The Best Part of Prize Hunts

There was a time that I enjoyed participating prize hunts around Second Life. It was a great way for someone with no money to fill their inventory, meet new people, and to explore Our World. Then the number of hunts increased dramatically, the number of sites in each hunt also grew, and the trend moved from being fun to just being a harvest of prizes. Hordes of Residents shuffled quickly through the sites simply grabbing the prizes then leaving. Attitudes changed as the fun behind the hunts was lost, replaced by greed and surliness. Certainly, not everyone started to behave this way. Some of us just stopped hunting.

My inventory was bloating, I barely remembered where I had found the few gems that I kept, and the constant whining I heard in the various group chats became the last straw. I found other things to do with my time, even to the point of not frequenting other prize opportunities like Lucky Chairs. Exploring Second Life by map hopping and following recommendations on blogs became my new passion.

Then the other day my bestest and oldest friend in SL raved about a hunt she was doing, the Kiyomizu "Ninja Cat" Hunt (Web). And since she seldom followed hunts, I thought I'd give it a try. Look what I found at Fukuoka Yakuin (SLurl):

A wee, little penguin is fishing while his son floats in a tooby near by in this beautiful sim.

Awfully darned pretty, I'd say. I still haven't found the prize yet and it doesn't matter as this view would probably be a better prize anyway. Out of the best hunts I've ever tried I've kept about 20% of all prizes anyway. With 97 possible Ninja Cats to find in this hunt I'm guessing that at most I'd likely keep fewer than 19 prizes. Thus far I've been unable to find more than 50 so I'm sure the "keep" number will be much, much lower. (Update: I kept 9 of 57.)

But I've approached this hunt with the objective to simply enjoy myself, whether I'm playing a piano in the clouds at AngA (SLurl) or watching Ninja Cat kiss a purply cat in (of all places) Kissakat Island (SLurl). Japanese owned or operated regions always impress me. Sometimes for beauty (I love the recurring theme of shallow waters), sometimes for the sheer energy (primary colors are the standard), or the even just the perspectives of some very creative people from a culture that is quite different from my own. Some of the merchants have even come up with funny, clever, or adorable ways to put Ninja Cat in their shops, adding to the amusement.

So I'm having a great time whether I win prizes or not. I just might have to try another hunt sometime.

Playing piano for the Heavenly Choir (though they've yet to show ... must be a rehearsal).

Kitty kisses are so kyoot. I might have to check my sugar if I look at this pic too long.