EOTB: Linden Lab to Introduce "Onboarding Experiences Built by Second Life Creators"

 

One problem Second Life has had to contend with over it's history is retaining newcomers, only a small fraction of those who log in for the first time keep coming back after the first few visits, many not even after the first. This virtual world has a steep learning curve, as well as it can be a challenge to find out where to go and what to do, and newcomers unless they have friends to guide them or extremely persistent, grow frustrated and lose interest in sticking around. 

 

Linden Lab has been trying various things over the years to try to keep new residents coming back, and encouraging other residents to help out.  On Monday March 30, Linden Lab announced on their blog "new onboarding experiences ... built by talented community creators." 

 

As part of our ongoing experimentation with improving the new user experience, we’ve recently launched a new set of onboarding destinations in Second Life designed to make Residents’ first moments more social, interactive, and fun.

Each experience has been independently built by a group of talented community creators and are currently among the first locations newly-registered community members will experience for a limited time as we continue to assess what types of experiences and locations retain and engage our newcomers.  

 

The blog entry would go on to say the work, "was part of a pilot New User Experience Working Group (NUXWG)," and it had finished up a week earlier, calling it, "an outgrowth of our ongoing Creator Partnership Program, where we work directly with the community for select partnerships across a variety of initiatives." The Lab stated the same group was behind "several new mobile-specific landing locations" in 2025. 

 

Over the next few weeks, we will be testing these and other starter locations as we continue our ongoing efforts to experiment, learn, and evolve the new user experience - with ongoing consideration for our Community Gateway partners and other collaborations. 

We invite the community to check these locations out for yourself and support these creators who put lots of love and labor into this project.  

 

Currently, there are six of these Onboarding Experiences:  

 

Madpea Scardey Cats,  in which the player rescues kittens from a playfully spooky funhouse.

 

Driving Dirty , described as "where you can play different games, grab free prizes, meet new people, and hang out with others."  

 

Rush Week, which looks like a college-themed dating area.

 

Brazil Tour, a place in the theme of the country Brazil where one can play a few games or interact with others, some of whom may be from the country.

 

Club Midnight Pulse, a newbie-oriented nightclub where besides dancing to the music, you can play a few quests and meet others.

 

The Learning Center,  a space-stationed theme place described as "an interactive destination designed to teach the basics through gameplay. Explore obstacle courses, collect hidden stars, and learn core skills while progressing through challenges."

 

To read the blogpost in full, Click Here.  

 

Bixyl Shuftan 

Announcement: "Goth Darn-It" Masquerade Ball

 

Bliss & Benefit invite you to join us for a

Goth Darn-it Masquerade Ball

This immersive role play experience will include a full dinner with live entertainment. 

Choose the show you would like to attend during your dinner and if you would like to include a spa night with your package. 

General admission tickets will be available for the performances if you would like to opt out of the dinner or spa.

Groups are welcome. 

This event will be held on an adult rated region, no children allowed. 

To book your reservation, please go to https://forms.gle/x2bZ1YQMfkaB4zY36

All proceeds go directly to the American Cancer Society

For questions or more information, contact AveryMae Amore or Epheni Resident 

Bliss & Benefit
https://gracewins.wixsite.com/bliss-benefit/events

 

This Saturday at The Science Circle

 

 

Saturday April 12

 

    ~*~

 

    At 10 AM PST   

    The Height of The Roman Empire

    hhttps://www.sciencecircle.org/event/roman-empire/

    Presented by Chantal Jager

    Location TBA

 

    ~*~

 

    NOTE: Non-members required to register once

    IM Jes Cobalt or Nymf Hathaway

╚══════════════════════════════ The Science Circle (72,129,30) ═╝

 

 

This Saturday at The Science Circle

 

 

Saturday March 29

 

    ~*~

 

    At 10 AM PST   

    SC Moon Base Project Immersive Experience

    https://www.sciencecircle.org/event/sc-immersive/

    Organized by Phil Youngblood

    Moon Base

 

    ~*~

 

    NOTE: Non-members required to register once

    IM Jes Cobalt or Nymf Hathaway

╚══════════════════════════════ The Science Circle (72,129,30) ═╝

My Expirences As A Hostess

Maybe you've been going to a club for a while that's really cool, and you feel like becoming part of it's staff but can't DJ. One position clubs often have a need for is that of host/hostess, someone who greets people as they come in, and other duties. Our new writer Angel Fencer (Ender Leven) recently got a job as one at a club. So what is it like and how did she end up there?

Read Angel's story in People.

Calas – The Hot Air Balloon Ride

Deaflegacy recently went to a noted area, Calas Galadhon Park. What got her attention was the balloon ride. So what happens when a pony gets on a hot air balloon? She wrote about her experience.

Read Deaflegacy's story in Places.

Linden Lab Announces New Game in Second Life: "Tyrah and the Curse of the Magical Glytches"

In late June, and more recently in late August, Linden Lab was talking about a "grid-wide gaming experience" coming "soon." On Monday September 18, they announced it had arrived: "Tyrah and the Curse of the Magical Glytches."

The plot of the game is that Tyrah, the girl in danger in the Horizons game, has been rescued. But somehow Magellan Linden has apparently died. While Tyrah and the Moles are still talking about who will help protect the Grid, a new threat emerges: Ruth. Furious at being all but forgotten, she takes advantage of Magellan's departure to unleash magical creatures called "Glytches" on the Grid to wreck havoc. Not sure what to do, Magellan's robot sidekick Punkee decides on using the tactic of his former boss: get the residents to help out.






(Click here if the video fails to play)

To play the game, head to Portal Park and head to the portal to the new area, called Hartyshire, and pick up the HUD and beginning weapon at the Gem Apothecary. The HUD will take you to the places you need to go to catch the Glytches. For those who got the SL14B avatar and it's egg this summer, there's a place at the Apothecary you can hatch it.

We'll have some more details soon on how to play the game and the prizes you can get. But if you're in a hurry to start, head to Portal Park at (175/118/52).

Read the announcement in full here. You can read more information about it here.

Bixyl Shuftan

Two Sansar Contests by Linden Lab, One Offering $10,000 USD Prize

There's a couple of contests in Sansar going on. One for avatars, one for experiences.

For those looking for a new Oculus Rift, or perhaps looking to give one to a friend if you already have one, here's your chance. Linden Lab is offering a contest for those who design the best five Sansar avatars, offering a total of over $5,000 worth of prizes.

To begin with, Linden Lab isn't calling them avatars, but "avatar props." The contest has five categories, "Most Innovative," "Best Halloween Costume," "Funniest," and "Most Fashionable." The first prize for each is an Oculus Rift and an Oculus Touch Virtual Reality Headset Bundle (worth $399.00 USD), and a one year Super Creator Sansar Subscription (worth $359.88 USD). Honorable Mentions get a one year Creator Sansar subscription (wotth $119.88 USD). Entries have to comply with content guidelines. The deadline for new entries is Oct 1 at 5PM SL time.

For more information on the avatar prop contest, Click Here.

The second contest involves not avatars, but areas in Sansar, their "Scariest Experience in Sansar" contest. For this one, first prize is n Oculus Rift and an Oculus Touch Virtual Reality Headset Bundle, a one year Super Creator Sansar Subscription, and a whopping $10,000 US dollars! Entries here also have to comply with content guidelines. The deadline for new entries is Oct 15 at 5PM SL time.

For details on the Scariest Experience contest, Click Here.

Source: Sansar Blog

Image Credit: Debi Baskerville   Ryan Schultz

Linden Lab "Celebrating 14 Years of SL With Investments in Its Future"

When Sansar was finally opened about a month ago by Linden Lab, the response from Second Life's residents has been mostly negative.    So perhaps is should have been no surprise that the Lab would issue a statement of some kind reassuring it's customers of it's existing virtual world that it would be continuing to maintain and improve it as much as ever. Yesterday, August 29, Linden Lab issued a press release announcing a "set of investments into Second Life and its communities," including customer support, attracting new residents, and "enhancements to our engineering support." The Lab went on to say the amount of money budgeted for the following year in these investments is in the "millions" of US dollars, "We at Linden continue to be impressed by what we witness from Residents every day, and we want you to know that we share that commitment to and love for Second Life. "

Linden Lab listed the following as among what it plans for the following year:

We are hard at work upgrading all of the SL infrastructure and moving it to the cloud, which will bring a wealth of opportunities to Residents near and far, and allow us, among many other things, to make SL more performant for Residents across the world from us. It may also allow us to introduce new products with more flexible pricing.  

We’re working on several features to increase the value of Premium subscriptions. Most recently we gave Premium members priority access to near-full events, and shortly, we’ll be ready to unveil another bit of exciting news for subscribers. 

We're building out a series of great extensions to Windlight (code name: EEP!), which will give value, flexibility, and new marketability to land, and will make Windlight settings tradeable assets.    

We have an extension to the animation system in the works (code name: Animesh) that will allow non-avatar objects to use more powerful and efficient skeletal animations the way avatars can today, and even more changes planned for creators and merchants later in the year. 

We’ve also got new experiences and events coming. An exciting new grid-wide gaming experience is coming soon! The team can’t wait to share the details with you in just a few days. Also in the works for this fall is an updated Halloween Haunted Tour, with new spooktacular events to celebrate. Not to mention, we’re turning 15 next year - SL15B, baby! That’s an incredible milestone and we are looking forward to collaborating with you to produce an amazing celebration.

It's not yet clear if this "exciting new grid-wide gaming experience" is what Patch and Dee Linden were hinting at during the SL14B or not. But it should be interesting to see

Read the press release by Linden Lab in it's entirety Here.

Bixyl Shuftan

Back to Normal: A Look Back At The "Bid Me Human" and "Platinum Challenge"

Do you ever feel like you're not quite yourself? For over two weeks, the Editor was in two avatars quite different from his normal look. First as part of a Relay for Life "Bid Me," he went about a ethnic human appearance. Then when his Relay team reached Platinum level fundraising, he had to make good on an "avatar challenge," going female for a week. So how did his time of going furless, then of the fairer sex turn out?

Read Bixyl's story in People.

Linden Lab Announces Its Community Gateway Program Is Back

In August 2010, Linden Lab announced it was ending it's Community Gateways program as part of it's "new approach to welcoming residents" at the time. This move, along with the end of the SL Volunteer program in December 2009, was panned by critics as a sign of either cluelessness and/or a lack of interest in helping new residents. At the time, the Lab stated it had doubts about it being an effective use of their resources. In September 2015, Inara Pey stated that community gateways were set for a comeback. And a number were set up, such as the one by Firestorm, which can be seen at Firestorm Social Island.

On Wednesday May 31, Linden Lab officially announced the Community Gateway program had returned.

We are thrilled to re-introduce the Community Gateway Program!  Previously, the Community Gateway program helped bring new users to Second Life, by enabling Second Life communities to attract, register, an on-board new Residents. The program was shelved in 2010 as resources were reprioritized, and now we're excited to reintroduce the Community Gateway program along with some improvements that will make it even more valuable to Second Life.  We recognize the benefit of having Resident supported tutorial areas and have been working with several communities while fine tuning the new program over the last year.  

This powerful new tool will allow you to register new users right from your own community website and add them automatically to your group, thus helping your community to grow!

The blog post described the program as allowing communities to "create a new user experience and attract residents" to the community, help new residents into beginning their Second Life experience, guide new residents in the "creation of their new avatar personas," and help with new user retention.

Of the last detail, Second Life is described as having a very low new user retention. Increasing it would be a step in halting and reversing it's overall long slow decline in numbers.

Details about the program, including how to apply, are here in the official Second Life Wiki.


For the Blog post in full: Click here. 

Source: Daniel Voyager  , Inara Pey 

Bixyl Shuftan

Reader Submitted: "A Peculiar Morning in Second Life"

I logged into SL with my admin avatar this morning as I usually do, when I need to get something done.

I landed on the Welcome Island, sat down on a comfy bench and proceeded to make some payments, when a newbie approached me and asked for help.

"How do I change my clothes?" He asked...

To make a long story short, I ended up giving him a two hour crash course on SL.

My admin avi is a female because it was made by Sikiu Torres (Shinya Tandino) and my new friend commented what a beautiful girl I was...

He then told me he was from the Middle East and told me not to worry because he was an atheist...

Lastly, he made it clear that it was ok for me to talk dirty to him.

I logged off.

Frolic Mills (Juan Delago)

What It's Like To Acquire A Sim

The Newser has written about hundreds of locations in Second Life. But the process of getting one, this is something we have yet had to write about, until now. MajikVixen recently opened her new sim, Zamargad. In this article, she chronicles the steps she took from the decision to get one, to the steps of the process, to the party to celebrate it's completion.

Read Majik's article in Extra.

Second Life From a Newcomer's Perspective

While longtime residents of Second Life usually can remember details about their earliest days, time and experience have a way of dulling memories. Plus things change over time, and newcomers have to deal with things the earlier residents haven't, such as mesh and Bento. On the other hand, they have access to things like the Destination Guide, and of course the Newser, that those here years ago didn't have. So sometimes we need a newcomer's perspective.

Mangrovejane. a self-described "artist ... A creator of Fantastical Things. An explorer of virtualities and a philosopher on the nature of realities,"had only recently heard about Second Life after reading articles about the art there. So she decided to sign up and see what was there herself, documenting the first five days of her journey. Her preconception was that making an avatar and moving about would be easy enough, thinking of "The Sims" and "World of Warcraft." But that wasn't exactly the case. She had been a little worried about perverts trying to trick her, but instead found people willing to help her out. On day three, she found some examples of the virtual art she was searching for. On day four, she came across the IvoryTower of Prims and the Builders Brewery and took a crack at building.

After five days, she felt she had accomplished much, and had found some preconceptions didn't match what she experienced. She had some advice for other newcomers.

After Learning Island, residents are basically on their own. Fortunately, there are places such as Caledon University where newcomers can keep coming back to learn.

Have a goal or goals and a purpose, "Without a goal, you will feel lost and will quickly become bored and despondent."

Not everyone is out to grief or harass you, "Don’t assume everyone in world is creepy and out to get you and grief you. You will not meet one person who treats you badly or even annoys you in this first week. There will be no drama and no griefing. People will be genuinely friendly and are often happy to give you advice, especially if they know you are new."

Don't believe the hype and bad press, "Go in and make your experience about what YOU want. Think about what you like to do, what you might want to do, who you want to be and live that life. Stay away from the 'adult' areas (unless that is where you actually want to be)."

Don't let those who do try to bother you push you around, "if someone is annoying you…just teleport away. Mute them, block them and go somewhere else and do something else…don’t let someone else’s bad attitude ruin YOUR experience."

If your only experience with interacting with others on computers is from games like "World of Warcraft," always remember, "it took me a little while to fully comprehend it…You CANNOT die in world!!!!!!"

You’re gonna be ok. You are going to get frustrated and the learning curve is going to be steep. You will accidentally get naked in public and not know how to get dressed and be so mortified you mention it over and over again. You are going to run into walls and people while you are learning to move around in the world. You will not know where to go or what to do. You are going to freak out the first time you fall from great heights while flying. You are going to doubt your ability to translate your first life art into second life art and you are going to have a hard time talking to people because that’s just you. When it all gets a bit much, just stand up and walk away from the computer. Go outside. Breathe fresh real air and live your first life. Your second life isn’t going anywhere without you.

And lastly, adventurer….Explore, Explore, Explore.
Mangrovejane is still going about Second Life. You can contact her by IM, or send her a message on Facebook.

Hat Tip: AlmostThere Inventor

Bixyl Shuftan

Reader Submitted: My Psychotic Little Friend

Kain Scalia, also known as Maus Merryjest, recently send the SL Newser a reader submission about a tale from his early days in Second Life ten years ago. It was one of those stories in which at the time he was terrified, but now he can look back at it and laugh. In his first experiment with scripting, he tried to make a virtual pet that would follow him, and anyone else, around. What could possibly go wrong, he felt. As it turned out, the answer was "plenty."

Read Kain's reader submission in Design.

Linden Lab's New Horizons Game

When Linden Lab unveiled their Horizons Residential Regions on Tuesday, they released something else for the residents as well: a new game. As the games six sims are in the middle of the Horizons homes, the Lab is calling it "Horizons Experience." Dr. Talpa, the villain from last year's Paleoquest game, is back, having kidnapped a prisoner. And once again Magellan Linden is "too busy" to deal with it and is asking the residents for help in rescuing her.



(Click here if the video fails to play)

The Horizons experience takes you through six regions starting out in the great advanced city itself.  Here, Residents are introduced to the challenges that await, so be sure to check out the videos outlining the great adventure. Your journey will take you from towering canyons to dark and deadly mines, all the way through forests and swamps,and finally, to the command center where Tyrah awaits her rescue. 

This 5 quest storyline takes you through various challenges laid out by the evil Dr. Talpa.  Everything from vicious splorches, killer robots, laser defense systems, the terrifying pet Fluffy, all the way to hidden traps, mazes, puzzles and more!  Residents will have to use the provided weapons to defeat menacing foes, while taking on other elements with their own wit. But beware, saving Tyrah won’t be as simple as conquering these challenges.  The greatest adversary you face is the clock winding down to 0.  Can you save Tyrah in time?

The first of the sims, called the landing base, is for tutorials and where those completing it can pick up their rewards. Upon entering, you have a choice of being a player or explorer. Those who chose to explore around can fly around, but won't be able to interact with anything, though will still be knocked out if they run into hazards. The players of course get to play the game, getting a simple HUD which keeps track of how many levels they've gone through, one per sim.

The beginning of each level offers you the chance to pick up your HUD again if you lost it, and a notecard with simple instructions on what to do. Getting through each level means doing a task within a certain amount of time. If you get clobbered by any of the hazards, which can be anything from toxic water, to creatures, to vacuums, to killer robots, and more, you get send to the level's "resurrection circle" to start again, though if you've done the task already you don't need to repeat it. That is, unless time runs out, in which case you get sent back and the clock is reset, and you need to do the quest again. At the end of the first four levels is a panel you click on to progress to the next one. At the end of the fifth is the prisoner.



(Click here if the video fails to play)

Here's a video tutorial of the game, which includes a look at all five levels. The fifth one is the most difficult of course. But with a woman about to be turned into a robotic slave, you're not going to let that stop you, will you?

After completing the game and returning to the landing base, players have a choice of receiving a random prize, or a Linden dollar prize. But in order to qualify for the latter, your account needs to have bought Linden dollars at least once from the Lab.

Giving the game a try myself, I eventually finished the first four levels . The fifth has been a hard nut to crack though. No doubt many residents will be braving the dangers to get the prizes.

Portal Park 201A (129/195/24)

Bixyl Shuftan

Leona Kitty: "My Experience With Cancer"

It's been several months since Leona Kitty Last wrote an article for the Newser, saying she needed to take some time for real life business. She recently contacted the paper again with some bad news: she had cancer. Despite the best efforts of doctors, the cancer has been an especially aggressive one that has progressed to the point curing it is no longer their goal. Leona decided to write about her experiences with the disease.

Read Leona's story in People.

Reader Submitted: "Why Am I Here?" Notes on Getting a Second Life

Valkyrie McGill, known in some places as Valkyrie Ice, can be frequently seen at Club Cutlass, Club Zero Gravity, and a few other places in her glowing green jackalgirl, or one of her other avatars. Valkyrie is more than just a dancer, but has written for publications. In this article originally published for a futurist online magazine, Valkyrie describes her first experiences with Second Life, and what the virtual world means to her.

Read Valkyrie's story in People.

SL Video: "Commentary on New Avi Experience Second Life"

(Click Here if the video fails to load)

From Skyspinner Soulstar, "I recently went through the process of making a new avatar in Second Life, and was deposited on "Learning Island" where I learned ... nothing. Until LL creates a rich and encouraging first experience, the rest of us can help out as we are able. Here is what happened ... "

This is Your Life, Grease Coakes

Grease Coakes, DJ, fiction writer, published author in real life, and of course SL Newser reporter had his sixth rezzday this week. During the course of the day, fellow reporter DrFran Babcock came by and gave him an interview. Grease talked about his early days in Second Life, his first gigs as a DJ, a little about his avatars over time, and will he or won't he perform at the SL10B.

Read the interview in Extra.