SL Gacha Things I Didn’t Know

There is a Gacha Garden event and two regions of Gacha Garden Shops. You peeps probably already know all this. But, it is new to me. I’m not a Gacha fan. But, I am curious about free market innovations. So, I am poking around and learning.

The Designer [ JUSTICE ] has boots I REALLY LIKE. I went looking to buy them and found they were an exclusive offering at the January Gacha Garden (LM) event (group). These are boots I would expect to go for L$300 or so per color or L$800-1200 or more for a fat pack. At the event, you can try your luck for L$75 a try.

Gacha Garden Event – Feb 2018

Of course, the gold color I want is a rare, rare. At L$75 I figure I can make 4 tries at getting the color I want. Or if I want them all, 10 to 16 tries. After the 10th or 16th try gacha-gambling is costing me more than just buying boots would.

I really wanted them. So, I made 4 tries. I got the Silver rare, 2 ok colors, and one duplicate color. The Silver rare is pretty neat and provides a range from white silver to near black silver. Five colors if I remember correctly. I am happy. The 2 colors are ok but not my colors. What do I do with the duplicate? I’ll get to that.

But, the odds from 4 tries are interesting. A 25% chance of getting a rare item… that seems high. I suspect I was lucky. A 25% chance of getting a duplicate… that seems low. I think the chances of getting a duplicate goes up as I get more colors. Weak odds, not really in my favor.

So, what do people do with their duplicates? They sell them. Gacha’s have to be Transfer-OK for people to have any interest. In general, they are. So, there is an aftermarket. Seems logical.

I spent L$75 getting the item. So, what can I sell it for? L$50 maybe? Oh, I was so clueless.

The individual colors of these boots go for L$45 to L$250. Most of those are for Maitreya. Those for Slink are in the L$150 and up range. The gold color I want ranges from L$248 to L$1,450 and that is for Maitreya only. No Slink available.

There is a huge business in reselling Gacha items. I had not realized how big it is. That Gacha Garden Shops place is two regions and most of the shops are rented and filled with goods says something.

The shops have prices in the same range as the marketplace. This is a place where The Firestorm Viewer’s Area Search comes in really handy. I will warn you Area Search does require you to have looked in the direction of the item of your search. Otherwise, Area Search doesn’t find it. So, if a search fails, turn 360 at a moderate speed and try again. You may have to increase your draw distance and maybe move to another location and turn 360.

Then I had the bright idea, wait until the event is over and maybe the boots will be offered in the main store. They were. But, they are in a Gacha machine… no help there.

I suspect some smart merchants have figured out they have to take care of their gacha resellers. These resellers are making a business out of the secondary gacha market.

All the forces of the free market are at work in the gacha reseller market. Theft, as copyboters replicate and sell goods they did not buy. (The Lab continues to work on the problem. But, in the digital world, there is no technical way to protect things.) Barter, as people trade items. Gambling, those thinking they can save money…

The market is amazingly dynamic and has aspects of which I had not thought.

Word is the politicians are looking at passing RL laws to control what can be done in the gacha market. They aren’t actually looking at the SL gacha market. They are looking at the things like LUX boxes in the gaming world in general. Basically planning to take away freedoms to protect you… But, while the free market is here, there are possibilities… and risks.

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