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
Ed Merryman, one of the wonderful Firestorm support team members called
for some help in the group to test a new service item over at Firestorm
Support Center Island. I was more curious than really helpful so went over to
help test. What a surprise ! I had never been over to the Center
Island before, only to the classrooms in the sky. After I assisted in the
test, which is for a new more personal system that will begin when it is
ready and will be announced in the blog. 
I went for a stroll around
to see what was there. The team has a marvelous tutorial for newbies . One of
the best and simplest I have seen lately. On arrival, the avatar takes a
stroll along a pleasant path stopping at billboards that teach the basics of Second Life starting with walking, jumping, sitting flying and progressing to
more activities one needs to learn for ease in second life. A barrier “teases”
the avatar to learn the task before passing on or won’t let you go. I was
glad to see clear directions on using the camera which is so important.
Instructions are simple to follow and give a notecard with further help for” ifs
and buts.” Example: an Apple computer with different instructions as having only
one button on the mouse. 
There are also clothing freebies along the way
and changing rooms. At the end of the instructions there is a set of billboards
with landmarks to more help places in SL where you can find more information,
freebies and people to meet. I liked the etiquette section for newbies that
aided in meeting people and the best way to fit into conversations and make
friends easily. I think everyone should take a walk along the path just to see
it. The directions are set for any viewer help. 
