Ilan Tochner

Hi OrinB,

There are people who build off-world then just spend some time importing and setting things up on Kitely and there are people who spend tens or hundreds of hours inworld per month in Kitely building their worlds.

There are benefits to using Kitely as a building tool, things just work and if they don't you don't need to try to fix them yourself. If a local sim breaks then things can start being very frustrating. There are quite a few people who choose to pay us $20/$50 dollars per month just to know we are the ones responsible for keeping things working. The fact that in comparison they get a LOT more than they get in SL also doesn't hurt. Those people have a lot of unused Minutes per month that they can easily spend shopping. I've yet to meet a person who has bought KC or signed up for a premium plan who hasn't paid for their own time (in KC or Minutes) in at least one world they visited. This is how our model works, people get used to it after the initial hesitant reaction.

Nadia

I said on their other thread, while this world does have a lot of good points, it's not for the "free" or casual user. It's for creative types.

In my 2+ years, I haven't put any money in. Some will call me a freeloader. It's not that I don't want to, I just don't have it. I started out dancing/hosting to support myself (rent skyboxes, land, clothing). Then I started dabbling in clothes. I can't build if you offered me a million bucks. So for me, and others like me, I would only use the free plan. Visit until my time/credits run out. I can't see doing that unless a good friend had a place there and I went in to check it out occasionally.

People who like to build for fun would do well in Kitely. Use whatever plan works for them, and build until their hearts content. Tear it down and build some more. I'm assuming less people, less lag.

People who want to build roleplay communities could do well there. Buy the plan, build, and have the group come over & do whatever they do.

Educational also. Institutions can hold their classes with less chaos (and stigma) than SL.

People who pay substantial money in SL can get it for cheaper in Kitely. But, they won't get the crowd they are used to.

The casual, free, exploring, fashionista, music-loving, socializing people wouldn't have much use for it. That's not a bad thing. Trying to convince these types of people is just going to cause disagreements.

Heh, I see Ilan has said most of what I just typed here, with some additions.

Ilan Tochner

Hi Nadia,

I think you got the gist of it but there are dozens of worlds on Kitely that are free for visitors and many more where the world manager subsidizes visiting cost for his or her select group of friends. For details see: Public Worlds, Maturity Ratings and Making Public Worlds Affordable | Kitely Blog

For example, see the Kitely worlds managed by Karima Hoisan: Kitely - Virtual Worlds on Demand (a couple of them were showcased in the Designing Worlds show and magazine).

...so I wouldn't rule out the socializing crowed on Kitely just yet :-)

bladyblue

I think 'Share Profit' Vendors would be a more fair set-up instead of charging merchants weekly rent.

Agreed. That's why I wouldn't charge like that. I would try to make sure we had vendors there that sold items needed for the RP so they could guarantee sales.

__________________
I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched C-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhauser gate. All those moments will be lost in time... like tears in the rain...Time to die.-Roy Batty

Ilan Tochner

Hi bladyblue,

I think your idea of merchants placing 'Share Profit' vendors in popular RP worlds would make a lot of business sense for the people managing those worlds and the merchants alike.

bladyblue

Is there a merchant in Kitely right now that is selling a networked shared vendor system?

If not, I believe Kitely should provide such a system to communities that request them. Just to give a positive push to creating a thriving economy in Kitely.

Ilan Tochner

Hi bladyblue,

I know there are people building vendors in Kitely but I don't know whether they are networked. Transactions using KC are a very new thing on Kitely so most people are still getting their bearings on how to best take advantage of this new market opportunity.

There is a Kitely Mentors Group that meets once per week inworld where we discuss various future features, requests, etc. (there are 37 people in its Facebook group but there are more people that aren't on FB for obvious reasons).

Thank you for your suggestion, I'll mention it in the next meeting and see if people are willing to help create such a vendor (we have several scripters in the Kitely Mentors Group).

If you're interested, you (and other people here) are welcome to join the meetings. They are held each Wed at 3pm PST at: Kitely Beach | Kitely - Virtual Worlds on Demand

bladyblue

Thanks. That's good information.

Ilan Tochner

Several of the people I greeted inworld over the past few days have asked me where people hang out on Kitely.

The answer is that most people currently spend their time in their own private worlds building, meeting friends, teaching, etc. You won't be able to see them unless you are friends with them on Kitely or search the world map (worlds are private islands that are spaced quite far apart, you'll need to do a lot of scrolling if you try finding other people that way).

The people who currently spend time in public worlds do so for shopping and exploring purposes but most of them would welcome meeting new people. The best way to meet such people is to look for worlds with people inside them in our Public Worlds page (the number of people currently inside each world is listed beside that world's name).

Ilan Tochner

Another question I frequently get asked is how are public worlds ranked on the Public Worlds page. Public worlds are ranked higher than other public worlds which currently have fewer people inside them. So, for example, a world with 10 people inside it will be ranked higher than a world with 9 people inside it.

When comparing two worlds with the same number of people inside them, the world which costs the visitor less to access will be ranked higher. So, for example, a world where the world manager pays for his or her visitors' time inworld will be ranked higher than a world where the visitors pay for themselves.

When comparing two public worlds for which visitors get charged the same and which have the same number of people currently inside them, we use several heuristics based on: search relevance, world complexity, world description, and the number of Likes a world has gotten (via the integrated social media buttons).

bladyblue

I think there needs to be a Kitely Social a group made on Facebook so we can find out what other folks are doing and get invites to activities in Kitely.

Also, I don't see that my world shows up on my Facebook page. It would be nice to have a way for folks viewing my profile to see my world info and updates of activities. If visitors to my FB page could click on an icon on my page to enter my world that would be a plus.

Ilan Tochner

Hi bladyblue,

You can post Kitely related messages to the Kitely Virtual Worlds group on Facebook: Kitely | Facebook

You can also join the Kitely Mentors Group on Facebook if you're interested: Log In | Facebook

If you press the Facebook Like button on a Kitely world page, it will share that world on your Facebook wall. The shared info will include a link to that world page so your Facebook friends will be able to click to get to the page where the world's Enter World button appears. World pages also include share buttons for Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn.

The more Likes your world gets the more prevalent it will be in the Public Worlds page (assuming it is public). That's one way for your friends to help promote your worlds to other people both in social media sites and on Kitely.

Ilan Tochner

One more thing, if you want to encourage people to Like your worlds then you should add a good description with inworld images to your world's description so that people who get to the world page will be enticed to enter the world as well. Adding a good description with images can also help your world get a higher ranking in the Public Worlds page.

bladyblue

That's a dead group with only 100 Likes and no posts. You may need to assign a Social Media Manager. Maybe re-name the group "Kitely World Owners Social Group".

sending them to www.kitely.com/#lhome is not sending them directly to my world once they sign up.

What's needed in an app where users can create a custom Kitely button that sends folks directly to their world. Just sending hundreds of people to Kitely doesn't create an audience for my world. I would just be feeding Kitely new customers while my world remained empty.

I think the only way to get folks to like my world on the Public World Page is to tell them the name of my world and have them look for it.

Ilan Tochner

Hi bladyblue,

If you press the Like button on a world page it posts a comment to your Facebook wall with a link to that world page, not to Kitely's home page.

For example: Log In | Facebook

Includes a link to: Serenity Island | Kitely - Virtual Worlds on Demand

Try it for one of your worlds then press the link in the comment posted to your Facebook wall.

Ilan Tochner

You can also copy/paste the URL from your world page and enter it in emails, blog posts, forums etc. (just like I did with the link to the Serenity Island world in my previous post).

bladyblue

But unless they already have a Kitely account, they will be not be directed into my world after they register.

And an Icon on my Facebook Page that is a hotlink to my Kitely world would do more to get me visitors than me constantly spamming my timeline with links to my world.

My page is


When someone goes to the World Page they see this:



"shopping" has a prominent sub-category listing, but "fun" must cover everything else. It would be nice to see "Role Play Communities" and "Live Music" on the search tool bar also.

Ilan Tochner

Hi bladyblue,

You are mistaken (I even pressed the Like link in your FB timeline to verify when not logged in), after people reach your world page and click the Enter World button they will be shown the various login/sign up options if they aren't logged in yet.

If they log in then they will return to your world page without delay.

If they sign up for a new account then after they complete the process they will be shown the Welcome Dialog with options for how to continue. The first option they will be given is to return to your world page so that they can press the Enter World button to enter your world (the other options are for going to the Public Worlds page to search for worlds or going to the My Worlds page to create their own worlds).

I don't believe developers have an option to add an icon to people's main Facebook pages. If they did, people's pages would be flooded with application icons. The only options I believe are available to developers is adding items to the timeline. If you know differently, please direct me to where I can learn more about that option.

AFAIK, we can't add this for you but, if you're interested, you can add a link to your world in your FB about page yourself. Just link to: Rygeon: The ageless tale of love, loss, war and magic | Kitely - Virtual Worlds on Demand (great world page BTW)

bladyblue

When someone likes a world, this is what is generated on the world-owner's Facebook Page:



It would be better if it generated a image the world-owner created and a small blurb and link to the world.

I get e-mail invites to play games from all of my Facebook friends every day:
We need a way to send FB invites to friends (with our own customized message and image).

Also, When you use an app, that status shows up on your Facebook page with that app's icon. (as illustrated below):



I believe there should be a way to send invites to Facebook friends (or straight to friend's email when you are logged into a world.)

About our World Start Pages: There needs to be a section on the page where we list our world's upcoming events. People should be able to click on an event and add it to their own Facebook Calendar.

Attach a free blog to our start page. Fashionistas and role players need to communicate updates nearly daily.

We need the ability to have a simple photo album on our world start page to help entice people to use their minutes in our world.

Thanks.

Ilan Tochner

Hi bladyblue,

A world-appropriate image and short description are on our roadmap. The name of the world in the Facebook screenshot you provided is already a link to the world page of that world.

We have plans for an event system with invitations. Like many other things we have planned, it is unfortunately still waiting for us to implement higher priority features first.

What you are referring to is FB apps' ability to post updates to your timeline. FB segregates those updates from the rest of your timeline, that you or other people manually update (by posting or Liking), so that app updates won't overwhelm your stream.

We've actually implemented that feature for Facebook and Twitter (with an option to turn it off) but haven't rolled it out yet because we weren't sure how people would react to it. We'll discuss this feature in the upcoming Kitely Mentors Group meeting.

We considered adding a comment section to each world page, probably as a DISQUS forum. Adding a blog instead is an interesting idea.

I agree and it's planned. As a workaround you can already include multiple images in your world's world page description. The world page description can be up to 10,000 characters long.

bladyblue

A forum along with a blog is a good idea. But the forum should be able to be hidden and restricted (and can be accessed by tapatalk).

Subdue

The Public Worlds Page should be sortable by traffic also.

I also believe you should set-up a 'in-world minutes' gift package for developers that want to get folks to try their world (or store owners that want their preferred customers to shop for free). A developer could perhaps buy gift cards of minutes that can only be redeemed in their world.

Ilan Tochner

Hi Subdue,

We intend to significantly improve the Public Worlds page to include more information about each world and allow for better searching.

World managers can already gift minutes to various groups of people who visit their worlds by using the Access tab in the Manage World window. Each world has a list of access permissions. The world manager adds to this list all the types of users that are allowed to visit that world. For each group of users, the world manager chooses whether the users will pay the fee for their visit, or the world manager will pay the fee for them. This is done by setting Visitor Cost / Minute:

• Free – 1 KC will be deducted from the world manager’s balance each minute.
• Normal (the default) – 1 KC will be deducted from the visitor’s balance each minute. The world manager will pay nothing.

We're working on adding an option to not only have visitors cover their own costs (aforementioned, Normal option) but also charging visitors KC that will go to the world manager. We'll also be adding an option to pay various visitors to your world in KC per minute for the time they spend in your world. Which can be used, for example, to pay for time-based performers who visit your world.

For additional info, please see: Public Worlds, Maturity Ratings and Making Public Worlds Affordable | Kitely Blog

bladyblue

As far as supporting world owners that develop RolePlay Communities: I found the thread on your forum about the viewer for gamers https://getsatisfaction.com/kitely/t..._kitely_worlds. So I added a link to download that viewer to my page. But is there someone working on combat and roleplay HUDs for Kitely yet?

Ilan Tochner

Hi bladyblue,

I've yet to encounter someone who has rolled out a combat / rolepay HUD but people who develop them in other grids should be able to move them over to Kitely very easily.

I'll ask the Kitely Mentors Group in today's meeting, maybe one of them has developed such a HUD.