Exploring the new Kitely Welcome Center

As some of you may already know, I have recently been involved in redesigning the official Kitely Welcome Center! It has been a terrific project to work on and I am proud to have contributed to such a key part of the Kitely experience.

So to celebrate its launch, I thought I would give you a little tour!

The new Landing Zone now has a Welcome Pack containing key information for new users, interesting landmarks and other assistance. There is also a greeter board which new arrivals can click to send an instant message to one of the greeter team if they need more personal help.

From here, users can choose to go in four directions. Each clearly labeled. The Information bridge takes you to a large kiosk where further information about Kitelys community and services can be found. Touching the boards takes you to the relevant webpage.

The Avatars bridge takes you to another kiosk where Kitely's free, hypergrid enabled avatars are found. 

The Shopping bridge takes you to a revamped Merchant Hall, where users can find a wide selection of Kitely's top merchants.

The Destinations bridge takes you to the Garden of Worlds. Here can be found a small selection of Kitely's myriad of worlds!

It is also home to one of the nicest panorama views in the whole KWC.

This direction also leads you to our new meeting areas.

The Community Meeting area has been revamped to be more cosy and colourful. This is where Kitely holds its weekly community get together.

We also now have the Amphitheater. A terrific place for more presentation or entertainment style gatherings. 

There are also plenty of places to just walk around, explore or enjoy the scenery.

 And being a Worlds End build, it just would not have been right without squeezing in some caves somewhere!

The primary objective of this project was to make things easier to find for new users. The second was to bring the Welcome Center up to modern visual standards and show the possibilities available to new users. I tried to design a landscape that was attractive and lush, without obscuring the key elements of the build that users need to find easily.

I kept as much of the Greek/Roman feel and vibe of the original KWC but elected for a cleaner look and more emphasis on contrast between the buildings and landscape.

The reaction form the community so far has been overwhelmingly positive and I thank all for your kind worlds and valuable feedback. There are still improvements we can and will make in the not too distant future rest assured.

I would also like to thank Dot Matrix, who was instrumental in helping me manage the project, the expectations of the commity and my own thoughts. She also created all of the textures for the signs, world and merchant boards.  

Enjoy the new Kitely Welcome Center everyone!