Here I am with just a few of the goodies that are currently on offer..but what is the best way to handle all this hunting madness? Well, you could not just participate..but stuff that. It’s fun, even when it’s exasperating, I promise, so here are my top tips for grid hunt happiness, and I hope you find them useful.
- Be patient…lots of peeps are participating which adds to lag. Be aware of time zones, for instance in the UK it may be easier to hunt during the day when all the US SL citizens are tucked up in bed:)
- Wait for things to rezz properly, because it’s a good opportunity to take in the other wares on offer. It’s not really good form to rezz in, grab the gift and run..BUT sometimes you have to…In that case, keep a notebook to hand..if you find a store that you really like, make a note so you can revisit it at your leisure when it’s less laggy. EG, Kiss 18 is at Cluster. I’ve never been there before, and until the hunt I’m ashamed to say that I had no idea it existed..now I’ve made a note I will defo be going back! Another example? Kiss 21 at Amplify..while I was there spotted a lovely red hair bow and a dollarbie pink dress ( on the freebies table) which is purrfect for Valentines on a budget:)Also, many of the designers will have groups that you can join- use the hunt as an opportunity to harvest your existing group list and try something new..many have Subscribe-O-Matic or Hippo groups so that will save you one of your precious 25 group slots.
- Sometimes hunt prizes are so obvious it hurts…I was in Snatch for over half an hour before I realised the prize was staring me in the face, much to the amusement of the live models. The reason I hadn’t spotted it is that Ivey had coloured her gift-box pink, and I was solely looking for red, like a numpty…something to bear in mind that – the designer MAY have changed the appearance of the hunt object….
- Look EVERYWHERE! Don’t forget to look up at the ceiling, in corners, behind things…heck some designers may have hidden things in walls! Use Ctrl-Alt-T to highlight prim objects. This really helps in some instances! I’m lucky enough to have a ‘Space Navigator’, and I have to say it’s a Grid Huntress’s best friend. You can pan all over the place with ease. Seriously, if you love SL as much as I do you may want to invest in one of these..they are FANTASTIC. Shopping and events are so much easier to manage..I’ll talk in depth about Space Navigators at some point.
- Go to your home or a sandbox and unload your wares every 10 items or so. I’ve found this invaluable; you can keep your inventory nice and neat by dropping items and working out the ones that you don’t like and deleting them before you carry on:)
- This will sound a bit bonkers, but don’t buy anything in a store until you’ve found the hunt goodies, just in case that item is the freebie! Save your money for something else from that particular content creator…
- Another slightly obvious one…it’s usually better to hunt in daylight, so change your environment settings to Midday.
- It NEVER hurts to say thank you..so if you LOVE an item take the time out to drop a message of gratitude on the hunt organisers and participants whose gifts you especially enjoyed..don’t forget that they aren’t making vast amounts of money out of the hunt ( unless you make additional purchases) and we’re in a recession..so seeing as it’s Valentines day, share the love!
- BUT if you don’t like an item, don’t be so ungracious as to make a drama out of it! Don’t be rude and IM the content creator telling them how much you dislike their gifts..that’s plain unpleasant and no-one has forced you to participate. If you don’t like an item, simply delete it from your inventory..there, that wasn’t so hard was it?
- Finally, remember to take a break and don’t get Hunt fatigue! The hunts will be around for a while, so you can limit yourself to how many items you collect each day. But don’t feel pressurised to get everything either..if you don’t complete the hunt then don’t beat yourself up about it..as wonderful as they are, they can be overwhelming too. That said, this is purely for fun; so don’t take it so seriously that you stop enjoying yourself and become driven by the prospect of freebies that you probably won’t ever rezz again. Enjoy the hunts for what they are..and remember, Easter is only a couple of months away….eggs anyone?
Kittywitchin' 