Nu Vibez and Roleplay Guide Magazine - June 2015 | Page 29

“I have this conversation all the
time with my designer friends. Everyone hates feeling worn down
working for events. We have 14
quality events every month plus
seasonal fairs and that’s just skimming the popular ones,” Holli continued.
“A lot of Stores do not release any
more, designers are over worked
and as a designer myself it seems
that is all I have time for – keeping up with the next event. BUT
– if customers are feeling it and
designers are feeling it why hasn’t
it stopped,” she muses. “My own
event, OMG is still successful and
yes it’s another Gacha but, I try to
make the venue fun and interesting for people.”
One of the more interesting Gacha
events is the TAG Gacha. This one
utilizes a HUD designed to take you
from store to store and lighten the
lag and traffic load from the sims.
It’s a brilliant concept because it
brings the consumer back to the
shops, not just to an event.
In a world where the really good
and successful events are getting
less common and they are having
to find new ways to draw a crowd,
the TAG Gacha has found a niche. It
is one of the few Gacha events left
that will lure me.
I didn’t just speak with Holli, however. I inte rviewed several random
Gacha enthusiasts from a myriad
of resources. I heard everything
from stories of college kids who
blew their food money for more
Gacha spending; to a man who
loves collecting Gacha so much,
that, for the sake of the hunt and
the thrill of finding a great deal at a

PHOTO: Apt B - TAG! Gacha

Photo by Apartment B, found on flickr.

Gacha Yard sale, he just lost control.
I even spoke to a young lady who
has set herself a budget and with it,
uses her duplicates for trade – all to
complete her collections. She is that
determined to get her items, yet, is
mindful of her money.
Gacha as an interview topic was not
easy to research. I found it almost impossible to gather facts or data. Even
my search on the web revealed very
little other than the fact that it originated in Japan in 1965 – 50 years
ago – and that it is derived from the
term Gashapon which describes the
sounds the machine makes. The
first being “Gasha” for the sound of
the crank on a toy vending machine
and the “pon” the sound of the toy
capsule dropping into the dispenser
receptacle.
Like in SL, the real toys come in sets
(or collections) and are trade-able.

There are people completely obsessed with their collections, who
dedicate their time and lunch
money to collect Gashapon/Gacha
in order to share and trade with
others.
There are even stores in Japan that
are dedicated to these little capsule toys, but most of all, I discovered in SL, Art imitates life! RL Gacha is stronger than ever 50 years
later! So, this leaves me to draw
only one conclusion...

Gacha is here to stay in
SL and the THRILL is not
gone...
It, like most things, is just evolving
and there are way too many ways
it appeals to consumers. As long
as there are lindens to be had, then
designers will bring it to the table
to feed the Gacha Machine.
NU VIBEZ & ROLEPLAY GUIDE MAGAZINE 29