Uncertainty is the refuge of hope.
Henri Frederic Amiel
A couple of weeks ago, I blogged about an upcoming change in my life – whether or not I’ll have a job or if I do, the job I want.
Tomorrow is the day.
While I am hopeful for a certain outcome, at least I’ll have the comfort of knowing for sure.
One of the most anticipated shopping events in Second Life is The Arcade Gacha festival. It’s held quarterly, and the hype builds as sneak previews of items start appearing in SL blog feeds. It boasts some of the most creative designers and builders in Second Life and it can take days of frustrating attempts just to get in. But thousands keep trying until they are finally able to rez in and spend their hard-earned (or purchased) Lindens on what is basically, a crap shoot!
For those unfamiliar with a Gacha machine, it’s a scripted object that is loaded with a variety of prizes that you pay to receive a random item. There are often Rare items mixed in with the Commons, tempting one to keep spending money until the sought-after prize is won. There is no guarantee that you won’t receive duplicates, nor is there a promise that, even if you spend all of your cash, you will receive the item you desire. Prices at The Arcade range from 25L to 100L – so keeping an eye on your bank balance is imperative when you are in a full-on, fever-pitched frenzy to obtain that cherished prize!
Fortunately, Gacha prizes are transferable, so if you win items you don’t want or multiples of the same one, you can give them away, trade them or even sell them at one of the many Arcade Yard Sales now springing up around the grid.
I actually made it into The Arcade tonight on my third attempt. I crashed twice while I was there, but was fortunate to be able to log back in to my former location in both instances. Had I been locked out, I think I would have cried. There were so many fun and whimsical items that I wanted!
I was extremely fortunate this time to win several Rares. Some I was excited about, others I was happy to receive, but they were won on a first attempt and I would have been pleased with any of the items available. But I DID win the one prize that I set out to win, no matter the cost – and it wasn’t even a Rare! (And yes, it DID cost…I won’t say how many attempts I made to win this prized item, but it was more than one…maybe even more than five…or six…or… 😉 )
That item: The Happy Poo Skirt from Sea Hole. Drinkinstein Sorbet, a talented designer I have purchased from frequently, rose above all others, in my estimation, with this silly, fun little skirt. The fact that it is well-made is just icing on the cake – or flies on the poo, if you will 😀 . I laughed out loud when I saw the display for the first time, and I was giggling as I shot these photos. For this one item I braved the lag, the boots, the re-rezzing when returning to the event, and the anxiety as I watched my Lindens float away in that frustrating machine…
These are NOT fashion shots. They’re not even GOOD shots. But I wanted to showcase just a few of my favourite wins from this tantalizingly addictive event 🙂
The Arcade Gacha Items:
The Sea Hole – (Happy Poo Mesh Skirt)
Gizza – (Epaulette – Brown)
Fanatik – (Logo Bracelet – Sexy)
Glam Affair – (Slice of Paradise Antlers – Tan)
Nardcotix – (Puss Pillows Huggable – White)
Zigana – (Gypsy Caravan – Supergirl RARE)
Conspiracy Theory – (Animal Slippers – Teddy Bear)
BCC – (i do cloak hood – Red RARE)
About a week ago, I received an IM from a stranger while I was in Second Life. Or so I thought. As it turns out, one of my friends’ account had been hacked and not only had the hacker stolen money from her, he had also sent strange messages to her friends and deleted all of her groups and names from her contact list. She got a text from a recipient of one of these strange messages, and since she was on her way to work at the time, had to try to deal with Linden Labs on her mobile while trying to get there on time. They froze her account and opened an investigation.
When she returned home, she used an alternate account to log in and start the process of rebuilding her friends’ list and re-establishing herself as KC. She has tried to create this avatar as closely as possible to the original. KC is fiery, outspoken, funny, irreverent, fiercely loyal and a bit hard-edged in her appearance most of the time. But she’s also a DJ, and part-time fairy. We tease her when she actually wears a dress, but when she does, she’s feminine and you see the softer side of KC.
During the weekend, KC IM’d me and said, “Peep! I need a profile pic!” Unfortunately, I was in the middle of shooting my wifey’s wedding and couldn’t do it at the time. But tonight I logged on to find KC there and asked if she would like me to do her profile pics. She said yes, but not very enthusiastically. It seems that today she received word that her account had been re-established and the money stolen from her would be reimbursed. She was thrilled until she logged in, only to find that her entire inventory – four years worth of high-quality items – was gone. Deleted. All she had, literally, was her shape and the skin on her back.
She was obviously devastated by this news. To find out her main account was back, only to have her returned to the status of a noobie all in one fell swoop was depressing. So she did the only thing she could – she decided to start building her alt back into a semblance of KC, but with a personality of her own. The two are similar, but not identical.
While I would be crushed if this happened to me, I am looking at the silver lining for KC. She has the opportunity to reinvent herself, starting fresh, and proving to the malicious person who thought they had destroyed who she was, that she has the strength and determination that will allow KC to rise, slowly but surely, above his petty attempt at harm.
Here’s to you, KC…and your new beginning. ♥
Pics by Peep 