New Citizens Inc

Y'all might know that I'm a regular poster on a few SL related forums, including one SLUniverse. A thread has been created regarding the 'newbie experience' and no doubt, NCI has come to mention. Though, all is not rosy. (>_<)

My problem with NCI is a bit more basic. I remember when Tyabella started SL, she went there and no one would talk to her or answer questions. There were people everywhere but they were ignoring the newbies. It wasn't until she went to take a class Immy was teaching anyone would talk to her.

Hmm...that's been my "nooby alt" experience too, but I thot I was hitting it at the wrong time.

The other thing about NCI is that it's not a very pretty sim. The freebies are from 2006 and it's still using the ugliest wood texture ever. I would think SL is pretty dated graphically if I was a noob there-- even more than it actually is.

I concur with my experience of NCI. The oldbies build weird stuff and talk to each other but newbies get ignored for the most part, except at classes. (The classes are excellent though, and I always advise new folk to attend as many of them as they can manage).

The Shelter is much better IMO. My newer alts hang out there a lot (giving away my non-newbiness by offering help to real newbies). Plus, they play 80s music nearly all the time.

My own response is as follows

I must say that I agree and it's been a touchy point in NCI senior staff. There are those of us who would like to modernize the build but we're still defaulting to the mercy of some of the oldest members still in the group. And, yeah, I'm quite bloody sick of that wood texture. (>_<)

As for people chatting and answering questions, that has been a hard one to solve. We have "hangers out". People who have stuck around because they've made their place in Kuula, at a loss of a better term. Many of them are not helpful, some of them are persistent rule violators, but rarely are any of them bad enough to deserve a ban. (>_<)

I'd really like to have a solution there which satisfies all parties involved. Part of the reason we're maintaining the poor build quality is in hope to make the place undesirable for long term visitors. (._.)

We already have a big enough problem with the griefers and trolls who believe our banning them is a violation of their "rights" and they harass our officers, helpers, and guests daily. (T_T)

As for myself, I do what I can as a single volunteer in the community. I tend to get a lot of positive feedback and I can only hope that the rest of the helpers and officers are doing the same. (^_^)

All that said, we are going to have a meeting soon in regards to some of the above topics. I believe we can evolve into something great. We just have to get everyone on board. (^_^)y

I must say that I agree and it's been a touchy point in NCI senior staff. There are those of us who would like to modernize the build but we're still defaulting to the mercy of some of the oldest members still in the group.*1 And, yeah, I'm quite bloody sick of that wood texture. (>_<)

As for people chatting and answering questions, that has been a hard one to solve. We have "hangers out". People who have stuck around because they've made their place in Kuula, at a loss of a better term. Many of them are not helpful, some of them are persistent rule violators, but rarely are any of them bad enough to deserve a ban.*2 (>_<)

I'd really like to have a solution there which satisfies all parties involved. Part of the reason we're maintaining the poor build quality is in hope to make the place undesirable for long term visitors. (._.)*3

1) Wow way to alienate fellow staff there...
2) Again... quite disrespectful towards half the visitors. If those "hangers" were not there, the place would have the same atmosphere as a morgue. Instead of insulting the "hangers", it might be a better idea to motivate them to get more involved with helping.
3) I seriously hope that was a joke

I presume (hope) that you also mentioned on the forums that this is your personal opinion ?

also.. shouldn't this be in the "staf" section of the forum ?

1) Start a Kuula rebuild plan to modernize the textures, improve the layout, and make it a site which encourages retention... Then look at who slaps you back when their toes are stepped on.

2) We can barely get people to stop swearing. Let alone keep them from trolling new people, camping for hours when the sim is capped in capacity. Try motivating them to help... Once they come out of AFK... Maybe...

2a) People who chat and at least toss notecards around are not 'hangers'. People who park their avatars in the sim in order to IM their friends elsewhere... 'hangers'

3) When Rinoa offered an updated layout which would have been a wonderful change for the place without shifting too much around, it was mentioned. I'd like it to be a joke too.

If my words hit a sore spot with you, you'd want me dead if I gave my fully frank opinion of things.

These were all public statements from a public forum offering public ~feedback~ regarding their perception of NCI. Limiting it to staff would not actually change who can access the information.

http://www.sluniverse.com/php/vb/genera ... -days.html

Personally I still think a certain level of self-moderation should be upheld when posting about NCI on public forums. When you're on an external forum, you're a representative of NCI. If you start airing out dirty laundry (e.g. point 1 and 3), regardless of it being a legit complaint or not, it only makes us look even more like a disorganized collection of amateurs. Think about implications and consequences when communicating with the outside; it doesn't just affect you, it affects everybody within NCI.

In regards to "If my words hit a sore spot with you, you'd want me dead if I gave my fully frank opinion of things." Sorry, I'm not here to stroke your ego. I'm here to (try and) make the best out of an organization that is dear to me through mutually respective dialogs on a mature level. If you want people to take your complaints and suggestions serious, I'd suggest you do the same.

On that note... Point 2A I can, to a certain extent, agree with. There are a few people at Kuula that seemingly do absolutely nothing except sit/stand around and start a riot as soon as someone they don't know bumps into them or (God forbid) sends them an Instant Message. They are a thorn in many eyes, though not as much as certain individuals who enjoy standing on the road between the parcels and send the same "Hi! Come out to the road, we have voice chat! " Instant Message to everybody on the parcel over and over again; sometimes up to 10 times per hour. Perhaps it's an idea to "park" the "hangers" at the staff lounge/server room in Ukanipo? That way we'd clear up some room in Kuula, and still be a hospitable host to everybody.

AJ, I might suggest that you consider taking your own advice here.

I'd go on to say that anyone who doesn't know there are important people in NCI who don't like change has not been paying attention, and that fully half the long-term visitors in Kuula are never seen to help anyone.

These are facts. Facts are not insulting, they're just facts.

Janet Rossini wrote:AJ, I might suggest that you consider taking your own advice here.

Agreed. Continuing discussion in the (non-public) staff forum, as suggested in my first reply.