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In 2007, Jo Yardely visited Second Life (2003) for the first time. She looked around, took in the view, and left immediately. “[Second Life] was a place where weird people spent all their time chatting about uninteresting things,” she said on her blog, “pretending they were having virtual hanky panky or spending real money on virtual rubbish.” You risked being griefed. Most of the simulations looked “horrendous.” Everyone’s fashion sense was terrible. Nine years later, Yardley runs one of the most successful historical simulations in Second Life. Her version of 1920s Berlin has over 100 tenants and regularly hosts events that would have taken place in the real Berlin during the time period, such as cabaret shows at the Eldorado Cabaret or dinner at the Hotel Adlon. She’s meticulously recreated the Zum Nußbaum restaurant, simulated complicated legal changes to German drug laws, and even collected enough money to sponsor a Stolperstein (stepping stone) that is a real-life memorial to Nazi victims. At the beginning of May, she’ll lead a reenactment of the 1929 May Day riots; sort of like Civil War reenactments, but you’re not required to be outside.
