Cozy Fall Feelings in Second Life

Exploring in Second Life has something of the feel of an archaeological expedition. Though the platform still has tens of thousands of people logging in regularly, the fact is that SL is far fallen from its heyday of popularity. The remaining userbase is spread out over a vast quantity of land- quite often when I'm exploring I don't see a single other person. You get the feeling that you're exploring some ancient lost civilization, one filled with strip malls and kinky sex dungeons.

Yet for all that it looks desolate and abandoned, there are still people out there creating things in Second Life. Today I went to a little place called Botanica that advertised a Thanksgiving-themed Hunt  (essentially a scavenger hunt type deal for those unfamiliar, usually with the goal of obtaining free or very cheap prizes).

The landing is in a festive little avenue bedecked with fall colors. There's a cafe, where the hunt takes place, as well as a handful of shops including a fortune-teller, working musical instruments, and gifts and sundries. I'm a sucker for the kitsch-y look, and this place was like the inside of a Hallmark store.

And I mean that in the nicest way.

Before doing the hunt I strolled around for a while, checking the various sights and shops. The turkeys running about gobbling away were a cute touch. We had turkeys around near the house I grew up in, so it was a nice bit of nostalgia for me (though funnily enough, they always seemed to go into hiding around Thanksgiving...).

The Fortune-teller's shop was fun. The magic mirror on the wall wanted to hear a yes or no question, and was kind enough to answer an honest "No" when I asked if it could really see my future. The Tarot reader was also interesting, having specific interactions in cutting the deck and revealing the cards. The cool things you can accomplish with scripting in SL are always surprising to me.

After this I headed back for the Hunt itself, located entirely in the small Americana Cafe. I searched for various objects which, when clicked, linked to websites and Wikipedia articles giving information on Thanksgiving traditions and Pilgrim culture. Thanksgiving goodies were the reward- though I also noticed a number of goodies about the cafe which were free and not tied to the hunt completion, mostly foodstuffs.

All in all, it was a very charming experience and a fun little diversion for an hour or so. The whole thing was very G-rated, and very kitschy and whimsical. It's things like this that I feel would be great for children to experience, if it weren't an incredibly bad idea for a child to be on Second Life. But for the childlike at heart (or at brain, like me), it's worth seeing nonetheless.