Second Glances with Arabella

It was a Monday—ordinarily the most unremarkable day of the week. Except this was Second Life, where a drought of highly coveted homes and the imminent release of nine brand-new regions combined to create the perfect housing tempest.

Along the borders of Vorpal Wood, Floss, and Hardcastle, the world map revealed a curious sight—confirmed by the mini-map upon landing in Floss and verified by yours truly: green dots. Dozens of them. Lined up in the streets, tucked into the woods, hovering politely in midair. Each dot a resident brimming with hope, longing, strategy, or outright lust for a new address—staring north toward regions still barred to entry, queued with a discipline that would have made a Briton beam.

Across the invisible boundary, the Moles moved with brisk determination and steely resolve—inspecting roads, nudging houses into place, planting the odd tree, ensuring rez zones actually rezzed—while the rest of us waited like it was opening day for the newest ride at Disney.

And because this was Second Life, what might have been a tense vigil became an impromptu street fête in ye olde Flosshire. Laughter, chatter, and speculation filled the air as we awaited the inevitable rush—sure and thundering as a buffalo stampede.

All the usual suspects had assembled—the Game of Homes strategists with their battalions of alts poised to descend and secure multiple houses before choosing their crown jewel. Others simply wanted a home—any home—still smarting from having missed the first release and every add-on since. A few current residents of Floss blinked awake to the spectacle; one even IM’d me, politely inquiring why their quiet neighborhood now resembled an organized invasion.

If you ever fancy hosting a block party in your Linden Home neighborhood, position yourself along the border of a brand-new region about to be loosed into the wild. I half expected the Trinity Coffee Company van to roll up and start pouring espresso from the back, fortifying the resolute ranks of house hunters braced for the charge.

I’d heard tales of such moments before but had never witnessed one firsthand. So when a friend whispered that new sims had appeared and were in their final stages of inspection, I abandoned whatever trivial task held me, donned my lowest-impact attire and hair (crowds and lag being inevitable), and made for the northern line, but let me tell you, that line of residents assembled there was so perfectly straight that any military general would have paused in admiration.

People drifted in and out of the line as the afternoon wore on. One had to log off and return to work, remarking that he hoped to find himself neighbors with some of the very souls standing there beside him. I ran into a friend and we passed the time discussing floorplans and the latest viewer release. Others distributed gestures and the odd freebie, generously padding inventories while spirits remained high. Even with the looming frenzy, it was unmistakably Second Life. The values hold. The fun endures. The puns—regrettably for some—survive as well.

I’ve no idea what precise moment the gates finally opened, but it was a delight to witness this peculiar ritual of our world—one that doesn’t come along every day. Some may scoff at queuing for virtual real estate in a virtual land, yet I would wager that more than a few genuine friendships were kindled along that border. And those, unlike floorplans, tend to last.

Here’s hoping everyone found the home they were dreaming of.

Arabella

Post Notes: The new regions released about 1:50 PM SLT. All 2048 sized parcels were gone within 15 seconds-however, there are wonderful jewels to be had in the smaller sizes-don’t count them out!

Copperfield Heights: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Holdfast%20Ridge/132/184/28

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