Interview with Nams of Static and the Gacha Guild

By Cyfir (Cyfiremmerich)

Nams (Nama Gearz) is the owner of Static and the Gacha Guild. Just before the Gacha Guild started, I had a chance to send them a few interview questions. Unfortunately, they were so (understandably) busy that they just got back to me with the answers recently. Fortunately, it’s still a good interview and they were able to send answers that were pertinent to the upcoming Halloween event this Fall as well as some new information about her store.

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Cyfir: What inspired you and the other founders to start the Gacha Guild?

Nams: In the very beginning the main founders got together and started this event because there were all these great events centered around human avatars and there were basically none at all for the furry community. Since there were none, we made one! .GG. has blossomed so much in the past few years, more than we'd ever expected! We're not JUST a furry event though, even though we have our roots in that community.

Cyfir: What’s new at Gacha Guild this time around?

Nams: Unfortunately since I just now had time to respond because of all the craziness in the world lately, the spring round of .GG. is basically over. BUT I can say the next event will be a spoooky carnival theme and will be just as awesome as last year's Halloween event!

Cyfir: It must be challenging to put on such a big event with so many avatars trying to get in on opening day.

How do you and your team meet those challenges and what makes it worth it to you?

Nams: Oh man, it's a lagfest if you don't do things just right, but we're so thankful that the event is popular enough to have this problem. lol The off-sim shopping area helps a whole lot, so we're trying new ways to make that convenient for everyone. We try our best to make script time on the event sim as low as possible too and remind visitors to wear event friendly avatars. But honestly, what makes it worth it is seeing all those crazy avatars and people enjoying themselves.

Cyfir: Who all is involved in making the Gacha Guild happen?

Nams: It's definitely a group effort to get these events rolling, especially for Hallows. Much of the building and advertisement I'm in charge of, and Xuxu (Xulael Resident) helps out with a lot of the building as well. Scripting makes the magic happen, so Argon (Lazer Frog) and Skyler (firefox22771 Resident) get a lot of the credit for making the event function, and making all of my crazy build ideas work out. And the true heroines are Catloaf (Katyjlol Resident) and Sunny (Usada Izumi), the blogger / creator recruiting dream team! Bringing in the talented creators and bloggers that make this event truly special~

Cyfir: Being a fan of Hayao Miyazaki, I’m digging the theme for this Spring’s event. What are your favorite Studio Ghibli movies?

Nams: Spirited Away is at the top! But my second would totally have to be Howl's Moving Castle.

Cyfir: What Gacha Guild products are you personally excited about this year?

Nams: Before .GG. Spirited Festival started up, I was totally stoked to see what cool avatar accessories we'd see around. Clothing is also a thing I like to look around for. Since you said "this year" I'm gonna go ahead and say, I'm looking forward to absolutely everything in Hallows. I can't wait to see those Halloween horrors!

Cyfir: What’s new from Static?

Nams: I am in the midst of a rebranding of sorts. Re-working my logo, working on a new in-world shop design and overhauling my advertisements. It's a huge job to get all these things updated, but it's gonna be totally worth it.

Cyfir: What would you say inspires your products the most?

Nams: Honestly, I only make things that I'd personally like to wear. If I wouldn't wear it, why should anyone else? And if I'm totally into the project, the heart I put into it shows.

Cyfir: Can you describe your creative process when working on things for your store?

Nams: Sometimes an idea just pops into my head and I can just go crazy on it. When I'm a little stuck and searching for ideas, I hit up pinterest pretty hard for inspiration. It's an amazing resource. Once I'm totally stoked on an idea I have, I'll just jump into modeling it and not really stop until it's done. I really try to consider the user most though during the creation process and how I can make it the most convenient and easy to use, so a lot of thinking goes into some of these projects before I even hop into a 3D program.

Cyfir: Anything else you would like to add or plug?

Nams: I normally wouldn't plug events that aren't my own in something like this BUT I'd like to get Fantasy Faire as much attention as it can. I'm in this event coming up on April 23rd, and proceeds for some of the items I'm selling are going directly to Relay for Life! Fantasy Faire is also huge, with nearly a dozen sims (or maybe more than that!), each decorated differently. It's really a sight to behold. It's a great time just roaming around and I hope people check it out. Here's their site to stay updated! https://fantasyfairesl.wordfress.com.

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Nams’ store can be found in Second Life at Caisteal (221/85/32) and on MarketPlace here. Information about the Gacha Guild can be found at https://gachaguild.com . Nams Tumblr, Flickr, and Ko-fi can be accessed at https://telepotato.cat, https://www.flickr.com/photos/namacat, and https://ko-fi.com/telepotato .


Cyfir

A Look At The Chibi Noodle Dragon Avatar

By Bixyl Shuftan

While some people stick with one avatar all the time, many people I know have a small collection of them. While usually in one appearance, they'll change to something else for a contest, a roleplay, or just for a little fun. So once in a while, when friends keep talking about a certain avatar, many are inclined to get one. Some months ago, a number of people were going after a three-headed feral canine called the "Hellhound." This month, there's a new "must have" avatar" the Chibi Noodle Dragon.

To begin with, the avatar is made by NutBusterz, which in the past has made a variety of products, including some cheeky ones. One friend called the product their effort to make something cute and innocent. The main place to get one is at the Gacha Guild Spring in Dew Drop. There are other good avatars there, such as the "Curious Critters" avatars by XuXu (Xulael Resident). If you want the Chibi Noodle Avatar, it can be found close to Dew Drop (112/116/1738). You'll have to walk to it as teleporting to the Gacha Guild, you'll end up at the entry area.

Getting the avatar is usually simple enough, paying just 100 Lindens into the vendor. But it has been known to break, which requires messaging someone to fix it. You then get not the avatar, but a voucher for one. This is non-copyable, but can be given to someone like other items in gachas. To get the avatar, you don't open the voucher, which could break it. You "add" it to your avatar, then click on it. It will appear on you looking like a small and cute dragon in your arms. Clicking on that will get you the avatar.

Like other gacha avatars, some varieties are less common than others. The common ones are the "Natural," "Thawny," "Spotted," and "Noir." Uncommon are the "Piebald" and "Runic." There are two rare ones with pronounced horns. The most rare is the "Koi," which is fishtailed. The vouchers can be traded, and the rare and ultrarare ones can fetch some good money (or you could give one to a noodle fan among your circle of friends and make them really happy).

Even if you're not a dragon fan, you'll probably think of the noodle dragon as cute and adorable. While not quite as small as most tiny avatars and much larger than a petite, it's still small. It's natural expression is to smile. It makes cute noises, especially when getting belly rubs, and it's various animations add to it's cuteness.

Moving around is much like a regular avatar, though you're usually on all fours. There is a HUD that allows you to look asleep, mad, sad, etc. There are also nine body animations, such as sitting down, rubbing a whisker, rolled over on the back, hugging, dancing on the ground, dancing on the back legs. One animation has the noodle dragon offering an egg (the Koi offers caviar). If touched, the person touching gets a copy of the egg. It can be hatched into a pet dragon that can be held. I read there is a swimming HUD, but haven't tried it out yet.

There's a number of accessories available for the chibi noodle dragon. Only a few are made by NutBusterz. Many can be found at the Gacha Guild Spring, such as hoodies and other outfits, teacups with various phrases of which adding it to the avatar gets it to drink it (the ultra-rare in the gacha is a coffee machine). There are also armors available. The avatar is also modifiable, and there are skins out for it. Someone passed me a copyable "death breath" attachment, so some of the mods are being passed around for free. There's also a large number of accessories available on Marketplace.

The avatar is Bento, so some older viewers may not be able to see it properly. The other problem is that to some, gachas can be quite addictive. "Betcha can't stop at just one," one might say. And indeed many can't. So watch your spending.

In just a short time, the Chibi Noodle Avatar has become quite popular in some circles. At some events, I've seen close to a dozen of them. To make matters more interesting, a Noodle Dragon themed sim has sprung up. Called "Noodle Kingdom," it's on the sim on the map appropriately named "Cute." The sim has some Asian-themed structures up. But there are also some definitely non-Asian places such as a Subway-themed restaurant. The sim is fairly new, with shops moving in. So there will likely be changes in the days and weeks after this article.

So what's the future for the Chibi Noodle Dragon? As there have been "must-have" avatars before, one can easily dismiss them as another fad that after a short time in the spotlight fades into the background. But that someone was willing to put down enough cash to get a noodle dragon themed sim is evidence that some are willing to bet money that the demand for the avatars and their products will be around for a while.

I've heard comparisons to the pony avatars, which eight years after their introduction still have a strong following. Unlike the ponies however, the Noodle Dragons don't have stories to help backup roleplay in the fandom. But as the stories the pony sims base their RP off of are from cartoons aimed at young and teenage girls and young women, it's fair to say the dragons have greater appeal to guys.

While nothing is certain, it's a good bet the Chibi Noodle Dragons will have a following for some time to come.

Bixyl Shuftan