New Welcome Center Beta Feedback Thread

[Ozwell Wayfarer]

Also, question for the greeter people: How many of the new users (roughly) you meet that have never used SL/OS before?

I am just guessing, but I cant imagine that number of people being so high. If we were finding that 10%+ are total newbies then I can see the concern. But if it is 5-10% range then *I stress at this point* I dont think it is realistic to spend so much time and resources catering to that section of new users. My gut feeling is total newbies are 1-5% (1-5 users from every 100). I would be surprised if it is much higher.

Honestly, I have never seen in the greeter chat anyone mention helping a total newbie. Maybe my impression is wrong but it seems this problem gets a disproportionate amount of consideration, while the potential benefits are largely unknown, but in all probability quite low.

So how much of an important issue do people think this is? Most of the feedback in this thread so far can be acted on immediately. But this question of a "newbie zone" wont be resolved before the new KWC goes live. Sorry folks.

[Moonrise Azalee]

You could have two boxes side by side at the starter area- The current but with some notecard changes that offer direct links to relevant pages in Kitely. The Find Worlds link in the notecard is really important because its the worlds that make it a 'virtual world'. Also, if you can link to things in the notecard, there is less to actually write.
The second box can say Completely NEW to Virtual Worlds? Click. And then that box could either open up a web URL that explains it in more detail, or could pop a person over to the U perhaps which could have a step by step of how to do everything. Other grids do still have step by steps, from 3rd rock to Second Life. Kitely is targeted at educational groups etc as well so I think that out of all the opensim grids, Kitely is the most likely to find complete newcomers even if that percetange is small

As far as using up all spaces.. and the Find Worlds being too far- what about switching the Merchant build with the Worlds build? The merchant one (I think) is a bit closer? I think Ilan is right in wanting to use all the space. Can even make neat little spots here and there with focal points or discoveries (like the tunnel at the current KWC) something that lets people wander and see what can be built.

[Ozwell Wayfarer]

Can even make neat little spots here and there with focal points or discoveries (like the tunnel at the current KWC) something that lets people wander and see what can be built.

Did you find the caves full of giant mushrooms? And the ruins? Bet you didn't lol

For the second box you are suggesting, that is basically what is included at the information area. Touch the information and you get taken to the relevant Kitely page. We thought that was easier to understand and more visual than a notecard full of links.

We will look at making the Starter Pack more clearly divided up and the errors Selby mentioned in the landmarks. But I think a second box is needless complication. The Starter Pack should accomplish the task. If not, we need to look again at that.

As far as switching the worlds and merchants - thats one for Ilan too. It was my understanding that he wanted merchants to take prominence for a number of reasons but basically (ie totally mincing and misrepresenting Ilans words) every grid has worlds. Not all grids have content, therefore content wins.

[Freda Frostbite]

Brayla is dead on point with all of her critiques. Smart avatar!

The whole area needs more Kitely branding, however. The only Kitely branding is on various small signs, etc. The branding needs to be more prominent.
I would like to see a teleport board similar to the volunteer board where the various areas of the welcome center can be directly teleported to. If you need a script for this, I can provide one.
The back of the volunteer board has a texture on it that is a bit awfully stretched. I would fix that.
The starter pack is great, but the instructions on using inventory and notecards are in a notecard in inventory. That's a problem.

[Freda Frostbite]

Maybe my impression is wrong but it seems this problem gets a disproportionate amount of consideration, while the potential benefits are largely unknown, but in all probability quite low.

So how much of an important issue do people think this is?

Your impression is not wrong but misses the point, which is to encourage grid growth and avatar retention. There are only so many SL ex-pats out there and eventually they will all either be in Sensar or somewhere in OS. Ultimately, if Kitely is to prosper, which is the goal for all of us, I think, we MUST start bringing folks in from the solid world. I know Selby and the folks at Seanchai have brought new folks in to kitely from their real life circles. So have I. These folks have learned the ropes from those who "recruited" them. Eventually, I hope some of our outreach beyond the population already in virtual worlds is successful enough that that will no longer be possible. I hope we have so many VW virgins that we HAVE to funnel them through an adequate complete neophyte welcome center.

Also there is the issue of hospitality. I was raised to be always hospitable to unexpected guests. Part of that is always being ready to offer them whatever they will need to feel welcome and to know I am happy to have them here, no matter how much effort it takes to send that message. I am betting we were all raised in a similar fashion. In RL, it is sometimes a royal pain to have someone show up at one of my workshops or readings who has NO clue what they are doing there. It requires me, as the facilitator, to help them in any way I can. In a VW, that can be accomplished much more easily by having tools in place that make it possible (though not ideal) for a complete beginner to learn the ropes even without the aid of a greeter.

[Moonrise Azalee]

Ozwell, you are correct, as is Ilan - however finding worlds here does not work like other worlds that people are familiar with.
If coming from OSgrid, IW, SL and others, a person will expect to put a keyword into the Search in the viewer and find a place. That will not happen in Kitely.
As a greeter I have met many people who said 'how come there's no regions to explore in search' - they have literally thought that it was an empty world because of this.
Because we handle worlds differently than some of the more common other grids, having an explore option for worlds to me should take presidence because Kitely is lready more famous for it's Market than anything.

As for the second box - its becuase the landing spot has the first initial box and if someone doesnt know how to operate their avatar in a virtual world, that starter box will be of little use. One box set up as you already have is fine (with maybe the emphasis on how to find things in kitely in a link for the Explore Worlds page) and the other box called "brand new to virtual worlds? click here" or something... something that you just click and opens up a page on the website (could even be to an instruction page on sign of the kite) for people who wouldnt otherwise know how to do anything.

Anyhow, I dont want it to come off as being unappreciative. I think it looks great. No more tree in the centre, a board for greeters, places for greeters to sit, starter pack - those were my initial hopes. So thanks for accomplishing that

[Ozwell Wayfarer]

First, let me begin by thanking you all for your feedback so far. Please continue providing it. We need as many informed opinions as possible to make sure we don't miss things that can be important for helping new Kitely users get settled. What we currently think may be wrong. Don't be afraid of letting us know why.

My reply to points raised so far:
1) I'm for adding ambient sounds, which can significantly increase immersion. I'm against adding music, which can easily become a distraction and can be problematic for various technical, legal and new-user-onboarding issues. Adding music is important for emotional connection but IMO the cons outweigh the pros in this case.

2) When deciding what we focus our limited resources on I think it's important we consider the conversion rates for various user types. It's easy for Kitely to retain people coming from Second Life or other OpenSim grids. We have a lot to offer those types of users and they are experienced enough to appreciate it. It is, however, very hard for any OpenSim grid (and for Second Life) to convert a SL/OpenSim neophyte into an active user. SL-derived viewers have a very steep learning curve and, unless we have someone guiding them personally, it is very hard to retain people who aren't already familiar with them.

There are hundreds of thousands of active SL/OpenSim users. They are our low hanging fruits, as it were, so it's best we focus our efforts on increasing their adoption rate and not spend our development efforts trying to build accommodations for people new to this type of virtual world when, in most likelihood, those efforts won't really keep more of them here. People who are completely new to this technology will most likely not adopt it unless they are brought here by someone who helps them learn the ropes (in which case they don't need special instructions in the Kitely Welcome Center).

3) Point 2 explains why I think the merchants hall needs to be closer to the landing point than the worlds showcase. As Ozwell correctly stated, many grids have interesting worlds, but most OpenSim grids don't have anything close to Kitely Market. In fact, many people visit Kitely just to buy from Kitely Market (some of them don't even go into the Kitely grid). We want to attract people using what they come here for and hopefully convince them to give the rest of our offering a try while they're at it.

To summarize so far, The Kitely Welcome Center is currently designed to be a way to help people who are experienced with SL/OpenSim learn why Kitely is a good alternative to whatever other grid they are currently using or, at the very least, help them see why spending some time here (via the Hypergrid) could be productive/entertaining for them.

[Moonrise Azalee]

Ilan I agree with you, but I think that because Kitely is unique in how people find those worlds - not from within the viewer search, that to have it at least on par with the merchants is a good idea. You are correct that the biggest retention will be from those who are familiar - likewise we need to compensate for that which those familiar with virtual worlds they will be unfamiliar with - finding places seems at least as important.

[Moonrise Azalee]

I think that having a map sign with teleport points/options or, alternatively, just a destination board with labels of the points of interest in the KWC could help with that Moonrise. Placing that close to the landing spot would help people get to those places without walking.

[Moonrise Azalee]

I think that having a map sign with teleport points/options or, alternatively, just a destination board with labels of the points of interest in the KWC could help with that Moonrise. Placing that close to the landing spot would help people get to those places without walking.

Yes, something closer to the landing spot that would allow people to directly go to some POI without having to log into the website to do so would be really great. A destination board is a good idea - could something like that be done in the manner the log in screen is? Showing say - 8 active regions etc? I guess it could be quite a task for you to have to decide what regions would be considered points of interest - the thing you have in the current KWC that just brings a person to a random world.. that's pretty fun

***update*** Found the caves and mushrooms!
Also forgot to mention another plus - It's easy to see where you need to go. I actually still get lost weekly for the kitely meeting. if i didnt have the green dots to find id never make it there lol. I like that its easy to see landmarks - one central area branching off. Its easy to see where the meetings will take place and I much prefer the roman seating.
Some things are ALMOST glowy with my graphics set to high so definitely please no full bright.
Also forgot to mention i really like the little outdoor amphitheatre I would make the brush and trees all phantom though because you can't go through them otherwise. Flying i got stuck in an oak, walking got stuck on a bush. But anyhow, yes. It's really beautiful.