Kitely welcome area: What does it need to include?

[Constance Peregrine]

sent over to this proper thread, please consider those of us with limited and quickly diminishing mental abilities....lol

I agree mostly with Danko, in the regard, as I said before [but who listens to me and who the heck cares wut I say most of all me!!] I still think a mega should be used, but most of the surrounding regions just as nice showcase with mostly water, maybe some cool bridges going out in spokes to them. Low prim ones and such.

The one region for the landing spot for noobs with ideas others have expressed.

Possibly a 9 region mega with the LP in the center would be cool.

The megas are a very major selling point imo, as NO others offer this in a commercial grid environment and some grids even poo-poo them...showing how well they work is a very good idea, seems to me.

Maybe make the 8 adjoining regions interesting but low build/asset ones, and people could be given that as their main objective, and we could even vote on them

I can envision looking in a map and seeing a nicely designed central region and pretty adjoining ones to go visit.

I do this on my 9 region simulator I have someplace else, and I love it a lot-)) tho I do not use a mega myself.

[Constance Peregrine]

So, to finish up my little idea, for whatever it is worth...I did this wonderful and professional graphic, worth a likely 1000 usd, for free, for ya

So the center of the 9 region idea of mine with bridges rather than land to outside spokes on all 8 corners with some builds at the end and then those also connected by land or bridges to each other on the outside....

This would put interesting builds out of normal default draw distance, show off megas, and leave the central area for some optimized stuffs the people who like to do such things will likely do...

ok, back to your own stuffs-))

[Danko Whitfield]

I was urged to cross-post...and now you can see what Minethere was agreeing with (mostly) above...

I think the main problem with the current plaza is that it tries to do too much. The individual parts are interesting and if someone made a whole world of any one of them, I'd be interested in exploring it. But thrown altogether in one place, it becomes a mish-mosh.

It looks like a place built by a committee.

Maybe the thing to do is not to form a new committee to build a new plaza. Instead, hire one experienced designer and have them build a welcome center.

One region.

Keep it simple.

and now i will add...

I saw some talk on this thread or the other one about getting a new HUD for the new plaza/welcome/whatever. Personally, I don't like to have to use a HUD. And for noobs, it's not smart to make a HUD necessary.

[Graham Mills]

I don't anticipate playing an active role in developing the new region so feel free to ignore my suggestions without prejudice. To those doing the work, all I offer are my thanks and best wishes.

[Sherrie Melody]

One main region containing the bulk of the builds would definitely make it easier on new visitors. But I like Minethere's suggestion of using a mega region to showcase that capability, with the 'non-main' regions being lightly landscaped with perhaps a few activities.

One advantage of using a mega region in that fashion is that if there is a need to add more stores, structures, and whathaveyou down the road, the space is already there without having to create a whole new world.



ETA: I forgot I uploaded that shot of my 9-region world but, maybe it can serve as an example.

[Constance Peregrine]

nice Sherrie-))

and just to add to that, here is one 9 region I had up for a while..not the whole thing but the idea is there...

[Dot Macchi]

Don't forget that Advanced Megaregions can be showcased by simply visiting a world that is using them for real. Landmarks to good megaregion examples could be given out at the welcome area.

As Danko said:

I think the main problem with the current plaza is that it tries to do too much. The individual parts are interesting and if someone made a whole world of any one of them, I'd be interested in exploring it. But thrown altogether in one place, it becomes a mish-mosh.

It looks like a place built by a committee.

Maybe the thing to do is not to form a new committee to build a new plaza. Instead, hire one experienced designer and have them build a welcome center.

One region.

Keep it simple.

[Allen Partridge]

Keep it simple is a very valid point. I think keeping it lag free, and informative - maybe even a little entertaining - but mostly focused on providing easy access to the most common needs is the top priority.

I really like the look and feel of the current plaza. I think it's a very impressive community effort. But as others have mentioned - i've experienced the lag that makes it quite difficult to use. By keeping it simple and purposeful - while emphasizing the things that make Kitely special - it may help satisfy the needs of users a bit better.

Now of course there's the rub - who are those users, and what do they actually want / need - that's probably the most important question. I've hung out there a few times for quite a while, but only met a few newcomers - do we have any information about what the typical newcomer is looking for? Could we / should we start with an effort to survey the newcomers at the landing point?

--Allen

[Dundridge Dreadlow]

What does a newcomer want ? Maybe to know the answer to the following

• What did I just log on to ?
• How do I change my appearance ?
• Did I get a free house already ?
• What do I do now ?

They will probably fit into one of the following categories:

• New to virtual worlds completely (So what is this OpenSim thing? I can see buildings trees and stuff.)
• Familiar with SL and/or other grids (just give me the differences and tell me what's new)

They will probably be looking for something

• Looking around and exploring
• Looking for a virtual home
• Looking for people
• Looking to shop or get free stuff
• Looking to sell their super awesome idea nobody has ever thought of, ever.

They will probably want to

• Find what this new thing means to them
• explore to see what is already there
• learn about the place on their own
• Find people

They may have previous knowledge of other things, along the lines of

• Played the Sims (so I can build a house?)
• Played Everquest/Warcraft (Where are the quests, where are my stats?)
• Played Minecraft (cool, I can move cubes AND other stuff)
• Played FPS games(How do I shoot people?)

They may

• Have modded a game
• have made/edited something in photoshop
• Have skills in content creation tools

Heh. Ok that should overwhelm everything nicely. Different people are going to be looking for different things, and since everyone gets something different out of being in world, it's going to be a challenge to suit them all The new persons determination will shape their experience.

[Ada Radius]

One way to have a nice transition between the transfer stations and the welcome center would be to use Dot's excellent structure as the center of the welcome center sim. A very few signs "YOU HAVE ARRIVED" etc with the tuts, then easy to walk out in any direction. With well chosen region textures, landscaping, lighting and sounds, one or two shrubbery textures made into hedges and topiary, all can be done with very little client side strain.

Outside, well labeled teleports to freeby sims and the Kitely Plaza. A freeby shop for Male, Female, Child and/or Creature avatars (there will be actual children arriving from time to time), with instructions and a very limited selection that delivers to folders so we don't need a sandbox. I'd recommend that all of the human avatar skins offered have underwear built in, so that we can keep it G rated. Offer a few sets of business clothing, jeans, teeshirts, keep it simple and tasteful. Every year upgrade to whatever levels of excellence are appropriate.

(and voting for Dot to run the build team, if she's willing. I'll volunteer and donate some stuff if it's wanted.)

Ada