The Newbie Experience

I agree, trying to figure out how to do anything is next to impossible. I have played many games, am computer literate and this is too difficult, with no one to ask. I made it off the help island, but no further, Cannot figure out how to build a house, where, how to see or do anything. There are some people standing around chatting with each other, decked out in wonderful attire. No idea how they were able to do it. Also no idea what the incentive is to log in and stand around.

all I know is I am terminating my account, It has not been worth the effort.

Sorry your experience felt a bit like that Sammi, SL is a huge lerarning curve, not many of the population know all the tricks, most of us 12 months later know a lot of the skills for certain fields and what can and can't be done, or where or who to talk to. So in the end if you have a problem, walk up to a resident who looks a bit seasoned and ask, we were all new once too, not many of the population are over 2 years old. We will help where we can or point you to somewhere/someone helpful. There are free classes run daily on building, programing, clothing creation, use of camera and interface controls, social skills etc.
Most of us people with "cools stuff" have older cool stuff we don't use or copyable items we can give you to improve your appearance too, many also speak 2nd languages or languages other than English too. Many of us have just got cool looking by using the old Credit card too, which isn't as bad as it seems seeing a $250 jacket inworld only costs 80 cents US. Making money inworld is hugely competitive in most fields,You need to make a dozen products to open a store and sell, then need to keep coming up with more weekly to compete against competition.

Second Life Resident since Oct 2005

While I agree that Orientation Island (or OI as it is referred to in-world) could be built up upon, the concept was to make it as simple as possible. It is to give people the basics to handle the Second Life interface and to have the foundation to build upon that.

Yes, things like building are extremely complex. Second Life is a completely "liquid" world in which any Resident can, quite literally, create anything. The only limit is your time, effort and skill. The last, skill, is the crux. Mainly because it takes "effort" to learn those skills. In this aspect, Second Life mirrors Real Life. You don't learn skills without effort.

After OI, there are many places to go in SL to learn such skills. New Comers Inc (NCI), The Particle Laboratory, and The Ivory Tower of Primitives are prime examples of this.

The way to learn, of anything, in SL is to ASK.

I have "newbies" that ask me questions nearly daily. To a point I made Notecards to hand out if I do not have the time to stand there and answer. Though I try to spend at least a few minutes with those new to SL if at all possible. Most of us "oldies" in SL do. There is also a "Freebie" pack on my property that new Residents can take a copy of for free. It explains the "basics" a bit further than OI. Again, a lot of those that have been in SL for some time do things like this.

Two noteworthy of mention are:
Travis, for running The Shelter. A dance club renowned for helping new Residents.

YadNi, owner of YadNi's Junkyard. Perhaps THE most well known "Freebie" spot in SL. YadNi gives away just about anything here. All for free. Clothes, vehicles, buildings, textures, tutorials (in more than one language), etc. Never asking a dime for it on a piece of property that costs him monthly.

In short, if anyone can not learn anything in SL, it is simply because they are not putting in the effort to learn. Next time, I'd suggest sending in a reporter that will actually work instead of just looking briefly and then making comments based on little, or no, facts.

~Jessy

The facts are as stated in the article, less than one percent of signups end up logging in regularly. It wasn't outlined in this article, but I am a Volunteer Mentor for Linden Labs and have access to the restricted Orientation Islands. I spend more than two weeks trying to find someone that started Second Life and then became a regular resident - to no avail. The store really is the fact that people turn away because of the learning curve. Only a small percentage of people that try Second Life have the temperament to make it a regular thing to do in their life.

"Only a small percentage of people that try Second Life have the temperament to make it a regular thing to do in their life."

As is with all things in life.

Take WoW for instance (World of Warcraft). I myself tried it for three days and never went back. Didn't like the interface. It's all in what people want, and it will always be a small % that stays compared to the number of those that try it out.

Also, considering the purpose of a Mentor in SL is to help new Residents and to show them where and how to learn things, I find it sad that you could not help someone find that within two weeks. I'm not a Mentor, but of the new Residents I meet and talk to, I still see most of them here and there.

Of course, SL did just have a huge review in the UK, so a lot of people from there would be popping in, "just to see".

Also, your facts are skewed. "12 million accounts" is a bogus report and anyone who has been a part of SL for any length of time knows that. Yes, 12 million accounts may have been made....now take away alternate accounts (of which I have a few myself), then the bot accounts, accounts that were made and then the people find they don't have the hardware requirements to even load up into OI, and that number drops significantly. Oh, and don't forget the thousands and thousands of griefer alt accounts by those so without a life that they find fun in antagonizing others.

More intelligent estimations put the true population closer to @600,000-700,000. Of course, the Concurrency is also lower than the "metrics" make it appear. That 50,000-60,000 is closer to 30,000. The rest being made of up bot accounts. By those numbers, the retention rate is closer to 23%. (700,000 population with 30,000 concurrent.)

While some may call a 77% drop out rate high, it is not. SL is a high tech world, on the edge of tech and pushing the boundaries daily. It isn't a place where one can just "jump in and go". One does have to learn the system. Like any advanced program you load up into your PC. Example: Photoshop, or even Microsoft Office.

A person well versed in MMO and RPG style games will have an advantage in interface operation in SL. They will still need to learn though. Anyone this side of the tech base understands that LEARNING is part and parcel of new programs. The ones that have more options are more complicated. Since a Resident can do anything in SL, it IS quite complicated. However, as I stated, there are many places to learn how to do these things.

OI is not the place to learn anything but the basics. I would have hoped that Mentors knew that, and also knew where to direct new Residents to go to in order to learn. Perhaps more would stay if they knew there were places and people out there that want to help them. To show them that this high tech world has PEOPLE in it. That a human being sits behind the keyboard and is there to help.

~Jessy

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