The First Sims – Welsh

DrFran Babcock

Although there is little that I will say about Welsh that may not have been said before by the late Lalo Telling or Alex Hayden (see  links below), I still went to Welsh. I did this because of all the sixteen original sims of the original post-Beta Second Life™, Welsh is the one that retains more antiquity than any other place on the grid.  Welsh also seems bigger than most sims, maybe because it has a lot of parcels on it, and a lot of water between them. Each time I thought I had finished my explorations I found something else I hadn’t seen before, even builds by the resident avatars of Linden Lab employees! It seems that back in 2005 it was permissible to have an alternative account that was known to other residents, even though its owner was actually working for Second Life™. Imagine interacting with someone on the grid in a social way, and knowing they ran the show. I am sure some of you remember those days, but most of you will read this in disbelief. Please read on for more, because Welsh holds more secrets than I could unearth.

History of Welsh

As always, in preparation for these articles on the early sims, I conduct “research” on their history. This is not always easy to find, and in the case of the Welsh, I really had a difficult time digging up information. I always check the photos on Snapzilla, but these only go back to 2005. However, the views of Welsh depicted in the photos there show a sim that is barely changed from its origins. Here is the reason why: The majority landholders on this land are the same as they have always been, and include the very first public, non-Linden resident—Steller Sunshine.

Who Lives Here?

Steller Sunshine, born March 1^st, 2002, was a Beta tester, and has left a mark on Second Life™ that persists to this day, with prim builds scattered throughout the grid, but focused primarily on Welsh. I have never seen her in world, but I have been told that she still logs in occasionally. Somehow, Welsh has managed to remain mostly in the hands of the original members. Some of the Welsh Land group members are very early adopters:

Buhbuhcuh Fairchild 10/09/02
buTTONpUSHER Jones 10/10/02
Zebulon Lynch (aka starseeker) 12/12/02
Tweke Underhill 1/23/03
Maggie Miller 5/17/03
Dawson Murphy: 5/21/03
Saaz Roentgen 8/30/03

What is so astonishing, is that many of them are still around, and still have builds that date from 2002 through the present, comprising some of the oldest builds in Second Life™. Some of these builds were actually saved from the Beta Grid and rezzed in the first sims when they came on line.

The Climbable Beanstalk and Steller Sunshine

Steller Sunshine’s masterpiece of building and gaming is the Climbable Beanstalk built in July of 2003 (NOTE: Actually it was built in 2002 in Linden World, and re-rezzed when Second Life™ went into Beta), and still standing and taunting those who would try to make it to the top. I have met many residents who have tried to climb to the top of the beanstalk, but none who said they had done it. If climbing and failing is not for you; trying to play tic-tac-toe might work. Whatever you decide, please remember that this build was completed without mesh or sculpties, and it still has a sophisticated look. Did I mention it’s a real challenge to climb it without flying?

There are many other objects on the island that were created by the first resident. My favorite is a giant View Master that is for sale on the sim. I remember this object from my childhood, when it seemed so futuristic. Back then I dreamed of virtual worlds, but they were the stuff of science fiction, and not something of which one day I would be a part.

Dawson Murphy – Beta to Now

Dawson Murphy was an early adopter of Second Life™, but not as early as many of the residents on the list above. However, his footprint is large and remains on the sim. Dawson’s home, Dawson’s Dive, is a museum of old prim builds, and a few political references. A large Republican elephant flag and American flag fly over the simple cabin on stilts, and the inside contains items that range from 2002 to 2006. There is a portrait of Dawson and first resident Steller Sunshine (who provided the 2002 chair in Dawson’s dining room), and a THiNC book with an autograph of Newt Gingrich. A textbook on dynamic HTML shares shelf space with leather bound classic volumes like Anna Karenina. You can also view Alberto Linden’s October 2002 glass and chrome coffee table in the living room.

Below, I talk about how nice it was in the days when the Lindens interacted with residents, and you could call upon them for help. At the time of my visit there was an alpha megaprim rezzed over much of Dawson’s land, that I abuse-reported, but upon last check it was still there. Sigh.

Pete Fats – Jokester and Charter Member

Pete, a Charter Member born April of 2003, has some prims on Welsh that were created in 2010. They seem to be the makings of a waterslide, but remain unfinished. There are many of his prims littered about the parcel. I found this very funny as one of his claims to fame was a test of the Linden’s anti-griefing attempts, that took place in 2003. I came upon an archived forum stream ( http://forums-archive.secondlife.com/120/f4/8110/1.html )on the subject. Apparently, Pete rezzed some self-replicating ants, logged off, and waited for the fun to begin. Early residents, such as Maggie Miller (May 2003), delighted in recounting how two Lindens had to come and clean up the ants one-by-one. Reading this made me nostalgic for the days when you could enlist the aid of a Linden in real time.

Pete’s influence is seen subtly throughout Welsh in the chairs from 2003, and other items on the sim. I spent some time sitting on one of his rocking chairs atop a new, for this sim, water tower created in 2007 by Steller Sunshine.

Saaz Roentgen – Early Games and Teleports

Saaz was born in August of 2003, and two of his builds endure on Welsh. One is the Sand Castle, and the other is a Whack-a-Mole game, at which I failed. The Sand Castle is a simple build, with great historic value. If you find the two bright green arrows just over the door to the castle, you can teleport up to a sandbox platform, that is filled with items from many residents, or to a “particle-thingie” which seems to be a control panel that has yet to work for me.

Saaz also has a tropical home on the sim, but my favorite part of Saaz’s parcel is the lounging tree he has. You can bask in the shadow of the beanstalk, and listen to the birds, and feel good about doing nothing.

Twerke Underhill – The Merchant of Welsh

The Hat Tree stands on Welsh where it has stood since the earliest days of Second Life™. Twerke Underhill has never wavered from his commitment to provide classy chapeaux to the fine residents of SL, and to do it in a build that I found delightful and fantastic when I was a newbie. The tree that houses the shop shares the skyline of Welsh with, and adds a nice counterpoint to, the Climbable Beanstalk. It sits atop a small island accessible from a charming, legacy prim footbridge. The most recent hat dates from 2006, with most of them from 2003. Thus, if you buy a hat—most of which cost less than 15 Lindens, you have bought a piece of history. The tree itself seems to have been renovated in 2006, but the upper branches are from 2004. This leads me to believe that a different Hat Tree stood here, before Twerke rebuilt it. A little research on Snapzilla shows a store that is a bit different, and more isolated on the sim: http://www.sluniverse.com/pics/pic.aspx?id=13938 . (Thanks, Torley)

buTTONpUSHER Jones and The Secret Labs

I stumbled upon the ominous-looking laboratory of buTTONpUSHER Jones (2002) as I wandered Welsh. It is nothing more than a pile of black boxes climbing into the air. I walked around it until I found a small door, and walked into a mess of projects and moving items. Obviously, buTTON is a mad scientist, and his work is all around. Historically, he is famous for his XYChess game, which is available free in his lab.

I would have never known about another part of this parcel had it not been for my attempt to return to the lab, and an inpatient rush to be inside it. I couldn’t find the door quickly, so I cammed into the lab, and saw the seat icon pop up near a small tree stump amongst the many prims. I clicked to sit, and found myself up in the air at 286 meters, on a lovely suspended island filled with more moving parts. This was a happy accident that I recommend.

For a look into some of the earliest days in Second Life™ you can browse  buTTONpUSHER’s Flicker stream. Sadly, many of the pictures lack descriptions, but there are some from Christmas of 2003: http://www.flickr.com/photos/buttonpusher/with/42921773/

BuhbuhCuh Fairchild – Living A Double Life

Just as I was about to wrap up my explorations, I realized that the ethereal cathedral-like build that was in the background of many of my photos was actually located on Welsh. The builder BuhbuhCuh Fairchild, or BBC, was a name that seemed familiar. The build itself, seems to be a FIC temple. FIC, or Feted Inner Core is a name given to those residents who seemed to have a very close connection to the Lindens, and were granted special favors.

There is an odd sort of irony to this build, as my research seems to indicate that BBC is actually a Linden himself. Seems that in the early days of SL it was fine to mingle with the residents, and to have an alt that was known to be a Linden by other residents. This entry in Buhbuhcuh’s profile was the first thing that made me wonder about him:

“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe. Attack hippos on fire off the shoulder of Ahern. I watched Lindens glitter in the dark near the Heteroceran wall. All those moments will be lost in time, like scripts in the asset server.”

Buhbuhcuh even had a blog of his own in which he spoke candidly about the lab, astonishing now for its transparency. Here is a small piece:

“I plan to use this blog as a place to publish some of my thoughts about LL and SL, but I also want to use it to help people understand how and why we Lindens do what we do.  I’ll be happy to answer any questions I can here, and if I can't answer them, I will tell you why.”

Oh, and by the way, Buhbuhcuh is actually Ben Linden. Surprise!

Odds and Ends: Newbies on the Sim

With all of these oldbies on the sim, it’s strange that residents from 2006 are considered newbies. That said, Chloe Mineff’s Water Gallery is a worthy place to park your avatar. There are works from several SL artists, among them Bryn Oh, and the simple seating in the center of the build allows one to look at the work and rest those weary feet. I really liked the way the semi-transparent curtains that surround the build waft delicately, adding a nice feel to the whole place.

The End?

I could go on forever about this sim, but if you are a history buff like me, you will make sure it is part of your travels. Come live the early days of Second Life™ on Welsh.

Visit Welsh: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Welsh/187/212/22

Alex Hayden on Welsh:

http://walkingwithavatars.wordpress.com/2013/02/01/a-deep-map-revisited-welsh/

The Late Lalo Telling on Welsh: http://lalotelling.wordpress.com/2010/06/23/seconderth-a-deep-map-sl-8-25-b/


Buhbuhcuh Fairchild’s early SL blog: http://secondlife.blogs.com/bulkupload/

DrFran Babcock

The First Sims – Taber

By DrFran Babcock

It has been a long time since I have explored the original sims, but the tenth birthday of Second Life™, and the annual Relay for Life both kept me very busy. Once all of that was over, I felt a letdown that was like the post-holiday blues, but I knew that I would find the spark again by going back to the past, and Taber is just the sim for memories, as you will read.

History of Taber

Taber is famous for being the home of Robin Linden—who joined Linden Lab in 2002, and for being the site of the first casino in Second Life™.  Ama Omega was the creator of this establishment, and his excellent scripting skills led him to go on to create a particle script that I still use to this day to make down and dirty effects. Ama Omega became a Linden, even though his casinos have left the mainland (well, at least they are supposed to be gone).

There is one historical piece of architecture on the island: The D’Ni Restoration, with prims that date from 2003. I believe it is from the game of Myst. It was built by Piprrr Godel, and it is owned by Avi Arrow, previously interviewed in these pages. She is a fan of Second Life™ history, and has done much to preserve its antiquities.

Who Lives Here? Justice League Unlimited (JLU) – League of Heroes

The Justice League has a parcel of land on Taber just to the west of the Ivory Tower Library of Primitives.

The JLU claims they are a benevolent organization designed to protect and help newcomers. They are influenced clearly by Superman, as their leader is named Kalel, and the radio station they operate is called Krypton Radio. However, I have never recently run into anyone from this group, nor do they seem to have had a team in the recent Relay for Life, although they have a Relay flag flying on their parcel.

Something about their Group Profile disturbed me: “We are a public service organization, helping those in need of aid, keeping a watchful eye while closely observing the Terms of Service.” I felt myself wondering if a group of residents had the right to take it upon themselves to protect the Terms of Service. Oh well, maybe I am being paranoid, but it seemed a little strange to me. If anyone knows anything about this, please contact the SL Newser.

There isn’t much to see at this build beyond an outside auditorium, that I have never seen occupied.

Who Lives Here? Odds and Ends

Taber from the air looks mostly unpopulated, and at sea level that seems to be the case. There are several parcels that make up the sim, but many of them are devoid of objects. There is a nice island for sale if you would like to own a piece of history. I would buy it myself, but don’t want to bump up to another tier level.

The Banana Land parcel sports a nice Japanese home and a sparse wooden dock, but barely anything else. Upon inspection, Will Guisse, whose profile is empty, owns it. There isn’t even furniture in the house. The parcel is large, and I wonder who would pay that kind of tier for a piece of land that is never used. Then it hit me, and I flew up until I found a skybox about 300 meters in the air.

The only other sizeable property on the land is the Fate Garden, a web of tree house-like structures that house a 7 Seas fishing area. It’s a pretty place, but otherwise unremarkable.

Who Lives Here? The Story of the FairChangs

The story of the FairChangs has everything: Love, history, tragedy, and staying power.  Pituca Chang and Garth Fairlight met in 2003 in  Second Life™, and quickly became a couple. They built a real estate and freebie empire together, married in Second Life™, and despite great geographic odds married in First Life. In fact, according to Pie Psaltary (thanks for the help, Pie!), the Lindens actually changed their last names to Fairchang, combining their two names into one.

This story, not an uncommon on in SL, has unfortunately a sad ending, in that Garth died of pancreatic cancer in September of 2009, leaving behind a mourning Pituca, and many other people whose lives he had touched. You can go to Taber and visit the memorial to Garth, which still stands. It is on a piece of land that holds some very old objects. The Tudor houses are from 2004, and were built by Jai Nomad. Residents from my era will remember the freebie Jai medieval textures, that I still use to this day, because they are that good. The memorial park also holds a windmill that was constructed by Garth himself. Two stone benches  are provided so that you can sit and meditate on love, Second Life™, and the meaning of life.

FREEBIES !!!!!

Of course, one can’t dwell in sadness forever, and free goodies are always an antidote for the realities of our daily existence. Close to the Taber memorial benches is a sign that provides a teleport to a whole area of free items provided by the FairChangs. Garth was still alive when he and Pituca decided to make all of their previously sold items free.  If you touch the sign in the memorial area, you can teleport to the sim of Calypso, enter the lighthouse and help yourself to many freebies. I suppose there have been no new creations in several years, but there are still items that bring a nostalgic joy, and are worth collecting, including houses and vehicles. I used their fly and return crows and bats on most of my builds over the years, because they add sound and interest.

Conclusion

Taber is worth a visit. It holds some of the oldest objects in Second Life™, and certainly its oldest love story.


Visit Taber: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Taber/112/139/30
 
DrFran Babcock

The First Sims – Natoma

By DrFran Babcock

Natoma is a sim that I have visited many, many times, and if you are a content creator, you may have been there often yourself. I was a bit concerned about completing this article, because, of all the first 16 first sims, Natoma is the only one that is always full of residents.


History of Natoma

Natoma has an illustrious history that is marked by several prominent landmarks that have been on the sim since the Alpha days of 2002. The Statue of the Man and the Alberto Linden Gate (October, 2002)

The Man Statue dates back to July of 2002, making it the oldest structure in Second Life™. It is a remnant of the Alpha stage of development when SL was called Linden World. Over the years, the face of Natoma has changed a lot. It once was home to the Welcome Area (The Newbie Corral) and Avatar Central. Avatar Central was owned by the Lindens, and provided a space that allowed any residents to drop items for sale.  Avatar Central is long gone, and the Welcome Area has been moved to other sims. All that remains of that build is the Arch D’Linden, which is the build by Alberto Linden that sits in front of the Ivory Tower Library of Primitives.

The Ivory Tower Library of Primitives

My first days in Second Life™ were characterized by “newbiness” of historic proportions. I had not been a gamer, and I came in with the podcaster rush of early 2006. The minute I saw that I could create content I was hooked. However, I had no idea what to do or how to do it. Someone told me that there was a place I could go to learn how to build, and that’s when I paid my first visit to the Ivory Tower Library of Primitives (ITLP). At that time it was on the sim of Noyo. It moved in June of 2006, shortly after my first visit.

I will never forget that it took me a whole long day to complete the tutorial on building a chair. Completed, the chair looked a bit more like a broken table than a chair, but I was very proud. However, the proudest moment at the Ivory Tower was when I met Lumiere Noir, the creator of the ILTP. His avatar was like the old Spy vs. Spy character from Mad magazine. He was friendly, encouraging, and committed to making sure that all residents knew how to build. Although he doesn’t spend much time here, he drops in from time to time to say hello. Much of his duties are handled by an avatar named Avi Arrow.

Who Lives Here?

Actually, there are no residents living on Natoma. That is, except for Luke Lorentz, who is 9 years and 9 months old, and has a small parcel on the western edge of the sim. According to the denizens of the ITLP Sandbox he has not been around in many years, despite messages left on his profile. The Ivory Tower regulars…the Dwellers, would love to see this parcel come up for sale, but it remains untouched.

The Ivory Tower Dwellers are a group of people who seem to be at the Sandbox on Natoma at all hours. I know they do leave for a bit, because I have met them at Linden and Sculpt Studio Office Hours , but they really prefer hanging out in the shadow of the exquisite Ivory Tower, socializing, playing, but above all building, building, building. Most of them are friendly to newbies and oldbies alike. When I wrote about Minna you met Kennylex Luckless, who spends most of his time on Natoma. Another person who is usually fiddling with prims on the sim is Jack42 Meredith. Jack has always been so friendly to me that I knew he would talk to me about Natoma. I asked him how he came to spend most of his time here:

“I first came to Natoma to go through the self-paced lessons in the Tower. I did not know anything about building, and I started at the bottom of the Tower and worked my way up to the top. It took me about two weeks to complete, working a few hours a day. It is a must if you don't know anything about building. After that, I just used the sandbox next to the Tower and I have hung out here every since.  The best thing I learned was building tricks that make building easier with short cuts. I have always directed newbies to the Tower; if they never have done any building. They always seem amazed. Also, I have donated my premium tier for land to Minna with ANSI (Soderstrom) to  try to keep Minna looking nice. I come back to Ivory Tower because it has information in the Tower if you need it while you are building. The people that run it are very good at building, and are usually here for advice. And…it’s a good hangout spot when it’s not laggy.”

Another denizen of Natoma is Marcov Carter. You can see his work all over the place on Natoma, and he is very generous with his freebies. I especially love his Toony Throne, which he will give you gladly, if you ask. His version of the Statue of Liberty, lofting a box prim on high, stands in one corner of Natoma, greeting residents from all lands.

Avi Arrow

Throughout Natoma, and Minna, Clementina and Zoe for that matter, the name that is mentioned most often is Avi Arrow. Avi is the point person for the maintenance of these sims, and I was able to track her down for a short interview:

SLNewser: As I traveled around Natoma, Zoe, and Clementina many residents mention your name. How is it that you came to be the administrator for these areas?

Avi Arrow: Lumiere Noir, creator of The Ivory Tower Library of Primitives (ITLP), befriended me my second day on the mainland here in Natoma and I’ve been here ever since.  Five weeks later Lumiere sold me my first parcel in Zoe. Literally, 15 minutes prior to this I purchased a first land parcel elsewhere and sold it three hours later.  Thus began my land business.  Eventually, I acquired most of Zoe and Taber, and a substantial part of Clementina.  These properties I considered my “home” properties.  Some of these properties, including parcels in Natoma have been, subsequently, donated to the ITLP land group which now manages the majority of these properties among others in Minna and Tehama.  My relationship with Lumiere is being one of close, dear friends, and partners.  We are partners in that we share most everything with each other as it relates to the properties I mentioned above.  Lumiere donated the bulk of the Natoma property to IToP group when he first formed this group with Ryan Linden.  Lumiere's natural inclination is towards creating and teaching.  I am also creative and I enjoy instructing, however I have a natural talent for managing people and property, so it just progressed that I ended up managing the properties and the group while Lumiere focused primarily on curating, teaching, and creating.

SLNewser:  Please tell me a little about how you learned about SL, what it was like for you when you were new, and what was it that kept you here?

Avi Arrow: I began building in virtual environments in 1996 in Active Worlds.  A friend I met in 2004/2005 in Active Worlds brought me to Second Life™.  I basically came here to continue with my building, but soon found other interests (as mentioned above), which are mostly what have kept me here.  

SLNewser: sense that you have a commitment to keep SL beautiful. Can you tell me about that? 

Avi Arrow: I was most effective at improving or restoring certain areas of SL back when I was buying and selling land. I could absorb smaller parcels—often ad parcels into larger ones and consolidate properties, often at considerable added expense.  (ED note: If you don’t remember the blight of ad farms look at this link: http://15timez.blogspot.com/2007/04/ad-farms.html ) My motivation for doing this was not always altruistic, though, as it was often the case I did it to protect or improve my own investments.  More to the point, and try not to roll your eyes, but I believe the land in here has soul just as it does in real life, mother earth and all that.  There are living memories here that are associated with the land and I believe these memories carry over and linger.  The old beta sims are sacred.  I love legacy.  What most people do not really think about is that what has transpired virtually here in SL is actual human history.  I think it important to protect as much of this as possible.

Well, I am not rolling my eyes at all. I believe that the old sims are hallowed ground, or I would not be doing this series. Thanks, Avi, for your thoughtful words, and dear readers, do take the time to visit these sims. Second Life™ is about to become ten years old, and that is history.

Visit Natoma: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Natoma/128/128/26

DrFran Babcock

The First Sims: Minna

by DrFran Babcock

I couldn’t wait to visit Minna, because if you look at it on the map, it is the most colorful of the original sims. I was not disappointed. Minna is one of the first sims that has an active population, and lots to see and enjoy.

History of Minna

Minna began as a mostly commercial sim back in 2002. It was dominated by Divivity, a store that sold gifts, food, and nursery items. Divivity still has a presence on the sim, but it is dotted throughout the sim. What I loved about Minna is that is seems to be populated by old members and new members who have a love for and appreciation of the rich history of Second Life™.

Who Lives Here?

Paula Dix owns the land that has all the colorful trees on it. I knew immediately that they were the work of Second Life™ artist and queen of wild trees: soror Nishi. Paula’s land—she calls her parcel Paula’s Ploting (sic) Plan—is covered with the trees and particles, and is just a delight to visit. From Paula’s profile comes this statement with which I have always agreed: “There is no Second Life as opposed to First Life. SL is as real as FL We may be just pixels, but we  are  as real as anything. So live fully and be sure to assure that all can also live.” Nice.

Kennylex Luckless is someone I know, because he seems to be always around the Ivory Tower of Primitives on Natoma, building and giving away freebies, or at Linden Office Hours. He has a darling castle on Minna, that he told me he wanted to remove, but ANSI Soderstrom told him he could not. I was able to ask him a very, very few questions before his Natoma fan club distracted him:

SL Newser: Kenny, how did you find out about Second Life™?

KennyLex: Oh, newspaper, it was a article about Second House of Sweden. (Kenny is from Sweden) The sim closed because there were complaints. 

When I did log in, I found Natoma and the Ivory tower, and fell in love with building things. So, I stayed. I am mostly here (Ivory Tower), Luskwood, Bay City and at Torley’s Place. Although, Torley’s old place here was much funnier.

Kennylex gave me a vehicle made out of old barrels that he made, we rode around Natoma for a while. I returned to my explorations.

ANSI Soderstrom has a lot of land on Minna, and a sense of humor. Her cel-shaded ANSI-wood build, a play on the Hollywood Hills, is like an anime hobbit village. However, she is also the creator of Port Ansi, a complex-looking brick building that holds tons of freebies built by Kennylex Luckless. Kennylex’s freebies are fun, and often he includes the textures he used in them so that you can mod what you take.

Blogging acquaintance and SL Universe forum member Elysium Hynes owns 736 square meters of land, and purple trunked trees. It hugs a water edge, and is filled with pretty chairs and tables for hanging out. I wonder if she ever spends time there?

These three residents hail from 2007 or later, but there are also members who are much older with parcels on Minna. Dave Zeeman has a not very pretty build, of which he seems very proud:  “This is Dave Zeeman's original home!  He's had it ever since Beta v0.3.2!  Check out the classic "Matrix Box" and world renowned Plinko game!  Also the site of any "Match Game SL" shows!” So, Dave is one of the original members, but from the look of his parcel he has not been around for some time.

Emmaly Baxton (2008) has the Minna Sky Complex, a poured concrete series of elevated lookouts that provide a place to view the original sims. Her land seems to be part of Dave Zeeman’s, and is a somewhat modern and grungy structure. Although I didn’t speak with her, I did see her on the sim during one of my research visits.

Another oldbie is Div Epoch, a Charter Member, who will become 10 years old around the time that Second Life™ does. Has an old-school house, very minimally furnished on northwest corner of Minna.

And, then there’s Vivianne OFlynn, who is almost ten years old, and owns Divivity’s food and celebrations supplies. I suppose she is still around, because there were prims from 2013 with Mother’s day items. According to the Second Life™ Wiki, Divivity was most of the sim of Minna at one time. Now, there was only the celebration shop, and another parcel with garden items.

Of interest to me, from a historical standpoint was the Sacred Ground Druid Circle that Simon Metalhead, a Beta Member established in  September 2003 I imagine it was meant to hold larger crowds as it spans the corners of Minna, Ritch, Zoe, and Natoma. Again, I have to wonder if people still use it. I hope it remains, because it is from the earliest days of Second Life™.

A very new addition to the sim is from four year old Carol Pixelmaid. Virtually Gorgeous is a tiny shop with some pretty old-school lingerie and dresses for ladies. It has a nice grass covered lookout on the property with free binoculars and pose balls for viewing the beauty of Minna.

For Sale
Would you like to live on Minna? There is one tiny landlocked plot, L-shaped and narrow that is for sale for 35,998 Lindens. Sounds a bit steep for me, but you may be a lover of history.

Visit Minna: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Minna/127/127/79

DrFran Babcock

The First Sims: Freelon

By DrFran Babcock

I keep continuing to explore the original Second Life™ sims, because I love history, and I love this virtual world. So often we forget to preserve the past, and then it’s lost before we realize what value it had. Freelon is the sixth sim to come on line in Second Life™. It is another sim that I have spent little time exploring until now.

History of Freelon


Freelon is believed to be one of the first mature sims on the grid. In its early days it hosted The Black Sun, a 2003 night club based on the Snow Crash book venue. Those who remember will recognize that this book is believed to be what inspired Philip Rosedale to create SL. Sadly; it is no longer on the grid. Another lost parcel is the Amazon Nations, the land of which seems to have been bought by Erwin Solo, who leveled the Freelon volcano in the process of creating his builds.

Who Lives Here?

The largest landholders on Freelon are Erwin Solo and Del Lykin, both relatively new to the sim.  However, there is someone on Freelon who was there from the very beginning, and this is Chip Midnight, owner of CMFF–Chip Midnight’s Fine Fashions. Chip and I have the same rez day, but he’s three years older than me, and a beta member of SL. He says on his profile that he dates from “when dinosaurs roamed the grid.”

When I was a noobie, I used to visit his shop, and drool over the items there. Back then, I had no conception of the worth of Lindens, and my ability to make them and buy things with them. Chip’s most durable contribution to Second Life™ is the templates for the system clothing that were used by almost every content creator until the advent of mesh, and even now. Freelon is worth the trip just to pay homage to this great resident, and his multi-leveled, Danish modern shop.

Del Lykin’s land is a sprawling marina, country club-like building and mansion. It is a pleasant build, but very old-school looking with nary a sculpt or mesh object, even though the inspected prims date from March of 2013. It seems I just missed the Amazon World’s disappearance. The late, and dearly missed Lalo Telling chronicled some of these older places on his blog, and I urge you historians to take a look: http://lalotelling.wordpress.com/2010/06/13/seconderth-a-deep-map-freelon/ .

Most of the rest of Freelon is owned by Erwin Solo, who seems to be a self-appointed historian/archivist of Second Life™. His land contains two statues of The Man statue, created by Oldjohn Linden in July of 2002! One of them holds Philip’s old beachball, which is a bit older.

The big surprise here is the “oldest prim in SL” which sits at the base of one of the man statues. Accordning to Erwin Solo:

Oldest Object in SL. 25-Jan-2002.   Creator Unknown.  Software apparently didn’t store creator name back then. From the pre-SL alpha period.  A gift from an Oldbie, who wishes to remain anonymous.  It is just a cube, but it is copy/mod so I can make things with it. I gave a copy to the Ivory Tower of Prims for museum use.

I IMed Erwin to ask him how he came into possession of this prim, but I didn’t hear from him. Erwin has also a Mayan Temple, and a small collection of Linden Bears. For newer readers, Linden Bears were once created by and carried by all Lindens. If you ran into a Linden on the grid, you could ask for one, and would be rewarded with an object that represented that particular Linden Lab employee. Believe it or not, but Lindens used to be quite evident at events and even held some for our benefit. I have a huge collection of bears that would require a sim’s worth of Land Impact to display.

Erwin’s bears border a really nice dance floor and outdoor sitting place. It’s a shame that these places are never occupied when I come to visit. The dance floor is the nicest part of his parcel.

Tiny Properties and Premiums Only

There are a few small plots dotting Freelon. Thunder Electric’s build dates from 2003, and is still on the sim, although mostly empty. Its purple and black gothic look are worth a visit for their historical value. Just by accident, I came upon a “secret grotto,” under Thunder’s dome, that housed some interesting items, among them a prim model of oldbie Torrid Midnight. I was unable to get into the grotto, the door was locked, but I could see inside. I wonder if this spot is still in use?

 Aminom’s ultra-small Pad (“who needs more than 29 prims?”) is filled with two very bizarre billboards, one of which is depicted here.

The strangest thing I found, and only because I rezzed an alt to do some exploring, is that a small piece of the sim is off-limits to non-premium members. When DrFran returned to visit, there was no apparent reason for the banlines. The parcel contains an odd, imaginary machine, and nothing else.

The last bit of strangeness is that there is a parcel in the Northeast corner of the sim that is empty, but is named Luskwood Freelon! This 5056 square meter parcel was claimed in 2012 by the Luskwood Residents group. If anyone has any ideas what this is about, please let me know. I love these mysteries.

Second Life™ sims are a palimpsest. This ancient word relates to the old practice of scraping a parchment clean of its writings so it could be reused. Parchment was expensive back then. Thus, any old manuscript may contain layers and layers of documents, just as the sims of this beloved virtual world contain layers and layers of builds and memories.

Visit Freelon: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Freelon/160/68/32

DrFran Babcock

The First Sims: Federal

By DrFran Babcock

Federal is the fifth sim to come on line in Second Life™. It is another sim that I have ignored largely during my many explorations of the mainland. As usual, the history and details of a sim can be uncovered to some extent by exploring and inspecting. Join me as I reveal what I found out about this largely forgotten territory.

History of Federal

Same as for Stanford, the week before, Federal was one of the weapons sims, or the Outlands as they were called. Aside from this bit of information, all the material on the Second Life Wikia is incorrect now. Federal used to be the home of the Second Life Botanical Gardens, which are now housed on their own sim, and the Club Elite, which is not in existence any longer. I had hoped to find the Federal drawbridge still around, but I couldn’t locate it. The bridge was built by longtime resident, and creator of the SL Universe Forums and Snapzilla picture sites, Cristiano Midnight.

For Rent

It seems that about half of Federal is for rent. There is a huge, flat portion of the sim that is empty of everything, except a map of old Second Life™.  The landlord for this piece of property is the same person who owns the parklands on Federal: Deltango Vale, who is not nearly seven years old—a veritable newbie in this territory of a world that began in 2002. The land title says that Cinnamon Beach is for rent, but right clicking the land gives you the information that the land is for sale for one million Lindens. Any takers? I am sure Podex will do the Linden transaction for you.

Who Lives Here?

The aforementioned Deltango Vale has created a minimalist parkland on much of the sim. The trees are all autumnal, have falling leaves, and are nicely complemented by the elfy lanterns dotted here and there. I believe that this is another attempt to preserve open space on the mainland and prevent the uglification of Second Life™, and I applaud this endeavor.

There are two oldbies who still have land on Federal. Sturm Valen, over ten years old, has a piece of land, and there is a house up in the air a few meters. There are a few untextured, plywood prims in the build, so I assumed that he was busy still building. However, an inspection of the prims revealed that they were created  in March of 2003, making them some of the oldest prims in Second Life™!

When I do these reports, I always send an IM to the inhabitants who are old-times, asking them for input. I have been unsuccessful in getting a response so far.

Simon Metalhead is the owner of MetalHead Stables and the supposedly very old Über Mall on Federal. The stables are a newer addition to the sim, as they are meant to house Amaretto Horses. Sadly, the two horses I found in the stables had turned green and were sick without food and water.

The Über Mall is a bunch of blocky cubes that rise out of a small hill that is surrounded by the Federal Park. Robert Jung, SL historian, has described it as one of the oldest malls in Second Life™
( http://www.sluniverse.com/pics/pic.aspx?id=547141 ), but unless it has been rebuilt, most of the prims date from 2007. There is very little in the mall. Basically two stores: Bowulf and Altered Visions make up the inhabitants of the mall. Altered Visions has two signs and no stock at all. Bowulf, which is the work of Simon Metalhead, has only a series of goggles, a kitchen set, and a fireplace for sale. This is one gigantic mall with only a few items for sale. This is one of the drawbacks of having Lifetime Members. They let their horses die, along with their malls.

The only item of interest that I found, by perving into the basement of the mall, was a sign for the FICs. FICs are the Feted Inner Core—a conspiracy theory that certain avatars had an advantage with the Linden Lab employees that favored them in business and other product placements. It became somewhat of a joke over time, so the sign was a fun find for me.

Second Life Art Gallery

For the most part, the mall is not worth a visit. There are other things to see on the sim. The Second Life Art Gallery being one of them. You will not see a single picture from the works in the gallery here in this article, because they are all erotic in nature, and many of them extreme in nature. Of course, you may go and see for yourself. The gallery is owned by Tony Tigereye, and many of his works are there. Each display in the four stories of the gallery has a notecard to tell you about the artist. Tony’s is worth repeating:

Tony uses Yahoo! Doodle to create his colorful works of art.  A lot of his inspiration is drawn from his good friend, Porscha, and many of the works are a collaborative effort.  Many people notice the stunning over-use of male genitalia in Tony's works, perhaps leading them to believe he has a fixation on the black male penis.  Later works suggest, however, that Tony is simply out of his mind crazy and has no rhyme or reason to anything he does.

Tony’s art work is, um, infantile, to say the least. I guess he’s just having fun. Isn’t that what Second Life™ is about? Well, it is for me. Come visit Federal. Maybe you want to rent the beach.

Visit Federal: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Federal/154/202/28

DrFran Bakcock

The First Sims: Stanford

By DrFran Babcock


Stanford is the fourth sim to come on line in Second Life™. I have to confess that I don’t think I have ever visited there until this article. Two big parcels are for sale on the sim, rendering it half the size of most sims, and there are a few ban lines on some of the properties.

Ban Lines

I will use this opportunity to opine about ban lines a bit. I…hate…them. Hey, ban line people, the moment that I see them, I use my camera to look into the place that is blocked out. Just because folks think they are important enough to believe they can have privacy in Second Life™ doesn’t mean they should make things ugly. Ban lines interfere with transportation and movement in general here, and I oppose them simply for that reason. Please don’t use ban lines. Especially, do not use the kind of banlines/security I encountered on Stanford. This security device sent me home a few times before I had time to fly away, which I found quite rude.
Anyone who wants access to you can figure a way to get it, and you disturb the serenity of nomadic people like me when you use them.

Rant over: We now return you to our regularly scheduled history.

History of Stanford

Before Jessie, Stanford was one of the weapons sims, or the Outlands as they were called. This all got changed when Stanford, along with Federal, Hawthorne, Shipley, and part of Clyde were changed to residential sims. This happened in 2003, a long time ago, in Second Life’s™ timeline, way before most of us remember. Since this time Stanford has been home to Annie Butlers residence, and to the Stanford mountain. Most of the rest of the island has changed often.

Stanford Mountain exists thanks to  the benefit of being able to terraform the early sims to great heights. The peak of the mountain overlooks the whole sim, and provides a relaxing break from the stresses of everyday Second Life™. There is a nice old-school bench there to sit and ponder your next build project, relationship, or whatever. The really striking feature of the mountain is the stream and waterfall that meanders down the mountain, and was build by Jake Cellardoor, whose profile said that he is ten years old! Jake is responsible form much of the parklands and the waterfall on Clementina. One of the lessons I am learning is that there are a handful of old-timers who are devoted to preserving, creating, and maintaining the beauty of the mainland.

Annie Butler’s residence is clearly based on Frank Lloyd Wright’s Falling Water. It is perched to the south of Stanford Mountain at the base of the falls, and was built by old-timer Juro Kothari, who is also my neighbor on Varney. Sadly, he is never around.

I recommend highly that you go and visit this house. Remember that it was built before the era of sculpts, flexiprims, and mesh. Yet, it is a beautiful representation of the Arts and Crafts movement in architecture and furnishings. The look is timeless, luxurious and earthy all at the same time. Outside there is a deck with many lounges, and an ultra-modern infinity pool. If you don’t know what that means, you will have to go look. The house is open for wandering, and it actually would make a nice date outing. Don’t miss the works of art, the hot tub, or the very necessary kitchen.

I had thought to contact Annie and ask her about her time on Stanford, and her lovely home, but it seems that her profile makes it plain that she is now committed to medieval role-playing, and has left her previous second life behind. One of the reasons I love Second Life™ is that you can be whatever you want to be, and change your course at any time. I respected her desire to not be contacted.

The last public building on the island is a lighthouse—one of the icons of Second Life™. It is on group land owned by the aforementioned Annie Butler and two other people. It is a simple build, well-executed by a younger resident: Sandy Clymer, of Pillow Talk fame. You can teleport to the tower to have some more views.

For Sale

The three plots for sale on Stanford are large and pricey. One is 10,240 meters squared and costs 62,000 Lindens; the next is 8,416 meters squared and costs 51,000 Lindens, and a tiny plot of 160 square meters is a pittance at 15,995 Lindens.

None of these plots have water access, and all are very expensive, but reflect the historical value of the land, and the almost limitless terraforming. The one plot that was on the water that was not for sale, but for rent was attractive.

So What?

As I conclude the fourth visit to the first sims I am struck again by how little history has been preserved. I was pleased to find that much of the topography of Stanford remains unchanged, but there is little of the old sim that is identified or recognized. I know there are history museums in Second Life™, and many places that have information about the past, but I wouldn’t want to go visit the Alamo in Michigan, and I don’t want to see have no place to go to see the roots of this world that I love.

Visit Stanford: http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Stanford/128/128/2

DrFran Babcock

The First Sims: Ritch

By DrFran Babcock

Ritch is the second sim to come online in Second Life™. I couldn’t wait to go and explore, because I figured I would run into a lot of history and layers of builds and famous avatars who had left behind a little prim piece of their inventory. I couldn’t have been further from the reality of Ritch.

Before I start one of these explorations, I look to see what has been written about the place, so I can come from a different angle, and not duplicate content. I was surprised that there was so little written about Ritch. Further proof of its almost anonymous past came when I looked for pictures of the sim on Snapzilla, a website that has documented pictures of Second Life™ since 2005 (http://www.sluniverse.com/pics/Search.aspx?Sim=ritch). There were 27 pictures in total that had been taken on Ritch! That’s very little compared to other sims, but not surprising with the lack of history information about the sim. Even the Second Life Wikia, where I often go for historical information was woefully inaccurate in most of its accounting for the space on Ritch. This seemed a mystery, so I decided to do a little investigative reporting.

The sim of Ritch seems to be composed of two large parcels: Exotic Park by Sapphire Moon Entertainment, and Casa Del Sol Fleamarket. The Exotic Park is a mystical place composed of mostly violet trees, benches and crystals, which are probably familiar to anyone who has ever looked at the Second Life™ map. There are no stores and no clubs—just peaceful paths that meander through the purple surroundings.

Inspecting things in Second Life™ is no difficult feat. A few right clicks, and the owner and creator of any object becomes apparent. Ameshin Yossarian is the creator and owner of this sapphire park. The name seemed so familiar to me, and in fact belongs to the creator of the great clothing of Curious Kitties, a store that I continue to frequent. Speaking of curious, it seemed odd to me that so much land was left to just be a park. As I explored, I started to encounter prims with teleports to a place called Sapphire Moon. Just out of curiosity I clicked, and was given a landmark that I took, and ended up on a sim named Sapphire Moon. It seems that Sapphire Moon is a casino. The only history I had been able to find about Ritch was that it had housed a casino in its early days.

Gambling in Second Life™? I’m Shocked!

I know that I have seen the gambling machines creeping back into Second Life™ over the last few years, since it was banned, but I had no idea that casinos could be around with such impunity. I noted that the machines are played with “stars” not money, but the stars had to be purchased with Lindens, and the stars could be traded in for goods in a redemption center. It reminded me of Skee Ball. Is this gambling? To me it seems to be so, because you pay Lindens and you get a payback or not. That is a game of chance.

Back on Ritch

For the most part, the sim is just comprised of the two parcels. Aside from the Sapphire Moon Exotic Park there is a Casa del Sol Fleamarket. This parcel is just as curious as the other one.

I made several trips to Ritch while writing this article. In all the trips there was never another resident on the sim every time I was there. Which brings me to the flea market. The market is empty; there is not a single shop in the entire space, which is about half a sim. Besides the market, there is a home, a bizarre satellite building, a park and some open space. There is so much open space, that it made me wonder. Dix Donovan, who is almost as old as Second Life™, and according to his profile actually builds for Sapphire Moon, owns the parcel. So, Ritch is all one big, happy and empty family. I wonder how long it’s been since either of these owners visited Ritch? There is one large store on the Casa del Sol Fleamarket plot, Curios, and it sells a small assortment of old-fashioned, prim built bracelets, mostly low in price. Not sure anyone would buy anything as outdated as these objects seem to be. I inspected them and they dated from 2004. Now I know why the place is called Curios.

So, in conclusion, Ritch is not a place to come and explore and find souvenirs of the early days of Second Life™. However, I will continue to visit the First Sims, because I know they are not all like this. They couldn’t be—right?

DrFran Babcock

The First Sims: Da Boom

By DrFran Babcock

I just bought a small plot of land on Varney, one of the first of the sixteen sims that made up Second Life™ when it first came on line in 2002. I had been hoping for land like this that was wildly terra-formable (plus or minus 40 meters), and the original San Francisco sims have this added benefit. There are a few other sims like this on the mainland, but they are rare. I am happy to be a part of old Second Life™ history.

Second Life™ is about to celebrate its 10^th anniversary! With that thought in mind, and because I am a history buff here, I thought it might be nice to do some exploring of the earliest portions of this vast virtual world. This article will be about the first sim: Da Boom.

With each installment of the First Sims, I will cover what remains of the original sim (not much in most places), what there is to see and do, shopping, sites, and points of interest. I hope you will read and learn with me. If you have any additional information, I welcome it.

It would be naive of me to think that I am the first one to write about the early sims. Both Lalo Telling (http://lalotelling.wordpress.com/2010/06/11/seconderth-a-deep-map-da-boom/ ) and Alex Hayden (http://walkingwithavatars.wordpress.com/2013/02/23/a-deep-map-revisited-da-boom/) have recently visited and written blog posts about Da Boom. I will try to point out some of the things not covered by these two wonderful fans of Second Life™.

Welcome to Da Boom

If you search for Da Boom on the World Map, and take the teleport offered, you will land in the Linden Playground, an amusement park. This must be  a more recent build, because it was created by Sunny Mole. The Moles, who work under the supervision of Michael Linden, came into being to be the Linden Department of Public Works. They create infrastructure and other builds throughout the mainland. The playground has many rides and activities on it, and it is fun to explore. What is interesting to older avatars, is that the vast majority of textures come from the Second Life™ library, which makes them easy to rez, because they are often cached by many avatars. Take your choice, and swing on a pirate ship or an octopus’ tentacle. There’s lots of innocent fun to be had in the playground.

I am not so sure about the next parcel I encountered. The Christian Church of Da Boom, is a lovely Fatima Ur built church that sits on an almost void 3456 meter parcel. It was acquired March 16^th of this year, and provides audio and video about Christianity around the clock. In front of the church is a teleport that takes you up to a huge ballroom in the sky. The only thing in the ballroom is links to watch media on a prim, and these prims link to videos about religion. The one I watched explained the necessity of tithing to the church. The land is owned by Erwin Solo, who is seen preaching in some of the videos. Go, and look for yourself, and let me know what you think.

One of my favorite places on Da Boom is Seifert Surface’s sculpture shop. Seifert uses math for all of his constructions, and I had to teleport my friend Lomgren Smalls over to explain some of the things to me. However, you don’t have to be a mathematician to appreciate the beauty of the forms.

One thing that is sad to me is that Linden Lab and the early residents really didn’t have any idea of what they were creating, and thus, did not take pains to preserve some of the early builds. The Alt-Zoom Disco, built by Philip Linden is nowhere to be found. It would really be nice to have that preserved. There is the Governor’s mansion on Clementina, but it’s a later build.

Transportation

Although none of these rides are original Da Boom builds, they are great fun. There are many ways to get around on Da Boom. At the base of the Da Boom Building, which is a more recent build, is a Whirly-Putter rezzer. (http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/Da%20Boom/164/249/40 ). When touched you can fly a two person vehicle, which crosses sims so well, I flew it all the way back to my land on Varney. In addition, there are water tubes to rez, and a riverboat that gives tours. All of the rides worked really well when I tried them, and the lag was low. 

Even if you don’t like or appreciate history, Da Boom is worth a teleport from anywhere. Lots to see, and fun to be had. I recommend it highly, which I am not sure will be the case with some of the other original sims. Stay tuned, dear readers.

DrFran Babcock