It is often the case when wandering the Second Life network you begin to feel like everything is 'old news'. You feel like you have been there, done that and seen everything there is to see. Suddenly along comes a unique new experience. Loco Pocos is such an experience. Not only a full range of innovative products but also an interactive, informative and exciting island to explore.

Loco Pocos is the brainchild of Damien Fate, an experienced and well-respected content creator in Second Life. Loco Pocos, which roughly translated means “crazy tinies”, are highly modifiable and customizable Second Life avatars. The avatars are fully sculpted and come complete with a HUD, which allows for full personalization and also complete control over the avatars appearance, gestures and sound sets. Out of the box Loco Pocos are very reasonably priced with a large range of base animals. The store offers accessory options, which automatically work with the HUD for those wishing to further their enhancement.

Loco Pocos is however much more than your average store, as Damien has said, "Sims can be so much more than just a store, avatars can be so much more than just prims." The main centre of the island is the magical tree named Rokeden and the whole island centers on a story, that of Captain B. Bonnik. Bounty hunters gain more insight to the island and its inhabitants. The treasure hunt is an extremely clever and interesting way to spend time, it captures the explorer’s imagination and each new level offers a new task to complete, from deciphering codes to jumping across lava pits with falling platforms.

It is obvious from the island and the beautifully crafted avatars that Damien has spent a long time working on this unique user experience. I managed to speak to him and asked some questions about this concept.

Trin: What was your inspiration behind Locos Pocos, both the avatars and the island?

Damien: I always try and bring new things into Second Life and wanted to create a new way to customise avatars, as luck had it I was contracted to build a small avatar for an unrelated project (which I can't discuss yet) and it got me thinking about applying this idea to tinies.
Loco Pocos was born with the creation of the first one, Benny (the rabbit), with Benny I worked for around 2 months on implementing new ways to customise an avatar that is fully sculpted and a whole new expression system. After increasing the Loco Pocos avatar range to 10 avatars I decided I need a store for them, but I was so confident in the avatars and the product in general that I wanted more than just a store, a whole island with an experience as rich and exciting as the avatars themselves.

Trin: Who is Captain B. Bonnik and what was the inspiration behind his story?

Damien: Captain B. Bonnik is one of the individuals who found the island and the giant legendary tree, the Rokeden. There was no individual source of inspiration for his story other than the island itself and what would a greed driven pirate like himself get up to on the island. I just kept in mind certain facts about the island (which are known only to me) in mind when I wrote the story, it practically wrote itself. The name B.Bonnik is a play on "Bubonic", the infamous plague.

Trin: Can you tell me about the work involved behind the creation?

Damien: I wouldn't be able to count all the hours of work that went into the project, but I can say I lost a lot of sleep! The avatars were 3 months work, and the island was 2 months work. All were completed mostly in my spare time until the week run-up to the opening date, in which I worked 15 hour days for over a week to meet the deadline and make sure the product was ready. I had a lot of help from some awesome beta testers who worked with me for a month and of course my wife, Washu Zebrastripe was there to keep me going!

Trin: What has your feedback been?

Damien: Feedback has been insanely positive, I always knew that Loco Pocos avatars and the island were special, and had confidence in them - but nothing could prepare me for how overwhelmingly enthusiastic people became about them at first sight. Loco Pocos has been mentioned on blogs all throughout the internet, with some very passionate followers such as Torley Linden and Gabby Panacek who were so excited that they contributed greatly to the project's publicity.

Trin: What is the development plan for the future?

Damien: I plan on releasing new content every week, this weekend (Saturday 18th July) I will be releasing 10 more avatars, male and female versions of a Fox, Warthog, Mole, Squirrel and Rat along with a new kind of accessory for Loco Pocos, pants! The following two weekends will see more accessories being released.
In a month or so I will begin to expand the island experience, it currently takes around 2 hours average to find all the journals and complete all the puzzles, I look to double that adventure time with the next expansion.

Loco Pocos is unlike any other store or island; it is a very memorable experience in Second Life. The question is not should you buy a Loco Pocos avatar but when should you buy a Loco Pocos avatar, it's an experience everyone should have.