The Stagbucks Cafe and the Trotsdale Library

By Deaflegacy

The Cafe

I stopped by the cafe on Trotsdale at (32/214/24) to talk with the owner, Skye Wishbringer. When I asked him about his role in the Cafe, he replied, “Sole proprietor and owner of Stagbucks Coffee! There are many others who spend some time there, but my main purpose is keeping it running.”

I asked Skye  about the history of the cafe, he said, “Oh, that's a long, long, long ago story. In its existence on Second Life, I can't remember the original date in its original iteration, but the earliest version I can remember of it on SL goes back to some time around 2005 or 2006. This particular version has been around since around 2016. This wasn't its original location here in Trotsdale, either. It used to be up the street and around the corner near the Theater, in a completely different building. Stagbucks' original existence actually came to being on a text-based Muck called FurryMuck back around the late 90's. I think around 1997 or so. It's still there, if you know where to find it. When I brought it here, it started life as a small wooden shack with a coffee percolator and was generally just a place for some friends and myself to hang out. Multiple revisions later, here we are.”

The best feature of the Cafe, according to Skye, is the look.,“When you come to Trotsdale, one of the first things you may notice is the colors of the sim in general. I've always been a fan of Googie Style architecture, and amidst all the browns and greens, the teal appearance isn't contrasting but I feel complements the square and surrounding buildings near it. Every time I see it, it makes me feel happy, regardless of my mood.”

I asked Skye about which drink would he recommended, he responded. “Well, the coffee, of course! Stagbucks sells the best coffee you can find anywhere. They even come in their own self-contained cups! Coffee is, of course free. If you want to stick around for a while and hot drinks aren't your thing, we also serve fresh and cold Sparkle Cola, right from the fountain. Three different flavors! They're also free.”

Before I had to go, Skye told me something. “Of course! We also recently opened a location in the Saddlewood Sim. There's a landmark oval by the door that should give you one there.”

I would definitely go to the Cafe. It's a friendly place with free coffee. I am a coffee lover. I would know where is the right place to go and have a good cup of coffee. The cafe at Trotsdale is one of the places I would definitely go for a good cup of coffee.

The landmark is: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Trotsdale/31/215/24

The Library

I went to the library and met the librarian, Amehana Arashi (Amehana Ishtari). After I apologized for being late. my first question was when the library first opened. She replied,

“I am not sure when the library first opened. I am the third curator. I know it was open before the RP event of Trotsdale's destruction in one timeline and rebirth in another. I -think- 2012, but Zepdek Resident is the original curator and my current co-curator. He'd have the early history.”

I asked Amehana  to tell me in her words about the library. “We provide music appreciation and story time," she replied, "Some of our readers do live voice readings. Others stream readings that they have prerecorded and sometimes I'll play something from librivox. We also have a few inworld titles. We network with a few other libraries and sometimes run writing contests that are open to the public. Raglanshire's library currently has one of their prim books out on the table, which I rotate with others they've sent.” 

I had one last question for Amehana, that of what was her favorite part of her job. “That is a hard one," she told me as she thought about her answer, "My favorite part as a patron is listening when Illya Leonov streams his stories. My favorite part as a librarian though is finding titles I think patrons would enjoy hearing me read.”

I thanked Amehana before I left the library. I really do like the place.

The landmark is: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Trotsdale/24/163/24

Deaflegacy

Trotsdale

By Deaflegacy

I Heard about the Trotsdale sim, which is part of a community of pony fans in Second Life. I went there to look around and talk to a few people. I was lucky to be able to get an interview with DC the cyBerfoxy (death.berger), one of the people who help out there. 

 When I asked DC about how to describe Trotsdale, she has this to say, “Trotsdale is a 'My Little Pony' themed estate featuring live events, streamed media, fun parties, and of course ponies! It is a land filled to the brim with all manner of fun things to see and do, and ponies to meet!” She explained some of the story behind the place, “Trotsdale came to life on the day of season two of 'My Little Pony' had premiere. That was September 17, 2011. The sim had a completely different design back then and got also a bunch of sims added to it: Trotsdale Heights and Trotsdale West.”

“The community, we wouldn't be where we are now without them,” DC answered when asked about the best part of Trotsdale Town Square.

We went deeper into the conversation, especially when it comes to welcoming people to Trotsdale. “Of course, we are welcoming everyone that looks for a chill, family friendly pony experience," DC told me, "We are also pretty much left alone by griefers and those that do make their way to us usually don't stay very long.”

I asked DC about her role in Tortsdale and she replied, “I'm co-owner of Trotsdale alongside of Michi Lumin, who also runs Luskwood. We often have crossover events and both communities work very close together. Its important to us that everyone feels welcome, ponies, furries, humans, tinies and other kinds of avatars. Also, I handle the rental and get sure the sim gets paid (smile).”

I was also lucky to get a tour of Trotsdale by DC after she changed into her pony avatar. I'm about to show you pictures of places all over Trotsdale. Please enjoy the pictures and the captions. The captions, by the way, were done by DC  in her own words. 

"This is the Trotsdale square (the sim is just trotsdale) its the main social area. We have soccer balls laying around, a 'Greedy' table, the doll giver that gives out a random pony doll every 12 hours.

'Sparkle,' 'Tetris,' and 'Duck Hunt' in the corner. A word guessing game, and a blackjack game."

"The moon canon is the best part of Trotsdale Square."  The moon canon got DC the cyBerfoxy (death.berger) and me on the moon.

"The town hall, people can grab their first pony avatar here as well as freebies for it."

"The sandbox. It's group access only to prevent griefing. It's run by LeHarfang."

"Stagbucks is run by Skye and used for movie nights."

"We have a StarGate too (smile). The stargate network went back on I think a year ago, so we put it back out (smile)."

 

"The library. For more info, ask Amehama."

 

"This is Radio:Active, our club area (smile)."

"The theatre, where we watch new episodes of 'My Little Pony' live when they air. Every other week on Wednesday we run 'Primtionary' here. It's always one week here and one week in Luskwood. Frogg and jay also have regular concerts here (smile)."

"Our cave system(smile). It has three entries if i remember right."

 

"Our changeling hive."

 

"The marketplace, self-explanatory (grin)."

 

"The pool, it has prim water that's compatible with swimmer huds and has also a working water slide.

It's currently a little under construction, we recently moved it here."

 

"Click the sign, it will give you a hud, wear it and walk through the portal (and click whitelist).

Thats the teleport hub, you can get to the library, the square, the theatre, or to Derpyland, pony town and of course Luskwood."

 

"The radio tower, its used for our ban system: trustlink, there are all the magic thingies on it that lets it communicate with the other sims in the system."

"(I asked about the sign. DC the cyBerfoxy (death.berger) said that the sign is in the front parcel. The radio tower is in the back)"

"And last but not least, the museum."

Before I forget, the landmark for Trotsdale Town Square is

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Trotsdale/58/211/24

We started talking about the residential rent. According to DC, there are 14 empty spots for people who are interested in renting a residential at Trotsdale. The price is good - the price is 1.85L$ per prim with an average parcel size of 250 prims. Right now, there are 16 renters renting the residential spaces. For anyone interested in renting the residential rent at Trotsdale, they can pay for 3 weeks and get 1 week free.

We also started talking about the commercial rent. When asked about the commercial rental, DC  replied that they have 29 stores available and 21 are rented. From the look of the marketplace, it looks really good.

Once again, the landmark is: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Trotsdale/58/211/24

Before I finish this article, many thanks to DC the cyBerfoxy (death.berger) for showing me around Trotsdale and sharing the details with me as well.

Deaflegacy

Ponyland's Grand Opening

On Sunday April 26 at 6 PM, the opening of a new pony-themed sim was announced. The place, appropriately named "Ponyland," was set up south of the more populated sims of Trotsdale and Pony Town. To celebrate, a party was held to kick off it's official start.

At 6 SLT we're going to kick off the grand opening party to the newest Pony sim on the grid: Ponyland! Big thanks and congrats to Scenty and Old Vamp on all that hard work and the fruition of dreams. (Ame won't be sad if you head over there instead of her slot, she's heading that way after her reading is done)

ScentualLust, one of Luskwood's skunks, was one of the administrators of the sim. She was there and dancing with the ponies on a platform about several dozen meters above the ground.

Among the pony avatars, there was quite a variety.

The floor glowed in places when stepped on.

Michi Lumin wasn't their directly, but did send an alt over.

 Panning out, one could see various scenes of the new sim.

A fun time was held by those there at the grand opening party.

SURL: http://slurl.com/secondlife/Ponyland

Bixyl Shuftan

*Addition* As it turns out, Scentual isn't just an admin of Ponyland, but it's owner.