New Arcadia Asylum Freebie Store Opens in Sunweaver Estates

By Bixyl Shuftan

Longtime readers know about Arcadia Asylum. These freebie stores, or libraries as they're officially called, have extensive collections of goods that can be picked up for free. A few days ago, a new one opened. This one was quite litterally down the street of the Newser office, in the HV Community sim. Like the others, Prof. Grey (BrianL61 Landar) is the builder and owner.

"Opened the doors yesterday (February 29)," Prof. Grey told me, "Full line library, including YadNi's Junkyard and Freebie Folly." The Sunweaver library's items are on three separate floors. The middle or ground floor has the works of Aley aka Arcadia. The lower or basement floor has the Freebie Folly items. The top floor, also accessible by the railroad line, is where the items that were part of YadNi's Junkyard are. The Junkyard had been one of Second Life's most popular freebie centers until it's closure in July 2015. Freebie Folly was a freebie store in Skidz, but it, "suddenly went vacant. The land still bears the Freebie Folly name, but it's a empty shop now." After attempts to contact the owner, Arcadia started displaying her free items.

Talking to Prof. Grey, that the Newser was nearby was an interesting detail for the place's location, but that wasn't all. "The land and road /water access was to die for." The railroad system got his attention as well, "I'm loving it. Can't run my SLRR stuff, but hey, a train's a train." Shortly after the store opening, the Sunweaver passenger train service was adjusted to stop at the Arcadia location.

The number of items packed in the place is truly massive. "This locations tops out at 9487 free items," Prof. Grey told me, "The only other location to match this is Anilis." Most of the items are not shown individually, but are in vendors that can be browsed with left/right arrows on the bottom. One can find avatars, vehicles, homes, furniture, plants, ships, boats, clothing, and much, much more. While some of the items are simple compared to what's available today, others are of decent quality. But in either case, one can't argue with the price.

By all means, give the Sunweaver Arcadia Asylum Library a look. Even if you have plenty of stuff, you just might find something interesting, or something you may want to tell a friend about. And if you haven't been to the Sunweaver area before, feel free to look around. This of course includes the Newser office, which is a little to the west down the road.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/HV%20community/211/93/26

Bixyl Shuftan

Arcadia Asylum Living Library

By Gemma Cleanslate

One of the most fascinating sites to visit in Second Life , in my opinion, is Arcadia Asylum Living Library.  Prof. Grey (BrianL61 Landar) built and owns this place . Originally it held the works of Arcadia, Aley (the same). . Prof . Grey has been updating it to add all the Yadni Junkyard vendors to it along with items made by Moard Ling , some of his own creations  and a few others early  creators.. Yadni’s Junkyard was such a fun place to visit in Second Life for years. He has closed it and has retreated to real-life to further his art projects. However he left all his junk behind with love.

Arcadia Asylum built so many fascinating installations during her many lives in Second Life. She is gone now and sorely missed. I met her several times at her builds underwater, at her pirate town and in LEA . She was lots of fun to visit. So many of her pieces I see every where in SL to this day. Her many avatars are great to play with too.

I call this library a museum because it holds so much of the early days of  Second Life. Prims that made everything before mesh was even thought of. Every item you see in the vendors there is free! Not only is it free it is full permission. One can take anything there apart and create a  new item from the parts. The only thing one cannot do is sell any item. I have seen many of the items used as decorations in regions, clubs, homes across the grid. Some of Yadni’s buildings are the basis of some shops or decor outside in town centers.

Prof. Grey says,”My goal is to help preserve the works of SL's Great Creators and Collectors like, Aley.Resident,  Arcadia Asylum,  YadNi Monde, Moard Lin and help to distribute them for all to enjoy.I ask nothing in return, if you'd like to help Please let me know.If you would like to have/start a library of your own, Please drop Me a notecard.”

I asked Prof Grey how many items he thought he had there and his answer was, “we are at least 8000+ items now i started taking a count but it will be a while til i can have a total, i figure safely between 8 & 10 thousand items total.” He is also looking at gathering more Greenies items. Go enjoy looking through the vendors for anything you may want.

There are other libraries across the grid helping him make the items available and you can pick up a list of them at the library. Some of the actual exhibits are still available to visit in Second Life and you can find out about them there too.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Anilis/37/160/113

Gemma Cleanslate

Arcadia Asylum

By Becky "Sha" Shamen

In the article, "Saving Prims," we said, "... Arcadia Asylum, on the Mieville Pond sim.  Be prepared for an adventure there". A conscious effort was made, to keep that sim from taking over the article, because it was worthy of an article of it's own. Returning there, to take notes and pictures, we realized just how understated the line was. It's more than just "an adventure". This sim is a must see, Great Adventure and should be on everybody's to-do list. Aside from the 1,328 free items, there are several fun adventures, to be discovered there.

The landing point, for the sim, is a courtyard, in front of the Cog & Grog Freebie Center. On the other side of the courtyard, we find a teleporter that goes to the various areas on the sim. The areas include; Tropics, Steam Fair, Graveyard, Hobo Town, The Deeps, Space and The Library. Most of the areas can also be reached by walking, flying or just jumping into the water.

The Deep covers as much area as the surface sim and can be reached in three ways. Within the Cog & Grog, there is a stairway that leads under water. On the dock, next to the Chinese Junk, there is an entrance to Cap'n Nemo's Underwater Observatory, which uses tubes to connect to chambers beneath the surface. You can also just jump off any of the docks, to reach the sea floor. In the deep, you will find underwater habitats, plants, sea creatures. You can even get your own whale or even a kracken. One of the most interesting nautical items, the whirlpool, proved to be be a fun ride. I got one to take home, but, unless I terraform, won't get put out from my inventory any time soon. It has a lot of prims, but can be reduced by removing some of the items that circle the top.

 Taking the teleport to the Space area, we find spacesuits, spaceships, planets and asteroids. The most interesting "space" item is found at the courtyard of the sim landing. There, we find a giant cannon, which shoots a bullet shaped capsule to the moon. I had actually been back to this sim several times, before deciding to click on it and see what it does. Next thing you know, the camera switches to an exterior view of the projectile, with your av inside and stars zipping past. We end up on a lunar surface, staring at our crashed ship, with the earth in the distant background. Fortunately, there is a teleport, near by, to take us back down, but, as long as I'm on the moon, I look around for any other interesting things to explore. Sure enough, among the lifeless rocks there is one that has some color to it and there's a large hole at the base, with a churning mist within. Looking in, it seems to go down to a cavern with large gems on the walls. Naturally, Miss been there, done that, had to go into the cavern. All I will say is that, yes, there is an adventure and I went several times, to learn the way out of the conflict with the lunar inhabitants.

Now, safely back home, on my keyboard, I find myself wondering what other hidden adventures are yet to be had at Arcadia Asylum. You can be sure that this writer will return there many times, in the future. 

 

Hope we see you there,

 

"Sha"

 

From "Sha's SL Stories"

Arcadia Asylum

Arcadia Asylum, the mere mention of it, gets a lot of people excited. Not only is it a store with a huge selection, of awesome products, it also has the best prices in all of SL. Freebies as far as the eye can see, and even further.

To most people, a freebie means some half finished sloppy mess of an object. However, these freebies are completely different from other freebies. These could be sold for a very high price, yet their creators choose to sell them as freebies.

When asked why, Aley, one of the creators, told me that they are freebies, due to the fact that she doesn't want to deal with sales clients again, and she is a supporter of open source development.

I asked her if there was a set team that made the items, in which everyone had a specific part to play. It turns out, there is no set part to play. One of them may make it, and have someone else script it and texture it, or they may do it themselves.

When asked why they started making freebies, they easily answered this by telling me a bit of their history. They did not start in Second Life. Before they joined Second Life, some of them were already making models, and they simply continued, when they joined SL.

Though the items may not look as sleek, and be as expensive as most of the items in SL, they still have something not many other products have. They have customers who are always checking back, every so often, for something new. They have a team of builders at their back, and they have a bright future ahead of them.


TheonlyJohnny Resident

Celebration at the Arcadia Asylum

 By Gemma Cleanslate

It was with great pleasure that I attended a party that celebrated this first anniversary of the Arcadia Asylum Living Library and Freebie Center in Makazi. You may recall that the original library disappeared back in June 2012 and all the network vendors went down. It was a great loss to all fans of Arcadia. Horror spread across the grid because of the sudden closing. Interested people began to collect and form a new library in the same month (Aug 2012 article). 

 

The Anilis Freebie Center Becomes the New Arcadia Asylum Living Library.  Thanks To generous Sponsor Ship by Mingmanx.  A new group, The Arcadia Asylum Libraries & Exhibits group was formed to aid in collecting all the lost items.   Conrad Evaneir donated his freebie vendors to the library group. Professor Grey added the Mieville Branch Library, thanks to the owner of the region, Perryn Peterson, in August. The Anilis branch was moved to Makazi in November. It was decided to spread the vendors around so they would never be lost again and there are now almost a dozen affiliate libraries around the grid. 

 

The party was a celebration of the efforts of the group over the past year as they continue to add to the collection as items are recovered and as Aley, as Arcadia is known today, makes new ones they are added to the collection. It was a pleasure to see most of the collection on a plot at SL10B in June. There were many colorful avatars and costumes at the party as there was a contest for the best male and female costumes. Gunner von Phoenix (masterperry) provided the music. 

 

Prof. Grey (BrienL61 Landar), the curator at Mieville, commented  “And, what can I say, all of this is thanks to ALL of you -- the donations you make, the time you spend talking about the great freebies or Arcadia Asylum, the time you take to share what you have gotten ... and most of all, thanks to you Aley for your creative generosity. With out your support and the donations you toss our way these doors wouldn't be open.So now that we have done the work, it is time to celebrate our successes.” 

 

Pay a visit to the library and see what treasures you can get all for free thanks to Alley and the group that is preserving them. Make sure to drop over to check out all the treasures. 

 

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Makazi/202/106/24

 

Gemma Cleanslate

Arcadia Asylum Library

 

Aley, the former Arcadia Asylum is a historical figure in SL. Her creations are so extensive it is hard to see them all. They are diverse and imaginative.You may recall that a few months ago I did an article about The Sea of Aley. (http://slnewserdesign.blogspot.com/2012/04/sea-of-aley.html )  where there was a hunt going on in LEA. In it I put a link to the Library of Arcadia where so many of her builds were located in vendors for the taking, all free! 

 

Sometime during the SL9B I got a notice from someone  that the library sim was closing! I put it away in my mind to check out, but thought what a loss!! I was talking to my friend Grey Nacht, and he told me that the library was being recreated in several sims so the vendors  would not be lost again. Grey has several freebie vendors at his sim, Pala. He referred me to Brian61 Landar. I took off to see the new site that Brian was creating and had a nice conversation with him. 

 

Again, here is another example of residents of SL having more concern than LL to preserve the history of Second Life. Brian told me, "The library closing was a wake up call to a  lot of us that if we don't get active and spread the collection around, it is very possible to loose it.“ Perryn Peterson owner of the sim, hearing that Arcadia’s works might be unavailable  donated a corner of the sim  to the recreation of the library. Brian is well under way in setting out the freebie vendors he said, “.It was decided to add this exhibit hall to feature builders and artists from all over SL who have contributed to SL thru their work. 90% of everything you see is Arcadia, but so far we have collected a small portion of arcadia's works. As more be comes available we will add them to the vendors and distribute the collection to anyone that wants a copy.” There is a group of SL residents working on recovery and preservation of Aley’s works. There will probably be more places with vendors eventually.

 

 Not only that but Aley has a hunt going on in the Blake Seas and other waterways.. Aley has set many  of her aquatic  and other  builds under the seas  hidden in secret ruins  that you can locate with her compass .You begin the hunt and get the compass at http://slurl.com/secondlife/Blake%20Diego/90/200/22 . Look around there before you leave because you will see all the hunt objects. Then, follow the directions to find the hidden treasures under the sea. During this hunt you will visit many wonderful underwater ruins, sunken cities, statues and other lost places you will never get to see unless you are a submariner. 

And to those who are interested in the history of SL you can at least go visit the vendors in Mieville. You can browse the vendors to see what is there, and  go ahead and grab a bit of history to hold in your inventory or, if you can afford the  prims, put it out on display. The first place is Brian’s land where he initially set out some of the vendors   http://slurl.com/secondlife/Anilis/16/176/2 . or visit Mieville http://slurl.com/secondlife/Mieville%20Wells/101/30/88 or at Pala http://slurl.com/secondlife/Pala/160/90/21 where you teleport to the spacestation.
Have a great hunt and visit to the libraries. 

 

Gemma Cleanslate

The Sea of Aley

What an amazing build I have been visiting in LEA. That is The Linden Endowment of the Arts and is an official Linden Community Partnership program whose purpose is to help new artists, cultivate art in SL, and foster creativity, innovation, and collaboration within the art community. I took that from the wiki.

This is not the first LEA exhibits I have visited but it is certainly one of the most enjoyable. Aley has put all her wonderful underwater foliage, ancient ruin buildings, sunken ships and boats, a volcano, and more down there for you to explore. She has also placed ancient treasure chests that you can plunder for many of her wonderful creations. You will also find Nemo-themed vehicles through out the display.

I am not big on hunts because I get discouraged too quickly, but this one is such fun. You walk among the ruins, the lovely sea plants, and search for the treasure chests. Every time I go there I find something new. There are mermaids, divers, amazing fish and other sea life. I was lucky enough to run into a flying fish, and that fish turned out to be the artist creator of this amazing exhibit.

Aley told me about herself. This is not her first life in Second Life. She has had about five avatars and has left SL several times, but is always drawn back. You may recall Arcadia Asylum, well, that is Aley. Arcadia was her first account and at that time she worked in hobo and grunge. I first saw that work near in the Hobo Railway Infohub, a railway stop in Caletta. I had been there before I realized it was her work. You can still find her early and present works all free at the Library and Museum at http://slurl.com/secondlife/cheonma/191/152/74 .

That is one more thing I learned. Everything Aley makes is free and transferable and she considers it open source. She loves to see others use her creations and even improve on them if that is possible. ”I love the most when people make better stuff from all the junk,” she said. Aley was great fun to talk to. She took me to see the new mer house that she has put in the sea recently. It is cute an delightful.

Regarding her works, she says, “everything in SL is very transitory, but the web saves it all. This account I started a sort of clockwork punk theme then totally sidetracked into aquatics.” She would love to see her aquatic work all over the Second Life seas. It is too bad it cannot be placed in the Blake seas to be admired by all, she told me, “Well I have been trapped in SL for some 7 years now so my only goal is just to litter the grid with my prims. I tried to escape SL 3 times.“

I love it! You really need to visit the spectacular Sea of Aley. When you arrive you will be on land. just jump in and have a great time. She is sharing the sim with her friend Mcarp. I will tell you about that part next (before you jump, in there is one treasure chest on land in the lighthouse). http://slurl.com/secondlife/LEA11/112/106/21

Gemma Cleanslate