Brown, a Forgotten Linden-Zoned Sim

[Prokofy Neva]

I can't put this in "Linden Homes" because Brown isn't a "Linden Home" sim, although it is a Linden-zoned sim of yesteryear, now largely forgotten.

Back in the day, the Lindens tried an experiment with zoning two sims, Brown and Boardman (there weren't more at first, to my recollection) because so many people complained about newbies joining, putting up ugly plywood items, then disappearing, or oldbies with essentially grief-builds on their free-for-life 4096s. Hence, zoning.

What was "zoning"? There couldn't be any commercial activity -- although because the drive for commerce was so strong, they put "marketplace stalls" in the center of the sim. It was a PG sim, and no skyboxes were allowed -- the Lindens simply removed them. You could not terraform the land (to prevent "terror-forming, which was popular then when lots of sims were at 40+/- m ability). There were streets laid out and prefab houses for sale. But you could build your own house.

This area rapidly became hugely expensive and valued. I remember once an auction I took part in, where a mere 512 in Boardman sold for over $100 US to a famous builder of that era. Incredible! It was valued because while someone might go wrong with your view in terms of a house, the expense attracted not newbies or griefers but more solid citizens. Plus, there were all those easements in the form of roads and some grassy areas. 

At a certain point, people who had paid a lot of money to be in these sims began to demand that the Lindens make them prettier. The old stalls in the marketplace were awful; Jack Linden (who was in charge of the community back then and later promoted to VP I think) then took it upon himself to put in more aesthetic stalls. There were these ugly dead Linden palm trees -- Jack took out some but not all of them. The roads and sidewalks were spruced up by Michael Linden, who even used a resident's sidewalk (but this was back in the day when there were only 10-m prims).

The streetlamps weren't changed because there was nothing to change them with. Back then, prims had an option of "bright" and not "light" or "glow" as they do now. And the Lindens retired that because it didn't look so hot. I found later that once a prim had that "bright," even a prim scrubber could not rid you of it. It was an interesting time.

Today, Brown has a few end-users, a few rentals agents like me, but at least 10 lots are for sale. No one wants to live in a "G" sim as they are called now where a Linden might remove a skybox. They have long since forgotten this sim and wouldn't care nowadays if there was no nudity visible, but a particularly assiduous busybody resident abuse reports other people (the ultimate irony is this is a person who has skirted the TOS on such matters numerous times and been thrown out of groups as a result). So very SL. But I warn my tenants that if they put up a skybox, they have to expect that it may be removed by Lindens in theory. Nowadays, not only the Lindens do not care and don't always answer ARs, even the busybody has gotten busy elsewhere, I guess...

It's a funny sim caught in time. Ryan Linden's original odd prefab, which I never saw anybody actually live in (although maybe you could make it into a stall), is still for sale there -- Governor Linden will sell you the all-perms item for $50, probably the last place you can still buy something from the Gov. Also for sale for $1 is a little sign that says "I am..." with the SL hand looming out at you in animations -- this was something you could put on your house lot to introduce yourself. There used to be mailboxes, too, that the Lindens had on all perms. That meant that somebody griefed mine with a talk script that activated and said "This rent is too high!". I thought it was Lindens griefing me at first (and it might have been), but it was more likely the full-perm problem, that was not turned off.

I wouldn't mind if they kept Ryan's house and sign for sale for old time's sake, but that strange corrugated iron that looks like a shotgun shack in Appalachia sort of brings down the area. It was actually moved to this more remote lot near the edge of the sim (which has weird water) some time I go, I seem to remember, from another, more visible lot. A few people still have art galleries in the stalls area. One ancient oldbie put out a wheelchair and a couch on her lot in the year 2003, and it has remained there ever since, although I have never seen her log on. Likely this is the "free 4096 for life". The wheelchair, BTW, is quite a work of art! It weighs in at 80 prims and was made by the famous Albert Linden, who made the one-time ubiquitous Corbusier sofa and chairs in the Linden Library (which aren't there anymore). I don't know where you can still get this wheelchair -- maybe he made it especially for this owner (he's long gone). But there it stands, a monument to the idea that you can and should bring real life, even with its infirmities, into SL.

You can also find a memorial to Garth Fairchang (once Nigel Linden) who was an amazing creative presence in SL with his wife Pituca Fairchang (the Lindens blended their last names when they married in RL). He died in 2009. 

I imagine if the Lindens at least convex-hulled the lamp posts, and picked up some of the side walks and lengthened them to 64, they'd have prims to use on making another lot or two they could auction off. Or offering double prims to residents. Or something to restore life to this abandoned sim. I still think residents make this a more or less good-looking sim with their own houses and landscaping. I personally have gradually sold land there because G is a horror to try to rent (because of the fear of being AR'd and having things returned).

There are some cautionary tales here for Belissaria here, of course.

 

Edited September 3, 2019 by Prokofy Neva

[Stephanie Misfit]

Thanks for this post. I have a little mid century modern house in Brown, I'd post a picture but I can't access SL at the moment. I used to own more land there until I tiered down. As a long term resident I have great affection for the sim, I rented there in my early days and I am happy to own land there now, however abandoned the sim feels it's still my little bit of suburbia and full of memories.

[Stephanie Misfit]

Here's my house in Brown. For anyone who is interested, it's the Half Moon Pad by Cunning Plans, available on the marketplace. My plot is a 512 and I've managed to fully furnish it and place a couple of trees, with 14 prims to spare. The parcel next door to me is for sale, shame I can't buy it right now.

[Stephanie Calavera]

A little hiatus aside, I've spent a lot of time in SL. It still amazes, and excites me, just how much I still don't/didn't know about its history. Thank you for this post. It actually made me dig a little into the color sims/regions, and do a little exploring, while stumbling across other suburban areas such as Shermerville. I try to not hang around for too long, though. 

Edited September 4, 2019 by Nastasha Szaberwick

[ChinRey]

That's a lovely piece of SL history, thank you for bringing our attention to it, Prokofy!

I knew Brown had a suburban theme of course but it never occured to me that it was official like Boardman. In fact it's exactly like Boardman, seems the Linden just copied the entire sim.

Maybe we shold mention there are also four other slightly later but still early suburban themed regions in that area, Blumfield, West Haven, Shermeville NW and Shermeville Central.

 

19 hours ago, Prokofy Neva said:

Ryan Linden's original odd prefab, which I never saw anybody actually live in (although maybe you could make it into a stall), is still for sale there -- Governor Linden will sell you the all-perms item for $50, probably the last place you can still buy something from the Gov.

There are other such old LL vendors scattered around the early sims. There's one at de Haro (another early themed region btw) and I've seen one at another color sim too - possibly Green, I can't remember exactly.

Of course, you don't have to pay for any of those items anymore, they're all available for free at Stillman and at any Yadni library these days.

What is this fascination for American suburb about btw? I never understood that. I would have thought it was the keast itneresting theme you could have thought of for a virtual reality but not only does LL return to it again and again, it's also quite popular among users. And of course if we look outside SL, the Sims are all about that theme.

[Stephanie Calavera]

2 hours ago, ChinRey said:

What is this fascination for American suburb about btw? I never understood that. I would have thought it was the keast itneresting theme you could have thought of for a virtual reality but not only does LL return to it again and again, it's also quite popular among users. And of course if we look outside SL, the Sims are all about that theme.

It's not something I understand either. Then again, I'm English, and I've lived in the same suburb my entire RL. That may have something to do with it. So in SL, it's a theme I'd rather avoid. It's one of the reasons that I went with a houseboat with regards to Bellisseria, over a traditional home. I'm still interested in what others have to say, though. 

Edited September 4, 2019 by Nastasha Szaberwick

[Aethelwine]

I vaguely remember a Yavapod tour taking me somewhere like that. Is this the first sim to have a road?

Edit ohh I guess that would have been Boardman. The history of these old sims is fascinating.

Edited September 4, 2019 by Aethelwine

[Prokofy Neva]

On 9/4/2019 at 12:11 PM, ChinRey said:

That's a lovely piece of SL history, thank you for bringing our attention to it, Prokofy!

I knew Brown had a suburban theme of course but it never occured to me that it was official like Boardman. In fact it's exactly like Boardman, seems the Linden just copied the entire sim.

Maybe we shold mention there are also four other slightly later but still early suburban themed regions in that area, Blumfield, West Haven, Shermeville NW and Shermeville Central.

 

There are other such old LL vendors scattered around the early sims. There's one at de Haro (another early themed region btw) and I've seen one at another color sim too - possibly Green, I can't remember exactly.

Of course, you don't have to pay for any of those items anymore, they're all available for free at Stillman and at any Yadni library these days.

What is this fascination for American suburb about btw? I never understood that. I would have thought it was the keast itneresting theme you could have thought of for a virtual reality but not only does LL return to it again and again, it's also quite popular among users. And of course if we look outside SL, the Sims are all about that theme.

@Rey It's funny, I think of a lot of time going by before we got to Blumfield, etc. I remember how determined some people were to keep Shermerville etc good-lucking (was Holocluck Henly one of them? I seem to recall...) and a woman who also made content who I think isn't in SL anymore, Jeannie? Jean? Something? But how it got messed up, nevertheless. 

The Colour Sims were some kind of FIC bastion, this was pre-history for me, but even today, you can still fine very old oldbies there in Green and Blue and so on.

I see Schermerville still has insane prices -- God, I haven't visited in ages!

The trees seem better in Schermerville than Brown, imagine, some people buy this expensive land to put up a public park with...Linden trees. And an area that looks like look-alike rentals is actually just filled with empty buildings.

The problem with these areas has always been the lack of rules; here's a curiously ugly house that turns out to be the soi-disant Schermerville Science and Art Club, where inside, there is "the first prim".

Well, OK, time's up.

 

 

 

 

[Ingrid Ingersoll]

Oh my gosh I forgot about Shermerville! So sad that they have not done more with Brown, Boardman, DeHaro and Shermerville.

[Garnet Psaltery]

I just saw this topic and had a quick look at the Map.  I see 5 lots for sale now, all owned by land agents and all at very high prices.  So good luck with that. 

[HoneyBear Lovely]

Amazing, I've been here since 2007 and never knew the history of these sims (or even aware of their existence). Thanks for the history lesson!

 

[Gabriele Graves]

I grew up in the old colour sims and have many fond memories.