Help me achieve Plurk Nirvana

I’d say gacha is back, but let’s be real, it never left. I’ve been in Second Life long enough that the thrill of gachas wore off ages ago, well before they were officially banned. Blind buying duplicates got old fast. At some point, I stopped chasing full sets and rares. I just didn’t care anymore.

I have a lot of friends who are still deep in the gacha game. I’ve been there too, dropping L$3,000 to L$5,000 on a single machine just to complete a set. It happens.

So yeah, I’m a little surprised to see gacha returning in its original form. Miepon had its flaws, sure, but at least you could see what was coming next. Even if it wasn’t the item you wanted, the transparency was better than the old-school roulette wheel. Gacha is a form of shopping torture. You might get what you want, but chances are, you won’t. Designers love it though. In their own words, it made them a lot more money. And that’s what this is really about: profit. Your money going into their pockets.

I’ve always compared gachas to MLMs. Once you buy in, you’re stuck reselling the stuff you don’t want, unless you’re okay taking a loss. That means wasting time listing duplicates at yardsales or on Marketplace. Or, if you’re feeling generous, giving them away to friends like a broke fairy godmother.

Sure, people are excited gacha’s back, but ask yourself why these events are popping up again so fast. One is launching in two weeks. It’s all about the cash flow. Designers cash in, events need regions (which means more money going to Linden Lab), and shoppers? We’re just the endless source of funding.

I’ll still pull the occasional gacha if it’s really good. But most of the time, I’m fine with whatever I get. I don’t chase anymore. I already have too much. And yet, like the little addict I am, I keep getting more, until my inventory overwhelms me and I start deleting things in bulk. Sometimes I wonder if my entire presence in Second Life is just one long donation to the system.

Because in the end, this game, for me at least, is a shopping game.

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