Hanging Out in Little London

by Kavella Maa | February 17, 2010 | No comments

I’ve only been in London for about four hours of my life. So while I can comment confidently on the realism of the Second Life version of the Cafe de Monde and the rest of the French Quarter, I can’t speak to the verisimilitude of Little London on Pascale Estates in Eudora.

I can tell you this much, though: All those automated cars and trucks tooling around town are driving on the wrong side of the road.

(Seriously. The only vehicle I saw positioned in the left-hand lane was a bus, and it wasn’t even moving.)

But enough nit-picking already. Moving on…

The Earn2Life Pay4Visit landmark set me down in the seedy side of town, which was, it turned out, more building-front textures and poseballs (“Hang out”, “smoke”, “talk”) than actual functioning real estate. (Exception: a sandwich shop and a pub with animated consumables vending and places to sit and eat/drink.) But once I turned the corner I found parks and playgrounds, schools, a chapel with wedding facility, a police station, a visitor centre, a job centre, business/conference locations, rental boxes for both retail and residential use–Little London is quite large.

The best way to get a comprehensive glimpse is to take the tour. A hover car by the Visitor Centre will take you for a narrated three-minute ride through town: just sit down, touch the start panel, and use Mouselook. When it’s done, it will return you to the central park where you started. Now that you have a better idea as to the layout and content of Little London, you can go explore on foot or use the big teleport map beside the tour launch.

(The teleport map refers to the aforementioned seedy area as “RP Meeting Point”.)

I was especially impressed with the Green Business business suites, offering seating and conference facilities for up to ten people at a time on automatic rental basis. You just pay the green teleporter in front of the elevators for the amount of time you want, from L$1000/30 minutes to L$2500/120 minutes, and off you and your telecommuting business partners go. Meanwhile in the lobby there’s a bar, vending machines, and an espresso maker. (All the vending machines vend sandwiches, regardless of what they look like.)

(Green Business appears not to be on the teleport map. But it’s just east across the stree from the Playground.)

Since the place just opened, the Job Centre is advertising. They’re hiring bar staff and dancers for the night clubs. They’re hiring taxi drivers and tour guides to help get you around town. They’re hiring emergency personnel, too. “We want you to help us make London a safe place for all. Click here for an application form to join the Little London Police Force.”

Meanwhile, the Visitor Centre is advertising too: upcoming events. Saturday the 20th there’s going to be a costume party and movie viewing. Friday the 19th, there’s going to be a “Speed Dating Event.”

It’s got some details that need working out, but Little London has big potential for business, shopping, playing, or just living. Head on down and explore.