After reading the discussion of the initial SL experience and why those who do stick around do so on New World Notes (initially here, with followup here), and after realizing I barely remembered my initiation into SL, I headed to Orientation Island (the public version that anyone can go to) to go through the process again.
<duh>It went a lot more quickly this time.</duh> The first time, I would overshoot, have trouble walking in a straight line, fly into the roof or into a wall. After a mere year and ten months, I've learned how to control my avatar--OK, aside from the overshooting and flying into things. Another obvious source of the brevity of the experience is that I didn't set up the appearance of my avatar.
This Orientation Island is the version that I went through initially, so if I understand rightly, it doesn't tell me much about what people go through now. I hear that one has to deal with a HUD these days, and I don't think that's a good idea. Give people the basics of moving around, communication, and self-defense, and leave things like HUDs for a class. Then they can actually enter the world and make friends, which is what really seems to be the key to staying in SL.
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