest, I feel that if twenty people signed up today, and checked the destination guide, a very small percentage of that would check the Steampunk roleplaying communities. And……no, I don’t think that every new person who comes to SL is a griefer…..but a new victim to mold their minds to our way of think……I mean, a potential new resident of *insert Steamland of your choice here*))

        • Grendel Footman Grendel Footman August 20, 2010

          guess i was the only one that got it

           

          still, the mental image of Kureo and a noob standing there arguing ‘noob season!” “wabbit season!” is entertaining enough

      • Breezy Carver Breezy Carver August 20, 2010

        interesting , thinking another  way of seeing this  is : Lindens  basically giving  the work of breaking in new people to the more experienced communities ..

  11. Cadmus Lupindo Cadmus Lupindo August 20, 2010

    Linden Labs is kidding themselves if they think this is going to improve retention. Noobs show up somewhere not having a clue. They then start asking an unending flow of questions. Residents get tied of this and ignore them or tell them to bugger off.

  12. Aeolus Cleanslate Aeolus Cleanslate August 20, 2010

    With respect to Mr Footman, this is a huge, huge opportunity for New Babbage. If a noob shows up on Babbage’s doorstep, it’s because they were attracted to what we represent in the Directory Guide. People interested in two-meter penises or Gorean delights will be unlikely to pick us. 

    Whatever the retention rate is, this means that a significant number of newbies will stay in New Babbage – and the ones who stay will do so because they want to be Babbagers. Our City lives when it’s busy. Good Citizens are what makes us tick.

    Far from fighting this, I think we need to immediately start focusing on converting noobs who choose us into stalwart Citizens. In fact, I would suggest that we start reaching out to newbies in the non-SL steampunk community and get them to come to Babbage directly. The vast majority of the people who read the Difference Engine or Boneshaker would LOVE to enter those worlds, and many would make excellent Babbagers, but few would even think to join SL, given its superficial reputation.

    A contest to contribute the best freebie items for the Babbage welcome kits. A welcome center … sort of mini-Oxbridge with a Babbage flair. Beginning classes at the Academy. More regular citywide social events. An active militia and other structures for ongoing RP. Invitations to the BAR, and a prize for the best profile created by a new Resident. Travel posters.

    Think of it this way: if any one of us had bypassed the whole awkward newbie period and been taken in by Babbage at the get go, would that have been a good thing or a bad thing? Babbage’s best builder and most entertaining roleplayer might be floating around out there at this very moment – having never heard of us. Let’s go find her and get her butt in here.

    • Kimika Ying Kimika Ying August 20, 2010

      I like these ideas of contests and a formal welcome center. I would volunteer some of my time to be there and help new arrivals. I at least need to make a notecard to hand out – highlights of the city and general educational information suitable for new people.  I’m curious to see how this actually works out.

      • Sky Netizen Sky Netizen August 20, 2010

        Ditto, Kimika. I tend to ride the Welcome Wagon more often than not anyway. Even if it is a small trickle of new folks it should be intriguing to see what happens. Also, give it a couple of months (along with a few mistakes) and I bet this will act like a well-oiled machine.

    • Armand Foehammer Armand Foehammer August 20, 2010

      *stands up and applauds*

      HERE HERE!

      Well spoken Mr. Cleanslate. This is EXACTLY the sort of thing I was refering to.

    • Blackberry Harvey Blackberry Harvey August 20, 2010

      It is possible to add onto the in-world kiosk so that it can also create your Drupal account from the SL script. Something we want?

    • blakopal Galicia blakopal Galicia August 20, 2010

      very well said sir. i heartily agree. noobs often show up at our shoppes for our victorian/steamy freebies, and it’s always been my pleasure to help them out whenever possible. New Babbage is always the number one community i send them to when they are looking for interesting places to explore. the sooner they find real, friendly people in SL, the more likely they are to become welcome members in our steamlands.

    • Wiggy Undertone Wiggy Undertone August 20, 2010

      Good point AE.  Perhaps we could hang out near the train station when any of us has some free time and welcome newcomers.   After all, we were all noobs once.

       

  13. Gabriell Anatra Gabriell Anatra August 20, 2010

    Gods yes, I remember Orientation Island, or as I prefer to call it, ‘The Griefer Gulag’.

    I do have to admit, it did inspire me to learn how to use the map. I opened it up picked a random spot and tp’d out as fast as I could.

    The few times I’ve found myself back at a Welcome area it was rarely pleasant. After they disposed of the mentors it got worse. The last time I dropped in it was rather like a scene from Lord of the Flies.

    They’re dropping them into that now.

    Like eggs hitting a fan . .

  14. Zaida Gearbox Zaida Gearbox August 20, 2010

    We was all newbs once.  An’ Ah think me an’ Jimmy should hang around at de train station.  When newbs pop in, we talk to dem.  If’n our accents don’t make dere heads spin around an’ pop off, dey can stay……

  15. Breezy Carver Breezy Carver August 20, 2010

    hummm will Mr Underby offer them Candy ?

    Well the best way .. and I  quote “Smiles Smiles Smiles Everyone”

    ((newbs are not  an awful thing .. alas sometimes  people are busy & the questions are endless )))

  16. Fono Heninga Fono Heninga August 20, 2010

    Hmmm. Could be interesting! Mind you, if someone decides to come here from the Destination Guide on the SL site itself, “This vast Victorian steampunk area is full of airships, clockwork devices, submersibles, and other amazing technology. It’s an ideal place to explore life as it was in the 19th century.” doesn’t scream two-foot penises, but one can never tell.

    Also, “life as it was in the 19th century”? Ahahahaha! Yes. Um.

     


  17. Sheryl Skytower Sheryl Skytower August 20, 2010

    I also think it would be an opportunity, if we choose to take advantage of it.

    Perhaps a huge “Welcome!” sign attached to a wagon with a plethora of freebies, steampunk-related, would be a good way to welcome newbies to the city and to SL in general. Notecards detailing what New Babbage is all about would help as well.

    Most of these newcomers will move on quickly enough – but some might stay and it’d be great to have more residents, yes?

    *begins baking cookies*

    *begins eating cookie dough*

  18. Avariel Falcon Avariel Falcon August 20, 2010

    Hmm… Maybe some sort of net like device and a handy portal to a Gorean slave pit…

    We could make a fortune here! Yay!

  19. Arconus Arkright Arconus Arkright August 20, 2010

    So people aren’t even going to be given an option to choose a community gateway? That seems odd considering the infrastructure is already there and there are some good places to choose from.

    The most helpful thing I remember from the community gateway were the big billboards with valuable information facing you the moment you first materialize inworld. It was great to learn right away what all those buttons do and how to navigate and search for things and chat with people, etc. Caledon Oxbridge has the best tutorial I’ve seen, but I’ve come across several really good ones. If no one is interested in doing something like that in Babbage, definitely include LMs to the walk-through tutorials in any sort of welcome package.

    Maybe hang some info in the maze near the canals so newbies can learn while being molested by carnivorous plants.

  20. Ceejay Writer Ceejay Writer August 20, 2010

    I don’t like this development, but I do feel that New Babbage can (and should) gracefully cope with any newbies that find themselves in our midst.  Keep in mind that many of them won’t know basics like camera controls, or even how to take a notecard.  Speak to them respectfully, helpfully, and with a gentle sense of humor. Everything is difficult at first and I will say from personal experience, that I would have left SL shortly after arrival had I not accidentally stumbled into a small, barebones pub and received a LOT of help from the regulars there.  I was so frustrated by so much, and they took me in hand and showed a lot of patience.

    I do empathise with sims that end up in the showcase and aren’t prepared for visitors.  Earlier this week we were having a magazine staff meeting at Prim Perfect’s headquarters, which ended up delayed and running over time due to a newbie that was running in circles around our table, with voice on (channeling her television loudly) and seemed unable to understand the help we tried to give her.  It was very disruptive.  We were flattered to be in the showcase, but the tradeoff isn’t really helpful to the staff ther OR to the newbies. 

    Not all showcased sims are prepared to be teachers.

    Showcase, if used for this, should have a separate listing of sims that can actually COPE with being placed in a position to be a teacher at a moment’s notice.  I don’t know how that can be done successfully, though.

     

     

    • Mr Underby Mr Underby August 20, 2010

      I am almost always very courteous and helpful to new people popping up in Babbage… but frankly, I find this ludicrous.  

      It is not our job, or responsibility, to be showing people how to use the camera controls, how to walk, how to create notes, etc.  LL should be doing this.  If they want people to use SL they need to put time into making it clear for newcomers, or at the very least have certain people hired to assist in the transition.

      I will gladly teach someone how New Babbage works and what generally goes on in our fine sooty city, but I refuse to slog through camera control lessons, et cetera.

       

    • Gabriell Anatra Gabriell Anatra August 20, 2010

      Showing people how to use the viewer does require you to be familar with it yourself though. I’m not particularly familar with 2 and I’m not likely to be. The only 2 viewer that comes close to being usable is Kirsten’s and it no longer runs here as it’s compiled for the lastest version of the OS only. Most, if not all, of these newbies will be on 2 so this is likely to be problematic for us and others.

      • Grendel Footman Grendel Footman August 20, 2010

        good point, I tried 2 once and avoided it like the plauge ever since.

        Most noobs will be on 2 by default, they wouldn’t even be likely to know there’s other viewers, I didn’t at first

  21. Ceejay Writer Ceejay Writer August 20, 2010

    Exactly, Mister Underby.

    Showcase should be a *reward* for creativity and hard work. It should not be an excuse to offload a burden onto sims that are featured.

  22. Grendel Footman Grendel Footman August 20, 2010

    maybe put signs up near the station (where i assume they’d be tping in) showing camera controls and all? I don’t know how much people would really want it turning into a babbage newb hub though, and yeah, as has been said, it’s one thing to be courteous to new visitors, another entirely to sit there explaining repeatedly how to walk, and how to get the box off your head

     

    it’s too bad too, the community gateways were a good idea, I joined sl on an older account way back more out of curiosity, got dumped in an orientation island where a furry proceeded to fire a penii shooting gun at everyone, took a random TP and ended up in some wierd hentai spaceship, nice build, reminded me of dead space, but then i turn a corner to find some bug thing doin improbable positions with an improbably proportioned woman.

    I only came back to SL after reading articles about the RP and theme communities, joined CoLA for awhile, wasn’t what i was looking for, then found Babbage and been here ever since

    if there had been a gateway back then, I probably would have stayed in SL after that initial exploration

    • Gabriell Anatra Gabriell Anatra August 20, 2010

      I’m quite leery of the idea of making a newbie hub here. Much as I hate to be ‘that’ kind of person I’d rather not deal with the newborn greifer wannabe’s and those who received the bulk of their ‘net cultural conditioning from 4chan. These will come in with the others. Yes many will self-select out and go somewhere else but many won’t.

  23. Scottie Melnik Scottie Melnik August 20, 2010

    Unless there’s something I’m missing it seems that whether you agree or disagree with this move there’s not much we can do about it. So we may as well make the best of it.

    There have been some great suggestions so far about doing something for the landing area that’s a bit newbie friendly and setting people up with period freebie clothing and the like. It would seem there’s a few folks willing to help out already and I’d like throw my hat in to help out as well.

    And I’m sure whatever issues arise they won’t be anything we can’t handle.

    • Elilka Sieyes Elilka Sieyes August 20, 2010

      I sometimes wonder if the existing walk-through tutorials out there could just be HUD-ified for the sake of the grid. Or has this already happened?

  24. Elilka Sieyes Elilka Sieyes August 20, 2010

    I enjoy touring the city with new arrivals, but up to this point they’ve generally come here on purpose. Well, mostly on purpose ;) I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see how many people turn up.  I used to encourage RL friends to visit the tutorials in Caledon Oxbridge or Virtual Ability to get started…but then a good friend TP’d into Oxbridge the other day and was immediately spammed with offers of sex.  *headdesks*

    Re the changes, I can’t really see the advantage in what SL are doing. OK, get rid of newbie landing points IF it’s not working, but then replace the tutorials with some genuinely useful in-client prompts, or some other way for people to get information.  Throwing people in at the deep end then wiping your hands of it seems a bit half-arsed, LL!

  25. Grendel Footman Grendel Footman August 20, 2010

    wish the asset server hadn’t eaten my prim zombie noob now, he’d be the perfect greeter afterall

     

  26. Aiden Martiel Aiden Martiel August 20, 2010

    I have to continue the amazing point that Mr. Cleanslate and Mr. Foehammer seem to be backing. This is a great chance for all of us, both merchant and player alike. As some may know not all 0-days are all incompitant and may posess an interest in continuing the “Build a Better Babbage” theme that seems to be going on lately. All I hear is -cha-ching- for the whole sim…*goes to prepare his freebie box*

  27. Grendel Footman Grendel Footman August 20, 2010

    can’t contribute much to freebee avatar looks aside from a bowler, but have plenty of freebee martini dispensing pengi, and chat bots I suppose

     

    as well as ugly airship skyboxes

  28. Queer Hermit Queer Hermit August 20, 2010

    Could we change the drop point to the Bucket of Blood?  It would be such fun to watch !!

  29. Queer Hermit Queer Hermit August 20, 2010

    Along the lines of throwing the baby out with the bathwater (and being OOC I guess) LL has made the BURN2, formerly Burning Life, group *rent* the sims they need this year rather than providing them.  That means the event will go from 34 sims from Burn 09 to just 11 sims this year for Burn 10 because that is all they think they can afford.  Were the RFL sims free or did they have to rent them also?  Because if they were free this year do not count on it next year the way LL is headed!

    • Wiggy Undertone Wiggy Undertone August 20, 2010

      Commercialized Burning Life?  That follows the commercialization of Burning Man.  OSgrid is looking more and more attractive.

  30. Doctor Obolensky Doctor Obolensky August 20, 2010

    If it was up to me, (And of course, sensibly, it isn’t) I’d have the tutorials be local.   IE: Just you and your PC, until such a time as you’ve learned to navigate, dress yourself, and control your camera.

    But there is also something to be said for the ol’ “Teach ’em to swim by throwing them in the lake” method.

    • Ceejay Writer Ceejay Writer August 20, 2010

      Unless you happen to live in the lake and get tired of the floundering!  :D 

      Actually, I like that idea a lot.  Many newbies, including me, lived in terror of being approached or engaged in conversation at first.  Some poking about offline, learning stuff, being given some empowering information, set it for, like 15 hours of offline practice before a real login will work.

       

      • Doctor Obolensky Doctor Obolensky August 21, 2010

        Well, that’s it then!  We’ve solved it!   Now to just get LL to listen to our obviously superior ideas!

         

        :)

        • Ceejay Writer Ceejay Writer August 21, 2010

          Piece of Cake!  I nominate Doc O to gather the Lindens ’round and make them see the Babbage light.  Or else he can hit them with a bee gun.

          (Actually we DO have some damn fine ideas.  We need their ears!)

  31. Jimmy Branagh Jimmy Branagh August 20, 2010

    If Mr. Tenk wants ta give awl th’ urchins god-like powers in the sims, Oy’m sure we could keep th’ streets clear of nekkid dancin’ noobs wit’ boxes on their ‘eads an’ stuff!

    (Seriously, noobs are the lifeblood, like legal immigration.  I tend to be nice to them, within reason)

  32. Edward Pearse Edward Pearse August 21, 2010

    Is it worth looking at the way the Town Hall is used and perhaps turning part of that into a N00b welcome area?

    At the moment we have the kiosks sprinkled around the sims (and I should really have a look at what’s in them since last I looked). But maybe redoing the communication room or one of the side rooms as a N00b landing point. I don’t know how much control sim owners will have over what get’s listed or even which sim is nominated as the gateway. Fuzz says Steelhead’s spot is Steelhead Port Harbour rather than Steelhead itself. So who knows.

    • Aeolus Cleanslate Aeolus Cleanslate August 21, 2010

      The western portion of Town Hall was originally designed as the Visitors’ Hall (the east portion is the Builders Hall and the Well is for Citizens).

      But I like the fact that noobs will land at the train station. The lobby of Hotel Excelsior would make an excellent welcome area; I was saving the former stockyards (on the other side of the tracks) for a trolley barn, but that might have some potential as well. And the Baron’s embassy is right there too. The only area that might be cooler is if noobs dropped off at the top of Palisades airship mast. But then we’d have a lot of accidents…

    • Mr Tenk Mr Tenk August 21, 2010

      yeah, all the good freebies in steelhead are at the train station in steelhead prime.

      i don’t think i want to clutter up our train station with tutorials, i will send a fresh alt in to asses the noob experience and rethink the welcome box. city hall isn’t the best place to land because of the lag.

      • Doctor Obolensky Doctor Obolensky August 21, 2010

        I’ve always felt the way freebies are presented is rather…bad.  Usually, it’s a box, with some hovertext floating over it.   There might be 50 items in it, and usually lacking in the basic instructons to use them.

        Personally, I’ve always preferred (when there’s room, that is) to have a nice large flat sign, that actually has an image of what you’re giving away….no over-stuffed boxes, that just causes confusion.

        Perhaps just a small number of complete AVs?

        • Mr Tenk Mr Tenk August 21, 2010

          complete avs would be great. the problem is finding someone willing to donate good clothing to a freebie giver that is not located in thier shop. we’ve been here before.

          • Ianthe Farshore Ianthe Farshore August 22, 2010

            Sometimes we make our own problems, eh?

  33. Victor1st Mornington Victor1st Mornington August 21, 2010

    The Destination Guide drops folks off at the train station, which is the default landing point for the main parcel of that sim.

    Maybe a touch landmark giver to a new section of city hall especially for new folks?  Heck, i dunno..

    • Ceejay Writer Ceejay Writer August 21, 2010

      The train station is a FANTASTIC point of entry. I mean… it’s a TRAIN STATION.  Starts everyone off with a ‘I just took a trip to a fantastical place’ feeling.  So we need lots of help and goodies there. If the help takes the form of a TP to City Hall, cool.  

      Keep in mind that the Very New won’t know to touch it, without *gasp* hovertext saying “Touch me with a mouseclick!” or somesuch.  They truly won’t know the subtleties.  

      If we do put anything together as a concerted effort to help the Newly Landed to possibly become Babbage Afficianados, I want in. The CocoaJava is deliberately newbie friendly and it can HELP.  I know you are listening, Tenk, so keep me in mind. 

       

       

       

      • Amadeus Hammerer Amadeus Hammerer August 21, 2010

        If there are plans for a Newbie-landing spot or a welcome box, I can offer to make a german translation of the notecards or something like this.

        And I think we have some people here, who could do this in other languages.

         

  34. Mr Tenk Mr Tenk August 21, 2010

    the comminity gateway list is no longer in the registration train.

    could you get to new babbage on the first try? let’s see…..

    assuming you checked your email after activaitng your account while you were downloading the viewer, (and assuming you could directly go to one of these destinations on the activating log-in attempt)  you’d see the follow up email that mentions the destinatin guide with promos to 4 major categorys (roleplay community is not one of them).

    Next we are on the destination guide, you would have to see roleplaying comminuties listed in the not-on-top list,

    and on that page, there is a list of different RP scenarios, Steampunk being one of them. only 3 communites per category (meiville, nemo, and rosser’s landing) are listed on this page, you would have to realize that you could click deeper to get to the full list on 9 steampunk RP communities.

    or i could have choose “steampunk” from the SL front page and got right ot the list of 9 steampunk sims.

    But i didn’t, so from the Join Now button on the front page of SL, I am being sent to Welcome Island.  Welcome island has really improved. the flow linear, no confusing what-did-i-miss there and back again hub layout like old orientation island.

    ok, now i’m at the end of the welcome track and faced with 4 choices: shop, explore, meet, or help. Repeated clicking of the posters sends the map through a list of preselections (with trippy map movement as each new lm gets loaded. As a noob i would assume the first one i was presented with was all i was going to get and take that. Caledon Oxbridge is in the Explore list. I stubbornly clicked the expore poster to see what I could get, most i’ve seen listed in the showcase (pteron, Insilico, tempura island, svarga…) Righto, i’m not getting to babbage this way. Clicking a random TP from Explore, I end up at Nemo with no further guidance and enjoy the flying tour.

    i like it….  i get to see something cool right away, and that makes me want to try sl again.

    now to try it from the destination guide and see if i can get to babbage.

    • Mosseveno Tenk Mosseveno Tenk September 10, 2010

      btw– you really can’t get to babbage on your initial log in. i tried. you would have to want to get here.

      Guvnah Shang of Caledon has noted that n00b arrival at Oxbridge has increased since the new registration routing has been implemented.

  35. Victor1st Mornington Victor1st Mornington September 11, 2010

    Ahhhh looks like they are sending the new folks to only a select bunch of places….

  36. Breezy Carver Breezy Carver September 11, 2010

    1. I have a little something to say on this topic :),
     
    New People are no way the way it was ..  What does that mean ?
     
    1) these quote” new people” are given, that is, instantly
     supplied with  skins and contemporary decent cloths for when they register,
     
    2) LL is not going to let them slip that fast out of their own paws,
     
    a) from their own pitch to snatch a paid membership thing ,
    b)  done so with stipends, a free house ..& sign up bonuses for friends,
     
    3) Most come to New Babbage and other points of interest..,
    not right out of the box but rather after  3 to 7 months,
    By two ways,  
     
    1)word of mouth ,
    (( referrals from a friend or someone they have bonded with )),
    2) after they have roamed the grid a bit , find themselves ready for something New,  
    ** I think New Babbage is getting more New Traffic from “Steam Hunt” mho,  ..
     
    curtsies and  twirls out ..    

  37. Aeolus Cleanslate Aeolus Cleanslate September 11, 2010

    I met a delightful new arrival last night at the train station (Imagine Spellhunter). Brand new to SL (2 days old), she found Babbage by looking at the popular destinations and asking around. A friend loaned her furniture and pointed the way. She was very taken by Babbage and showed only the best newbie instincts. We could use more like her.

    I wonder if we could have a ‘new arrival of the week’ feature here on the Reader somehow? Hmm.

  38. Marion Questi Marion Questi September 11, 2010

    Mr. Tenk, if you had found New Babbage in the Destination Guide first, and then clicked the Join Now button, you would bypass Orientation Island and go directly to New Babbage.  So, yes, it is quite possible that your citizens could encounter day-one newcomers wandering the streets of the city.

    If you encounter such lost souls, may I suggest you off them a landmark to Caledon Oxbridge?  Oxbridge is equipped to give these folks the basic training they need. New Babbage will be their default Home location, since that is where they started, so you can be sure they will return to you.

    Traffic in Oxbridge has increased since being removed from the Registration path. It appears that newcomers are being referred to us from other places on the grid, where they land lost and confused. Oxbridge has a well-earned reputation for it’s excellent tutorials and friendly volunteers.

    I’m certain that there are many current New Babbagers who passed through Oxbridge first. I have prominent billboard in Oxbridge touting the city and it has passed out hundreds of landmarks in the last year and a half. Oxbridge is a gateway to all the steamlands.

    • Mosseveno Tenk Mosseveno Tenk September 11, 2010

      I tried that with a fresh avatar, he got routed to welcome island. I used to use the ‘first teleport’ trick to get home locations where i wanted them, I don’t think I managed to do that either. It might have been a bad grid day, will try it again some restless night.

       

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