The Old New Babbage

[Rip Wirefly]

I’m not here to harp or complain, or anything of that sort, just bring something to everyone’s attention. Last night Greg Merryman led me into the beta grid and I was shown something quite amazing. New Babbage Square and Palisades, from around one year ago. The land was the same, as was the layout, but the builds were quite different then what is in babbage today.

The first thing that hit me when I teleported in, dirt, the place was far from clean, as an industrial place should be. I looked about, a few of the builds that are still here today were there as well, the Mason Horta hotel, the steam works, city hall, the Paleozoic Museum, though it was far larger than it is today. What struck me was not that those structures still exist today, but the ones around them that are not. So much industry, smoke was seen across the skyline, as should be in an industrial city. As well, the builds, they were not all the most detailed or well built, but what they all had going for them was that they all fit together. Builds did not look like they were different from the one next door, they went together, they fit. It did not look like a bunch of puzzle pieces from different puzzles thrown together. The stores were gritty, the atmosphere just felt like the air was dirty, the city appeared as if it was covered in a layer of dirt, and I loved it.

I am still relativly new here, in my opinion. When I came to babbage it was a completely different monster, the place was clean. Houses were everywhere, though there are no problems with homes in a city, but as well there were so many stores, and each one was pristine. The few factories remaining looked as if they were not in order. It was a different babbage then what I saw it had been. I think somewhere people stopped focusing on the concept of babbage and more on the commercial part of it. I am not saying we ban stores, and cafes, and houses, and bars, but instead attempt to try to recapture the essence of babbae. Learn what your sim’s purpose was, talk to the residents who have been around longer, and find out what babbage is really about. I have been chatting with some older residence as of late, and have been learning much more about what babbage is about.

There is a reason industria is in our motto.

[Artemisia Paine]

I think some of the problem may have stemmed from a little bit of... loosening of the strict guidelines we saw coming from Shaunathan when we first moved to Babbage. Nareth ran her plans for the museum by him at length before we even purchased the parcel or began to build. I did the same when I decided to make my little experiment with Edward Gorey textures into an actual building. We wanted to make sure our ideas fit with the plans for the city. I feel like a lot of that got lost along the way. The "temporary" huge purple house that plopped down in the square and blocked the museum was a prime example of the sort of thing that has been going on in Babbage for a while now. And led, in part, to Nareth deciding to sell the museum and also led to the abandoning of the museum expansion we were working on when the "temporary" house appeared.
I think people need to consider their neighbors a little bit more when buying a parcel, and consider if perhaps their own plans can be altered a little to fit the surroundings, or if perhaps they need to wait til a parcel opens in another location that would better suit their plans.

[Kaylee Frye]

It does seem like he got less strict toward the end there. It could have been part of him being close to deciding to selling the sims though.
When the Palisades first opened I reserved one of the lots outside the wall. I had to completely rebuild 3 or 4 times before he said it was ok to put it out there permanently. I had to build one of my buildings in Wheatstone twice because it wasn't quite in-theme enough. In the end, both of the builds were far better than what I had originally, and I am so glad he made me redo them.
I really hope Tenk is at least somewhat strict with any new builds in Babbage. There is a reason I came here instead any of the other steampunk sims, way back in early '07, and I'd hate to think that could change. Overall, I am still pretty happy with the way Babbage looks, with very few exceptions, but thats always been true.

[Kaylee Frye]

Actually now that I think about it, he absolutely got less strict over time. I tried to put up a tree-house when the Canals were new. When he saw it he said there was no way there would be any treehouses in the middle of the city, and that I needed to take it down. Now we have several of them around town.

[Mara Razor]

I ran quite a number of tree houses and other builds past shaun and then even had to mod my tree house from how Lunar originally set it up to get it past Shaun. All the other tree houses in town are made out of metal - therefore, they're not actually trees. Are they? And, actually my tree house is gone. So, there are no actual tree houses in Babbage anymore.

[DreddPirateBob]

aye i have to agree that the tendancy in this post to use Caledon as a yardstick is tiring. I find it a little bitchy to use another sim as a mark of what we dont want. Babbage has the aesthetic of one of the many variations of Steampunk city (again, like my RL home but with bells on) and Caledon seems to me a very pretty american steampunky place. I dont dismiss it as worse purely because i dont like the aesthetic, its just not what i was looking for in a home/workshop/playground. If you like, I'm a dickens man, not a Twain man. (though i actually prefer twain over dickens as authors). you might as well say we are getting a little bit 'Inscilica', with all this soot :p

so here my thought. What it is is we have been lucky enough to be in one hell of a build. Well themed by hardworking creatives and users. things went slightly astray from the original plan and now we are seeing faults, faults which would be unnoticed in most other builds, because of the intense effort that has been put in by its residents.

I can assure you there was greenery and nice residencies in a northern victorian town, amongst the warehouses and pubs and workhouses. I walk past the remnants every day. I do however understand that we have a theme to stick to, but the only solution i have is a new residential sim for folk to move their prettier builds over to while the gaps are filled by the normal grimy brick of babbage. if we are unsure if there is call for such a thing lets chuck a box at the entrance which asks folk to put thier names down for land so we can see what demand actually is.

on another note. time moves faster in SL. maybe Babbage is doing what every city does and evolving. to misquote myself "i remember when all this was brick, none of your new fangled fields then!" :D

[Doctor Obolensky]

Well, I think we *have* those sims, Bob.

Both Wheatstone and the area outside the wall in the Palisades seem to have evolved into the pretty/new/green spaces.

Now I'm *not* saying they shouldn't exist elsewhere, but they really should be the exception in other areas. A daisy sticking through the cobbles now and then. :P

[The Professor]

A daisy sticking through the cobbles now and then.

A nice line. Well said.

[The Professor]

aye i have to agree that the tendancy in this post to use Caledon as a yardstick is tiring. I find it a little bitchy to use another sim as a mark of what we dont want. Babbage has the aesthetic of one of the many variations of Steampunk city (again, like my RL home but with bells on) and Caledon seems to me a very pretty american steampunky place.

It may be tiring, but...Caledon strikes me, personally, as a vaguely Victorian Disneyland. If that's what is desired, fine. But it was never what we were told Babbage was meant to be. It's not what I came here for. And I am unaware of any rule that says it is unacceptable to voice disapproval of another sim, or to use it for comparison when trying to make a point. Caledon for Caldeon. New Babbage for New Babbage.

[DreddPirateBob]

hell you read that within a second. wow!

didnt say any rules were broke, just said i find it tiring.

[Ghilayne Andrew]

Yes... tiring and not particularly productive, either, since it simply pitches another pebble into the pond and creates another wake of ripples. Nor is a "my vision or get the heck out" attitude particularly useful, unless of course, those holding that idea intend to foot the tier of the sims themselves... and that WOULD be one solution, too. Those who want exclusive control over the look of the sims can simply repurchase all the land of the people to whom they object, and pay for the tier themselves, and/or sell it to those who share their own specific vision exactly down to the last particulate. Afterall, one isn't required to invest and contribute financially to a place in order to "live" there, participate and interact with friends.

Of course, I would note that prior to the newer wave of immigrants coming in, from the various posts and comments it is evident there was difficulty in attracting and retaining owners, which resulted in New Babbage needing to use place holder buildings lest it look a bit barren. Attractive buildings, I will grant... the one on the property I bought a chunk of was a very proper-looking place and did influence my selection of home.

Generally, though, I feel that there are very few problems that a little good will and behaving like reasonable individuals won't solve. Zoning, an idea already floated by several people, is one of the better solutions.

Whether any of us likes it or not... time DOES pass differently in SL, and change occurs rapidly. People come, people go and nobody is indispensible. Six months from now, there may well be a new set of citizens, interests and issues. It is a certainty that will be so a year from now -- perhaps because of the decisions of the citizens themselves or due to influences from outside SL that come to bear. It really doesn't matter WHY, but there will have been substantial changes in that intervening year; what those changes are is anybody's guess.

Perhaps that would be an interesting discussion... predictions for what Babbage will be like in February next year... saved in a ning topic like a cornerstone time capsule.

[Ceejay Writer]

oooooh! Fun idea. I love time capsules, and have participated in the placing (and unearthing) of some in real life.

There's one inside Her Dark Materials. I hid it there. No one, to my knowledge, has yet found it. :)

Also... a well said reply, and one that resonates with me. Thank you.

[Capt. Red Llewellyn]

here here! Miss Andrew was quite eloquent!......[then plots to don a ninja gown, miners helmet and go search HDM!]