Ever feel like you have seen it all in the Second Life pub/club scene? You go in search of a place to be accepted to make friends and to enjoy yet all you ever find is slight variations on a theme? From place to place with a slightly different colour of flashing neon, different arrangement of poles to rules on escorting? Feel like you might scream out if you do not find some pure unadulterated fun in SecondLife without falling into the category of strip joint?

A long time ago I wrote about a very quintessential English Pub, called The Three Lions. Owned by Phill Plasma and located in Bourton Village, The Three Lions was a wonderful break from the norm. No dance poles, no advertising, no malls no pleading for money the Three Lions always boasted a warm homely atmosphere. You could talk up to the bar and choose between some fine English Ale or some Honey Mead, side order of Walkers, McCoys or KPs and go take your seat next to the fire where you could enjoy exciting stimulating conversation, dance the night away at one of the many events and much more, you felt 'part' of something. Feeling part of an extended family in Second Life is a very rare thing to find yet The Three Lions managed it.

It was a great loss when The Three Lions closed it's doors for what seemed forever, however recently the pub has reopened and I managed to catch up with Phill and find out what's happening.What was your inspiration behind the original Three Lions?

At the time that the Lions was created in 2006, i had gotten a little frustrated with the endless stream of badly built SL clubs. They mostly seemed to exist to make as much money as possible or to generate traffic figures, or both. I found a pub in SL called The Blarney Stone, owned and still run today by Ham Rambler, someone whom i have a great deal of admiration for in SL. It was one of the few places back then where you could hangout and meet familiar faces, somewhere you felt you belonged.

What did you want to do with the Three Lions, what did you hope to achieve?

The original plan was very modest, I had just purchased a sim and just wanted to build somewhere for friends to come and hang out. I harassed a few friends until they agreed to come and DJ for the opening and we opened the sim. What i wasn't prepared for were the sheer number of people who felt the same way as i did. The first weekend of The Three Lions saw a hundred members, by the time we closed the pub doors for the last time, we had 4000 members and a staff of 30 pub managers, DJs and other helpers. What made it so special for me was that The Three Lions was so popular despite not ever charging for a single thing and a total ban on any camping chairs, escorts, or money making in any form. We had a tip jar inside the pub which was the sole source of income, anything made there, we spent on live entertainment , DJs and events.

Why did you close?

Inevitably, any project that attracts the numbers that the pub did at its peak becomes impersonal to a degree. I had so much fun there and met so many good friends but the pub just took over and became almost a full time job for me. My passion in SL is building, despite what friends will tell you, I am quite a shy person. I am happiest sitting on a prim on an empty sim creating stuff. I was spending so much time dealing with the daily tasks, finding new entertainment and sorting out problems and the obligatory SL drama that I had no time to build any more or just fly around the mainland aimlessly like i used to, dropping in on random cool stuff. I realised I wasn't having fun any more. There were a couple of dramafests towards the end, that and the place losing a lot of its original identity as a friendly hangout and escape from the rest of SL finally made me decide enough is enough and that it was time to call it a day.

Why did you re-open?

My long term partner in crime kai Sachertorte and i had been spending a lot of time over at Openlife helping out, It's a lot of fun but it's still very much beta at the moment and i was getting frustrated at the difficulties there in building what i had in my head. We were missing friends too so we decided to get another sim in SL. When we returned, the question everyone asked was 'when is the pub coming back?' I had no real plans or intentions of bringing it back but we thought 'what the hell', lets rez the old dear from inventory but this time make sure it keeps to the original idea as a place for friends. I'll still be organising the live music stuff but apart from that, its a lot more laid back and enjoyable for us this time around. We don't even have a Three Lions group this time around, those that want to find it will do.

What has the feedback been about the reopening?

Very positive indeed, i have had countless messages from old pub regulars genuinely excited about the return, many of them with stories of how they met loved ones there. We even have one couple who met at the pub and are now together RL with a new baby. I have also been fortunate enough to keep in regular contact with many of the old regulars, some of whom formed their own successful bars and clubs, so news got around very quickly :)

Any future plans?

Oh yes, a gazillion plans. They change about as often as my clothes. I am busy building the new sim at New Bourton. The Three Lions is just a part of the plans there and it's so nice to see people just dropping by to say hello while kai and I are working on the place.
As for the long term plans, who can say? All i know is I am enjoying SL again and having a blast. That's good enough for me :)