My husband, Jerremy, and I are thinking....well, at this point since they are already built, heh...going to open up some free residences for avatars under 60 days old. We thought it would be nice to give back to the community at large and help some noobs out.
It's nice to have a place to call home, especially when you don't have many Lindens or know many people. They will be furnished very simply - with a bed, a couch and a pose stand. Each resident will get 50 prims for their own use.
We think right now that we can have the newbies for 60 days. That should give them enough time to learn the ropes of SL. To get a room they either have to be referred to us by someone we know and trust or have payment information on file.
We'll have some common areas - like a pool area and fire pit - where they can invite friends or mingle and meet their neighbors.
We are desperately trying to come up with a name for them but are having no luck so far. Our next steps are some final touches on some of the building textures and to finish putting the furniture in each room. Then, we can start recruiting! I don't know where to begin with that either.
Would you have lived in a newbie dorm when you were new? We are really excited to get this project off the ground! If you have ideas or advice for us, I'd love to hear it!
That's a really sweet, generous idea! I'd have definately lived in one, sounds like a great way to learn, interact, and meet with people going through the first steps of the game...when I was new, I did what a lot of people do I'm sure, found a quiet, empty corner to change clothes and try to figure out what my avatar could do. It can be a lonely, confusing time for sure. Very awesome of you to offer something like this :D
ReplyDeleteI would have loved to have a newbs dorm! That would have been so fun! And a great way to meet other people!
ReplyDeleteGood idea there you two, way to go ;)
Here are some ideas for the name:
60 days, 60 nights
Getting in gear
Who's the noob?
Better than a bench
Maybe I'll have better ideas later :D
yes, I would have been glad to live there. My blog today mentions my changing clothes under water for some privacy - lol. There are a few places available, but I didn't know of any. It's wonderful of you to do this.
ReplyDeleteLaleeta, your suggestions made me chuckle. I like the first and last.
That is great of you guys to do that! I know that I could have benefitted from something like that when I first started. And like everyone else said, I think it would be a great way to meet others who are also new and just starting out. Friendships could be formed and the new residents could grow and learn SL together.
ReplyDeleteI can't think of any good names right now. If I come up with any, I'll add them later. Laleeta has some good ones there though.
Nice idea -- I have, on occasion, taken a noob under my wing and given them a skypod above my land, and I've made some great new friends that way. But a noob hotel is better for socializing I think. I had a great name, but it exited my brain... oh well :(
ReplyDeleteThat is such an awesome idea! I know I certainly would have lived in a dorm when I first started. I lived in a Linden infohub at first and those are killer. LOL I would have to fly high up into the air to change, or go to a sandbox and build a large box around myself. These would have been perfect!
ReplyDeleteThis is a superb idea. Not every newbie has a pair of fairy godmothers as I did. Being able to have a place to call home would definitly be a boost for their morale. Just for giggles, you could call it Phil's Place or Hotel California - lol.
ReplyDeleteKeep up the good work :)
Smart Ali! I wish I'd thought of those solutions.
ReplyDeleteNewism!! There is a name for you. It is a great idea. Back in the day when I was newbie we rezed in sandboxes. Of course I'm older than dirt so that was a while ago.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea. I was very fortunate coz one fine day I posted in the SL forums asking people whether they knew a good community where I could rent a house, and this guy IM'd me and told me he had free cottages for newbies under 90 days old. I was shocked, I wondered whether there was a catch!
ReplyDeleteBut no catch, he was just a good guy trying to help out newbies, and I've always really appreciated it. It gave me the opportunity to figure out whether I'd want to continue in SL for the long term and what kind of space I'd need when I became ready to rent/buy for myself. Also it prevented me from making wrong decisions with my L$ because when you're a newbie you don't really know what's available out there or how to go about finding it.
I still hang out in the forums quite a lot and when I see newbies asking about housing I IM them and point them to my former landlord.
If you're going to depend on referrals, I'm not sure how that would work because I really can only recommend RL friends who join SL. Otherwise, they might be newbies whom I've met but I really don't know how trustworthy or responsible they are.
Regarding having payment info on file, there is some glitch in the system whereby we add our payment info to the account, but it doesn't show up in the in-world profile. This happened to my alt. I submitted a support ticket and they said yes, your credit card is on file, it is just not showing up because of some glitch, there's no problem if you want to purchase L$. My alt's inworld profile only changed after a few weeks.
I was told by people on the forums, though, that if he'd tried to purchase any L$ it would have instantly updated and changed to "Payment info used". But I always purchase L$ on SLX, so I didn't try that.
Tymmerie,
ReplyDeleteIn regards to future recruiting plans, probably a good bet would be to contact a high person at New Citizen International (Search "NCI" under Groups), Second Life Mentors, and @ Help! Institute (use just that in Search), and drop a notecard on them explaining the project and terms of residential contract and ask them to help spread the world as much as possible.
Oh, also the girls at FabFree! blog and SLFreeStyle. The reason why I thought of these two last blogs is that these girls probably meet a ton of Newbies daily and could invite them to contact you for info. And obviously their blogs-- while on fashion i'm sure they'll be glad to post if you ask them. They've got TONS AND TONS AND TONS of traffic and even if maybe 95 percent of them are over 60 days old, that's a ton of gossipy avatars and people who meet newbies every day!!
I was going to suggest considering upping your age limit to 90 days also. The first 30 days are often not spent in-world on a regular basis, by the time a new resident realizes they may need a 'home' they could be in their 2nd month already. Just a thought.. I like the "Newism" name idea mentioned earlier.. It's got a trendy ring to it. Good Luck :)
ReplyDeleteTim this is a wonderful idea. I have been a SL Mentor for 1.5 years and the first thing any new resident (I hate the word newb hehe) wants is a place they can call home.
ReplyDeleteIf I can help in anything, from starters kits (full avis with good quality stuff to notecards with several tips in several languages just let me know and I will help you for sure.
If you want me to let the Mentor Groups know about your initiative drop me a Note with the description of the project and the LM that I will send to the Officers of the groups to send the notice.
This is totally amazing.
PS: If you plan a Freebie shop too I have plenty of full perms material I could transfer to you
Well we have been brainstorming like crazy. However, for one reason or another we have rejected the following names:
ReplyDeleteNoob House, NooB Support, Noob Pit, Newbie Oasis, Xana-newbie, SL Home for the Criminally New, Welcome to the Jungle, Hotel La' Newbie, Noobie Zoo (please do not feed the residents).....
Oh and
Jerremy's Harem Girl Boot Camp and Tymmerie's Stud Muffin Farm.
We will keep working on it ;-)
But seriously... Some of the finalist names were "Newism", "First Base" and the current top choice - "Starting Point". We hope to have 5 new residents a month who can stay for 2 months. So at the most there will be 10 living there at a time. Tymmerie will be blogging more about all this later with additional details. I am sure we will be looking for volunteers, some freebies and information of good landmarks to tell them about.
Jeremy be my guest to contact me inworld (you or Timm) and I will help in anything I can. New residents are my hobby in SL :D
ReplyDeleteTym, what a wonderful idea! If I had had an opportunity like this as a newbie, I would have looked at it (but then, I may not have met my love). I think 30 to 60 days is enough time for anyone to quickly grasp SL, and also to make some friends. Gratz to both you and Jerremy for your idea and generousity! Hugs!
ReplyDelete