Schrodinger's Gossip Girl: It's dead but it's still alive

It's been a long run for the Gossip Girl simulation on Second Life, two years in the making actually, but all good things must come to an end. The well trafficked sims will be closing the doors tomorrow, as Warner Brothers and The CW discontinue their virtual marketing campaign for the show of the same name.

But that doesn't mean the Gossip Girl community is dying...

Fans of the simulation will be overjoyed to hear that the Gossip Girl community is transitioning to a new home thanks to the Metaverse Mod Squad, the builders and moderators of the original official sims. While the official sims, and the setting of the Upper East Side, will be retired on June 30th, the new doors will open on July 1st to large fanfare and a great number of festivities.

According to Twig Tomorrow, the CEO of the Metaverse Mod Squad, the Gossip Girl community will be continuing onwards as a fan-based community.

"When you create a community as part of a marketing campaign, it is extremely important when that campaign ends, to have a transition and an alternative," Tomorrow said. "It is something I really pushed hard for and the execs at CW agreed. The Gossip Girl community will become part of a new sim and will be a fan-based community now."

The closing of the sims comes with the discontinuation of the virtual project and an end to the marketing campaign. While the simulation enjoyed huge traffic and a large number of interested players, the closure was not due to waning numbers or a lack of interest on The CW's part.

"Gossip Girl has lasted much longer than most projects because of the great success," Tomorrow said. "Just time to do something new. I really have nothing but wonderful things to say about WB and The CW Network. They have put so much time and committment to the Gossip Girl project in SL."

The new sim, which is currently being kept under wraps until July 1st, will be offering many more attractions than the original Upper East Side simulation. Avatars will be able to find a wide variety of stores to shop in, events to participate in, and new clubs and restaurants to meet up in. However, the Mod Squad was excited over the new sim's ability to rent out apartments -- giving players the ability to have their own housing in the sim and use it as they wish.

"Part of what we have been working on so hard is transitioning the Gossip Girl community into the rest of Second Life," said Tomorrow. "With the cooperation of WB and, of course, our efforts, they have agreed to let us move the community to these sims."

With the move of the community comes a plethora of events, beginning with the morning coffee shop gossip at 8 AM PT (11 AM ET) on Wednesday, July 1st. Afterwards, during the night hours, a party will be held in the simulation at 6 PM PT (9 PM ET.)

These 6 PM parties will be the standard for the rest of the week, only varying in theme each night. Thursday will be home to a pajama party, while Friday will be a Second Life yearbook party. The Mod Squad has created an SL memory book that has some of the best moments of the Gossip Girl community contained within, as well as a listing of the winners of "The Gossip Girl Awards," a poll held last week for the closing of the official community.

So Gossip Girl community lovers, don't despair! Your community will be gossiping onwards!

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