Iris Wants to Know: Where's Your Gacha Budget Going During the Latest Round of The Arcade?

Janine "Iris Ophelia" Hawkins' ongoing review of gaming and virtual world style

The first round of The Arcade for 2015 opened its doors last week, and if you're fortunate enough to squeeze your way in through the massive crowds you'll be greeted with just as many unique treasures as ever. In case you need a refresher, The Arcade is one of Second Life's most popular shopping events, where designers stuff their gacha machines with sets of limited items and shoppers pay a pittance for a random chance at any of them. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but most virtual fashion and decor enthusiasts wouldn't miss it for the world.

I'm having a particularly tough time picking out which gacha lineup I like best this time around. Although I'm head-over-heels in love with the Downton-worthy ensemble that you can piece together from Erratic's gacha, a few other sets have caught my eye too. Anc Ltd.'s decor items are downright dreamy for example, while 8f8's Arcade items are like a Barbie's Tuscan Dreamhouse kit (some assembly required).

It's all a little overwhelming. That's why I want to know: Which gacha is at the top of your list for this round of The Arcade? Take a look at everything that's on offer in the official event catalogue, then leave your picks in the comments below!

Tweet

Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart on Twitter, Iris Ophelia in Second Life) has been writing about virtual worlds and video games for nearly a decade, and has had her work featured on Paste, Kotaku, Jezebel and The Mary Sue.

Comments

[melponeme_k]

Unless it includes a great many items I want, I avoid set gachas at all cost. It is just a door opener to something shady. Frankly I would rather pay full price and buy the item I want outright, not keep feeding a machine hoping for a jackpot.

[Rose]

$0L ~ I despise gatchas. I agree with melponeme, I would rather pay full price and get the item I want instead of cluttering my inventory. My SL budget is too tight to waste.

[Selena Anansi]

I don't bother going to the actual events, I stroll through the yard sales (there a MANY) and find what I want and pay pull price (the price of each play or less for common items and sometimes pay the asking price for the rares if it is something I really really want (usually less than I'd have paid if I had tried to get it from the machine).

[Terri Zhangsun]

I don't do the gachas. I only do the yardsales so I can get what I want. I've mostly been looking Second Spaces, Pixel Mode and Flowey this round.

[Verity Goodnight]

According to my Arcade spreadsheet, DRD, OMEN and Vespertine got my cash with 10, 8 and 8 hits of the machine allowed respectively.

I figure, I want the excitement of playing the machine and getting a mystery prize but I don't want to go overboard. Limiting myself depending on how many of the items I'd be happy to get and if I'd be up for keeping duplicates has really worked.

Plus I get that tiny buzz from colouring the cells for the machines I've visited.

I can see where people who would rather pay for a thing and know exactly what they are getting come from but I view gachas as like a Kinder egg. I like the random prize element.