*scratches her head*

I can see why LL is going in the newbies-spawn-wherever-they-want-to direction but I can also see the value to Community Gateways. I just can't understand why they'd totally wipe out the latter. I don't know anything, obviously, but it seems like using the former on SL pages to link to Destination Guide locales and allowing the latter to link only from their own websites would be good.

As it is many people spending thousands of dollars and umpteen hours in the service of SL training noobs at Dublin, Caledon, and other places got no notice and had their work in effect negated. There must be something I don't know or don't understand. It seems like if you are interested in, say, steampunk, and are reading a steampunkish blog that has a link to a place in SL that allows you to be in a steampunk world, landing first at that hypothetical steampunk CG where helpers kit you out, that would be a good thing. People in that place could advise their friends: "Go to our webpage and sign up - you'll spawn at Steampunkish Academy."

It seems like people willing to put great effort into helping newbs in SL should not be kicked in the slats and ridden over. It's like standing at the opening of the temple and divining the future by watching a flock of birds to attempt to understand what drives LL and in which direction, though.