Why Crack Den Keeps Thriving: Community Members Share Stories (and IRL Marriages) from Second Life's Long-Running Urban Roleplay MMO

Image by Orion Octane from Crack Den's Flickr pool

Crack Den, the long-running urban roleplay mini-MMO in Second Life, is like a version of Grand Theft Auto Online from an alternate timeline where the Hot Coffee incident scarcely elicited a shrug (if you know you know), and its user community was free to wildly build on top the world in ways Rockstar Studios could never dare imagine.

At least that's my impression, after my post about Teal Aurelia's stellar new trailer for the game attracted a barrage of comments from the CD user community. So much so, I had to share some of them, along with images from Crack Den's huge Flickr photo stream. They tell about drama, interwoven stories, and a world so large, it has its own thriving newspaper:

I am privileged to be the editor of the inworld newspaper, the Hathian Observer. I’ve done this for coming up to two years. The world building is real and while like every RP community there can be issues I’ve never come across a more diverse and inclusive community that tries to support each other. I’m not a Second Life expert, but we’re hitting 25 - 35 published stories a month from multiple reporters and from all kinds of players creating those stories… are there many other RP sims with this activity and 15 years of newspaper archive to search, research and lore build with? Posted by: Faith

I've played many characters over many years in Crack Den, even before it was reshaped by the Hurricane. I remember my character getting trapped in the storm, her little brother almost being swept away on debris floating through the flooded streets. Even then, Nadir created the setting for the players to be able to play out their stories.

My personal RP niche is Fantasy, but I keep coming back to Crack Den because there is nowhere else on the grid where you can find a community of this size, and this prevailing through the years. Posted by: Joy Saad 

About 6 years ago I gave Crackden a fair try. Some talented people there can really craft novels a paragraph post [of in character text] at a time. Crackden is a great place to roleplay, but don't be intimidated if you are new to RP.

I really recommend starting out as a cop. It is the best starting job by far cuz you can tag along with other cops when crimes come in. Plus some think up of really crazy crimes that makes for interesting scenarios. Posted by: Jackson 

Although it has been years [since playing] there are some characters that were so well done that I do think of them from time to time.

First there was this really flamboyant guy that always dressed really well. He was kinda like the Joker from Batman in a way and can make one feel uncomfortable when near. He had a small crew that took orders from him and their hideout was the butcher shop. Probably the greatest character in all of Crackden IMHO. Top 3 material.

There was this goth guy always dressed in black standing on the side of a building or in an alleyway just barely within chat range. He would never say anything, just there... watching, listening, spying. I never uncovered the mysteries of this guy. But he was pretty creepy and random. My guess is he is stalking a prey to kidnap.

I couldn't forget this homeless guy. He didn't come on much but when he did he made every scene more entertaining. I remembered others liked playing with him and another told me that this guy been doing role for a while. I did like his avatar, it wasn't just a guy in dirty clothes but conveyed this guy has seen some you know what... if that makes sense.

Posted by: Buster

I've been part of the Crack Den Community for 17 years. I met my RL husband in the Crack Den! Seeing Teal's work and my husband's community spotlighted here makes me so incredibly proud.  Posted by: Audrina 

Some players do warn that the established community can sometimes be rather clique-ish (no surprise with any long-running MMO), and that the lag can be something awful:

"It is a sim bordered with other sims all around it. There is very little to no dead space so your CPU/GPU will be pushed to the limit," warns Bridgette. "I recommend lowering your draw distance, max # of non-impostor avatars and LOD settings. It will help some. Laptops will run very hot so grab that cooling pad."

More soon, this is just a teaser. Like they say, the first hit's free.

Comments

[Hitori Skyther]

Honestly, CD is the best RP community I have ever been introduced to. I've been in CrackDen over ten years now, and it never gets old. The RPers we have here make sticking around worth it and help to create dynamic stories with organic character growth. I'm so proud to be a part of this community and will be for years to come. So thank you for giving CrackDen a shoutout! It's well deserved.

[Mad Jax]

I have given Cracken a try here and there over the years. Could not get into it. Maybe there is a hazing process that I missed during registration. I must be doing something wrong.

[Izzy]

CrackDen being one of the longest running sims in all of SL.

New World Notes being one of the longest running blogs about SL.

Thanks for all the love Wagner! We love you.

[Dakota's Secret Admirer]

One of the most creative and unique communities you will find across the grid. I love how serious players here take their characters. Making them look realistic, fleshed out backstories that span multiple profile picks, the photography, the Flickr, the Twitter feeds, websites and machima videos.

You will fall in love with this community and you will also fall in love with the people there. Then there will be that one that drives you crazy and make you nervous when near, that one that you will continue to have thoughts about when offline. That one for me is Dakota. I would love to pick her up in my Toyota.

Who do you secretly admire?

[Gabe]

Hey guys,

If you are having trouble getting started with roleplay in Crack Den I recommend to rent a place from another player.

My landlord helped me get into some roleplay and then it was all good times from there.