I’m a little late for this month’s event, but I’ve added a link to my SL Shopping Events list, the Monthly Midnight Madness (MMM). Spread across several sims in SL, the Monthly Midnight Madness event takes place on the second Saturday of each month. For those not familiar with it, several designers give out gifts to the first 1500 avatars that click their MMM boards, with each designer offering two gifts per month. The two gifts are made available at midnight and noon SLT, and if you miss out on the free gift you can get it from the Second Chance board for a really nice discount. Some designers even have a related item at a steep discount such as a fatpack or a color-changing HUD at a really nice price.

Unfortunately, the sims can get pretty full and just getting to the MMM boards can be an exercise in patience. At both midnight and noon SLT this month I’ve had to try several times just to get into Dead Dollz because so many people wanted their MMM gifts.

With this in mind, there are three simple rules to remember when MMM hits. The first is to keep your Avatar Complexity (AC) below 25,000. When MMM hits the participating stores get really busy really fast, and to let as many people as possible participate they’ve set this limit to reduce lag. Some sims will kick you out if your AC is too high so it’s best to reduce your complexity before leaving home for the event. The MMM group gives a free survival kit every month with a full alpha layer to drop your avatar complexity to 0, as well as a TP HUD for all of the participating stores.

The second rule is to not repeatedly click the MMM boards. When the server recognizes your click, there will be a comment in your local chat saying, “Your touch was registered and your gift will be coming shortly.” Of course, with so many people trying to get the gift your click may not be recognized immediately. Click it once and look for the comment in local chat. PLEASE don’t hammer the board with repeated clicks. That just makes it harder for everyone to get the gift.

The third rule is especially important for the busy sims: When you’ve gotten your gift please go somewhere else so someone else can get it. If you had trouble getting in you can assume others are having the same problem. Do them the favor of leaving and making room for someone else to get in. If you want an item on the Second Chance boards or a related item, consider getting it after the crowds have thinned out a bit.

You can see what’s being offered by hitting the link and going to the monthly Gift Guide at the top of the page. September’s offerings had more items I wanted than any month before, and I made a point of staying up late enough to get several of the midnight gifts. I also put a reminder on my phone to make sure I got several of the noon gifts. I also got the fatpack from Justice, and I’m considering buying at least one of the two color HUDs from Salt & Pepper. As I write this, I have about 14 and a half hours to make up my mind.