Rename Usernames, Why not?

[Van Arashi]

From the help Wiki:Your username is a unique and personal account identifier in Second Life, and as such, once you choose it you cannot change it.

Why not? you can change user names in every other system I’ve ever encountered?

If it's a pain to do so why not charge $$ for the privilege to do so?? It’s added revenue

[Sextoy Gynoid]

Ye speak o' blarney, every system uses this same rule. That's why there's a difference between a SCREEN name and a username. 

Now, if they wouldn't let you change your screen name, that would suck, but it's not the case.

[Bree Giffen]

My wild guess as to why LL doesn't allow name changes is because I think they tied our actual user names to every database object associated with us in SL. Considering the number of users and the number of objects in SL's database a name change would cause massive slowness as it propagates and breakage of ownership and permissions set on objects. There's always display names.

[Ceera Murakami]

Linden Lab very stupidly did use the exact text of your username as the indexed key for almost everything associated with your avatar. As a result, doing a rename requires tracking down every asset that you ever were associated with, anywere on the grid, and changing that association.

A competent programmer would have associated the name itself with an unseen unique key value, like the UUID for an avatar that is used in their more recent code. But they made the mistake long ago, and it's festered so long that repairing it now is a monumental task that they are unwilling to spend time and effort on. Much easier to say "it can't be done".

[Peggy Paperdoll]

I'm goint to disagree with Ceera.  The user name is your Unique User Identication.  It's a 32 character numeric number that is your user name (just like that alpha-numeric URL you type in is nothing more than an IP address to where ever it is you want to visit when you type the name in).  It's tied directly to you, it's static (meaning it does not change).  It's the only way Linden Lab has to associate everything you purchase, create, do or experience in SL.....computer code does not see names.  It sees numbers.  And that number is yours and yours alone....no one else has that number and no else can every be assigned that number.  That's what makes it unique and it has to be unique or you can lose your ownership or any item you purchased, you can lose your intelligectual property rights to any content you created, LL would lose the ability to log anything you do in SL (that is important for both your security and others).

It wasn't a stupid move on LL's part.  It was (and is) the only way to properly maintain ownership of items, ownership of intellectual property, records of your interactions or doing in SL.  What would be stupid is if LL did allow that UUID to change.  The don't for every good reasons (not to mention, it's the only way to maintain records).

[Ceera Murakami]

UUID's are wonderful, but in LL's code base, they were an afterthought, added years after SL opened to the public. While all of their newer code uses an avatar's UUID as the proper avatar key, there is, sadly, plenty of other, older code still in the system that does NOT use the UUID. So if they allowed you to change your username, keeping the UUID intact, there will still be some things that don't link properly back to your avatar. Every backwater link that still uses the text of the name as the index key, instead of the UUID, would break. Most of the system would work, because at siome piont the code was updated to link on the UUID. But their code is a mess and even they don't know what functions would still break, or how.

If they had written the code from day 1 to use a UUID as the key for all avatar-related associations, then renaming an avatar would be trivial. A mere matter of changing the name attribute, and using the UUID to link behind the scenes. Their insistance that it can't be done is proof that they do not use the UUID everywhere as the unique key for an avatar.

[Jenni Darkwatch]

There's also a non-technical issue with changing usernames: Identity.

In SL, the username is the one thing that people can use to reliably identify friends (or people in general).

[Sextoy Gynoid]

Yeah, what she said. Social networks never let you change your unique name because it makes trolling way to easy, among other things. It has nothing to do with UUIDs or SQUUIDS or whatever.

[MitchLeggborne]

OK, that's fine, if they won't let us change our usernames, then let us AT LEAST hide our usernames from MOST people online.  I understand if vendors and admins need to know that.  But, I do not think it would be THAT difficult to put something like that.

[Griffin Ceawlin]

[Syo Emerald]

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MitchLeggborne wrote:

OK, that's fine, if they won't let us change our usernames, then let us AT LEAST hide our usernames from MOST people online.  I understand if vendors and admins need to know that.  But, I do not think it would be THAT difficult to put something like that.

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Other people need to know your username too. Everytime you report a griefer, everytime you send someone a present, everytime you join a contest and everytime someone wants to invite you to a group.

And thats just a basic selection of the times others or you need to know the real user name. Displaynames can be changed so often that they are not a stable way to identify someone and many objects just ignore them and use the username (like any kind of votingboard).

Also I'm often glad to see the usernames....some people have a horrible taste when it comes to fonts.

[Kelli May]

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Griffin Ceawlin wrote:

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...Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.

[Charolotte Caxton]

Inconceivable.

[SinfulPrince]

Its a presumption derived out of personal feeling, but maybe the complaint stems from the fact that people ignore the fact that you have a display name. I know when I go to the trouble of having a display name its because I want to be called by that.  But thats not what happens. People act like its not there. Its like legally changing your name and having someone totally disregard, and therefore disrespect, that you have. Its them saying "oh but whats your real name". In that scenario, the "real" name is what the govt has said it is NOW. You can have whatever prior knowledge you like, that will not make it legal and the individual (if they're smart) wont respond to you. But in SL, because its dangling overhead, the individual never gets to move on to the new name. Ideally, they could "just" make a new avatar. Problem solved. But the use of real money in sl and nontransferable goods means dumping rl $ in the trash. Really? Because dumbo can't respect a name change? So no.  End result? One unhappy user.

 

Maybe the people who choose number sequences and unpronouncable symbols when they sign up have the best idea.

No "name". Then whichever display name you're using at the time is what you get called.

[SinfulPrince]

Suggestion for the day:

It solves the ongoing question of sl last names AND this bit about display names;

At the time of account creation ALL citizens are assigned a unique sequence of numbers as their citizen ID. No choosing, its generated. That gives LL an unchanging absolute way to handle griefing etc. and puts all citizens on an even playing field.

Once inworld you can choose whatever "name" you like, same as we do now,  with time the limits we have now with regard to changing.

[Shelby Silverspar]

some people dont see your display name at all, it's an option in some viewers to turn it off.

[SinfulPrince]

Another reason to go with numbers for usernames.

Then those who choose not to see the names can just stand around and give shout outs to 848759509-75 and 4840-467-6.

If its socially acceptable in sl to shun folks and socially control for what kind of skin they wear, surely a body's name of choice can be worked into the mill the same way.

I don't really see the "I wouldn't be caught talking to someone without a commercial grade, photo realistic, is that skin free? then we don't want your kind here -istas" settling for being called 547589675479-4.

[Bree Giffen]

Hey SinfulPrince, your idea was mine exactly several months ago. I think I suggested it here too during one of the seasonal display name threads. There are many online games where there is an account name which you normally get to choose and then you create your characters with their own names.

I guess to make it work they should first disable all weird characters in display names and then make all viewers show display names only. All prims, profiles, AR reports will still bring up the account name of course but in normal SL life the display name would be the avatar's name. Sure, griefers will change their names but they always have and always will.

Honestly, I think someone powerful in LL simply loves the way it is or the technical problems are insurmountable.

[SinfulPrince]

Yep. (You must be playin the same mmogs as me <.< kiddding  )

Cuz an AR report is not "normal sl life" if you are a normal person.

And the nutjobs griefers weren't normal to start with.

[Nova Convair]

The idea of an account name and avatar names sounds like a good idea but:

- if the account name is visible for other avatars then people make multiple accounts instead (same as it is now btw. username/displayname)

- if the account name is not visible and the avatar name free to change I can not identify another avatar anymore (except by comparing uuid's) - very bad idea!

- scripts identify the avatar by uuid or username - all broken if username can change

- MMO's allow you only one account and can enforce it. (game-key, payment) SL can not enforce that (is all free)

So I suggest: forget it!

 

[mkdw]

It's really unfortunate that the sign up instructions at present specifically says your username is different than your display name. What it does not say is that your username is also displayed, and as a result any person that signs up now makes the automatic assumption that your username will not be displayed if there is a display name. 

 

It's so counter-intuitive to common sense it's boggles the mind that someone paid actually came to that decision of the wording with intent.

[Coby Foden]

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mkdw wrote:

It's really unfortunate that the sign up instructions at present specifically says your username is different than your display name. What it does not say is that your username is also displayed, and as a result any person that signs up now makes the automatic assumption that your username will not be displayed if there is a display name.

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I wonder too why it is so difficult for Linden Lab to give proper information in the account creation page.  The information what is there now specifically makes people to think that the user name is used only for log in purpose.

People will be surprised once inside Second Life that their - possibly very silly - username can be seen by all. :matte-motes-agape: :matte-motes-bashful:

[Ansariel Hiller]

A few years ago (before they introduced the display name crap), they actually stated on the sign-up page that you can't change the name later. But people also didn't read that.

But yes, the new sign-up page tricks people into thinking "insertyourpervertnamehere" is a good choice and nobody will ever notice!

[Rory Lionheart]

"It wasn't a stupid move on LL's part.  It was (and is) the only way to properly maintain ownership of items, ownership of intellectual property, records of your interactions or doing in SL.  What would be stupid is if LL did allow that UUID to change."

 

Factually speaking, you are 100% wrong. There is no reason that user-visibile name needed to be the UUID used to internally identify the user. That WAS a mistake.

[Griffin Ceawlin]

Oh, look. It's the 4 Year Anniversary of the last reply to this thread before yours. You get a special prize.