Name change

[llHexy]

My main complaint about the name change is, if this feature is not free why can’t we pick our own last names. Not choose from a list of last names LL is choosing for us. I can understand if the feature is free. But it isn’t. If I am spending money on this feature I should have the option to have a name I choose.

[Dakota Linden]

15 minutes ago, llHexy said:

My main complaint about the name change is, if this feature is not free why can’t we pick our own last names. Not choose from a list of last names LL is choosing for us. I can understand if the feature is free. But it isn’t. If I am spending money on this feature I should have the option to have a name I choose.

Hello llHexy

Last Names will be offered as a list of pre-approved names in order to prevent abuse or other issues with using non standard characters in account names. 

 

[Claireschen Hesten]

When everyone got a last name you were give a list of names to choose from and you went with the one you hated least and you would be able to remember how to spell.

if you wanted a specific last name you'd use the website slnamewatch.com to find a third party registration portal that could supply the name you're after.

If you wanted a custom last name of your choosing you had to request it from LL and it would cost hundreds of RL $ to have and you'd have to pay a considerable amount every year too keep the last name it was often big name RL companies that could afford to have custom last names with company name or what ever they wanted for their SL presence.

If the cost of having a last name isn't great and you really want one choosing from a list isn't that bad you still get to choose a last name it's not like RL where you have a last name inflicted on you when you're born whether you like it or not later on In life

[Chaser Zaks]

You can choose a last name, but they are a very expensive thing usually reserved for companies.

The reason behind this is the exact reason above, if you could choose your own last name, you could choose to name yourself something like imnotreally.IBM or choose naughty names like Llnden(Thats LLnden).

If you really want to have a custom last name, please see http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Linden_Lab_Official:Custom_Name_Program

Do keep in mind this will cost up to $500 USD, as these are usually intended for corporate names such as AOL or IBM, or special case names like CokePremiereGuest(A event name from back in 2007)

Edited July 27, 2018 by Chaser Zaks

[Paul Hexem]

44 minutes ago, Dakota Linden said:

Hello llHexy

Last Names will be offered as a list of pre-approved names in order to prevent abuse or other issues with using non standard characters in account names. 

 

Most MMOs and other services allow you to input your own, and simply compare it to a blacklist to make sure people don't abuse it.

The few that slip through and game the system get reported. 

[Dakota Linden]

Just now, Gadget Portal said:

Most MMOs and other services allow you to input your own, and simply compare it to a blacklist to make sure people don't abuse it.

The few that slip through and game the system get reported. 

Greetings!  

Second Life is its own service, using code that is different from other services.  How other companies or services do things has no bearing on how Linden Lab does things.

 

[Paul Hexem]

14 minutes ago, Dakota Linden said:

Greetings!  

Second Life is its own service, using code that is different from other services.  How other companies or services do things has no bearing on how Linden Lab does things.

 

Very true.

Things like industry standards are for nerds anyway.

[Dakota Linden]

2 hours ago, Gadget Portal said:

Very true.

Things like industry standards are for nerds anyway.

Hi Gadget!

My Bad!  I didn't realize account name changes are ruled by an "industry standard"!  I might have to try to find that law/ruling.  Thank you! 

[ellestones]

3 hours ago, Dakota Linden said:

Last Names will be offered as a list of pre-approved names in order to prevent abuse or other issues with using non standard characters in account names. 

 

i don't get this line of reasoning

if it's true for last name selection, it's also true for first name selection

[Callum Meriman]

On 7/28/2018 at 4:14 AM, ellestones said:

i don't get this line of reasoning

if it's true for last name selection, it's also true for first name selection

Well, the real reason is last name is stored as an integer in the database.

[Bree Giffen]

8 hours ago, Callum Meriman said:

Well, the real reason is last name is stored as an integer in the database.

I guess it saves a little bit. 

[ellestones]

12 hours ago, Callum Meriman said:

Well, the real reason is last name is stored as an integer in the database.

as a reason this makes sense. Why this is the reason may not make sense today from an actionable user pov, it made sense on a previous day from a database administrator pov. Database normalisation and all that

i add on here a please-linden
 
if lastnames are to be once more be picked from a pre-defined available name list then after entering our first name can we please get a paged list of all last names available. Not a random subset of available last names as was done previously. Having to refresh a random list is not good when searching for a particular last name. I get that web tech in a previous day made paged lists problematic. Today not so much if at all

[Phil Deakins]

Don't forget that the reason for the return of last names is not because users want them. It's to make some money from name changes. It's part of the process of balancing out what LL makes money from, and that's good.

I mention it because, since it's not something that's being done just for the users' benefit, there is no great incentive to make big changes to the way that last names were done in the past. I imagine that the necessary code for it still exists, if not in the active system, then in old backups, and restoring the last names system to how it was done before will be considerably easier than starting from scratch.

That's my thinking, anyway.

[Phil Deakins]

On 27/07/2018 at 7:14 PM, ellestones said:

i don't get this line of reasoning

if it's true for last name selection, it's also true for first name selection

That's very true. Callum posted the actual reason for not being able to create your own last name.

[Sprout Evergarden]

On 7/27/2018 at 10:43 AM, Gadget Portal said:

Very true.

Things like industry standards are for nerds anyway.

 

you know the od nerd saying "The great thing about standards is that there are so many of them" now if we are allowed to change our login first name i would be interested  (thres is a few trolls in my life i would love to hide from but keep the inventory in my 11 year old account)

[Wulfie Reanimator]

1 hour ago, Atosuria Daviau said:

 

you know the od nerd saying "The great thing about standards is that there are so many of them" now if we are allowed to change our login first name i would be interested  (thres is a few trolls in my life i would love to hide from but keep the inventory in my 11 year old account)

Your UUID will be the same, you'll probably wear your old/current avatars, any objects you might have permanently rezzed will give you away and those trolls can talk to other people to figure out who you are even if you made a new alt, if you shared that info with literally anybody. 

Even if you think none of these things affect you, the point still stands. You cannot hide yourself by just changing your name.

Edited August 3, 2018 by Wulfie Reanimator

[latex Alcott]

I am curious about this whole topic. As I do use a display name of my choosing. But the coming name change feature, will be limited to selected surnames. I can understand the reasoning as to why as far as the scripting of the system and such. As do I understand why a cost would be involved. As an alternative, is it possible to kind of "push" the display names from a user side arrangement? Like, if a person only wished their display name to show in chat, only that would show? I dont know if this makes sense or not. 

As it is now, default preferences in a person's viewer, is to show usernames as well as display names. So if a person has not changed that in their preferences to hide usernames, they will see both. So rather than need others to change their viewer, is it possible, for chat to only show the display name?

[chibiusa Ling]

8 minutes ago, latex Alcott said:

I am curious about this whole topic. As I do use a display name of my choosing. But the coming name change feature, will be limited to selected surnames. I can understand the reasoning as to why as far as the scripting of the system and such. As do I understand why a cost would be involved. As an alternative, is it possible to kind of "push" the display names from a user side arrangement? Like, if a person only wished their display name to show in chat, only that would show? I dont know if this makes sense or not. 

As it is now, default preferences in a person's viewer, is to show usernames as well as display names. So if a person has not changed that in their preferences to hide usernames, they will see both. So rather than need others to change their viewer, is it possible, for chat to only show the display name?

That would just end up hella confusing. You would spend half of your time asking people who they are. 

[Fionalein]

32 minutes ago, chibiusa Ling said:

That would just end up hella confusing. You would spend half of your time asking people who they are. 

why if they change both name and appearance - ignore them, and maybe ask "Who the hell would you be and how did you make it on my friends list?" before unfriending

 

Edited January 19, 2019 by Fionalein

[BilliJo Aldrin]

1 hour ago, latex Alcott said:

I am curious about this whole topic. As I do use a display name of my choosing. But the coming name change feature, will be limited to selected surnames. I can understand the reasoning as to why as far as the scripting of the system and such. As do I understand why a cost would be involved. As an alternative, is it possible to kind of "push" the display names from a user side arrangement? Like, if a person only wished their display name to show in chat, only that would show? I dont know if this makes sense or not. 

As it is now, default preferences in a person's viewer, is to show usernames as well as display names. So if a person has not changed that in their preferences to hide usernames, they will see both. So rather than need others to change their viewer, is it possible, for chat to only show the display name?

What do you care what others see in their viewer? If they don't wanna see usernames, they can turn them off like you do.

But no, you can't force people to not see who you really are (login name). If you could, that would be a griefers dream come true.

[Selene Gregoire]

1 hour ago, latex Alcott said:

I am curious about this whole topic. As I do use a display name of my choosing. But the coming name change feature, will be limited to selected surnames. I can understand the reasoning as to why as far as the scripting of the system and such. As do I understand why a cost would be involved. As an alternative, is it possible to kind of "push" the display names from a user side arrangement? Like, if a person only wished their display name to show in chat, only that would show? I dont know if this makes sense or not. 

As it is now, default preferences in a person's viewer, is to show usernames as well as display names. So if a person has not changed that in their preferences to hide usernames, they will see both. So rather than need others to change their viewer, is it possible, for chat to only show the display name?

While it won't affect what others see, those options are available in Firestorm:

Quote

Name Tags: Here you choose how you display residents' tags. NOTE these apply to what you see, not others.

• Off: Will set it so you do not see tags.
• On: means tags will always be visible.
• Show briefly: shows the tags temporarily.
  • And you can indicate how many second to show them; the default is 10.

Quote

You can enable/disable the following:

• My name: when unchecked, will not show your tag. Note this is for your view only, others still see it.
• Group Titles: unchecked hides ALL group titles.
• View Display Names: when checked shows display names.
• Highlight friends: colors tags of those on your friends list.
• Usernames: when checked shows usernames names.
• Hide own group title: If enabled, this will hide your current group title from others. (Versions after 3.2.2 only.)
• Legacy names instead of usernames: will show legacy names instead of user names.
• Trim 'Resident' from legacy names: self explanatory. (Greyed out if the option above is disabled.)

https://wiki.phoenixviewer.com/preferences_general_tab

[Lindal Kidd]

@latex Alcott

Perhaps a bit of history is in order.

When SL began, the registration process was different than it is now.  You'd pick a last name from a list of available names, and then try to come up with a first name to go with it...that wasn't already taken.  Your first name and your last name were then your official username.  

People complained about this system.  They wanted to be able to change their names for various reasons.  Some simply didn't like the name they'd picked.  Others got involved in roleplaying and wanted to be able to have a name that suited their character.  Some wanted to have the same last name as their partner.  So, LL invented "Display Names".  These are changeable, and they are in addition to your official username, which can't be changed.  Usernames were reduced to a single name, sometimes with the last name "Resident" appended as a surname, to keep from breaking a huge amount of existing devices that wanted a first and last name from you.

People didn't like this either.  They objected to the special characters that were allowed in Display Names (I'm one of those objectors).  Or they didn't like that you could only change the Display Name once a week.  Or...yadda yadda yadda.  Mostly, a lot of the newcomers who were limited to a single username wanted the ability to have a surname too, like the old timers.

So LL said they'd bring back last names, and allow people to change them (for a fee).  We don't know all the details of how this will work.  Probably Display Names will remain an option.

I'll only repeat two things about user names, opinions I've held for years.

• User names should not be changeable.  If they ARE changeable, some sort of tracking history of past names is a must.  The user name is the ONLY thing about your avatar that remains constant, and is therefore the only sure means of identifying someone (except for the UUID, of course, and who wants to look that up all the time?)
• LL should implement a system with a PRIVATE user name for login purposes only.  At present, everyone knows half of your login credentials...your user name.  This is very poor security.  There should also be an unchanging screen name, which would serve the same identifying purpose that the user name does now.

[latex Alcott]

9 hours ago, chibiusa Ling said:

That would just end up hella confusing. You would spend half of your time asking people who they are. 

Why would it be confusing? For example, my name is latex Alcott, and i became part of the Dillon family and changed my name to latex Dillon. Right now, (if they do not change their viewer preferences) in chat it would show latex Dillon - latex Alcott. To me that is more confusing that just seeing Ace Dillon in the chat. No different than a legal name change IRL. 

 

do I care what others see. Hmmm, yes and no.... No, in that it doesnt really affect my time in SL, but yes, in that, in SL I am who I am, including my name, which to me, reflects who I am. 

 

Since LL doesnt wish to open free choice for the surname selection with this new feature (which I understand is a pay for use feature) I think it would be nice, if at least, visually, we would be who we choose to be, that is all. 

[chibiusa Ling]

5 minutes ago, latex Alcott said:

Why would it be confusing? For example, my name is latex Alcott, and i became part of the Dillon family and changed my name to latex Dillon. Right now, (if they do not change their viewer preferences) in chat it would show latex Dillon - latex Alcott. To me that is more confusing that just seeing Ace Dillon in the chat. No different than a legal name change IRL. 

 

do I care what others see. Hmmm, yes and no.... No, in that it doesnt really affect my time in SL, but yes, in that, in SL I am who I am, including my name, which to me, reflects who I am. 

 

Since LL doesnt wish to open free choice for the surname selection with this new feature (which I understand is a pay for use feature) I think it would be nice, if at least, visually, we would be who we choose to be, that is all. 

They were talking about making it so everyone else could ONLY see your display name. In that situation you wouldn't see "Latex Dillon - Latex Alcott". Now take that idea and put it this way. I change "Chibiusa Ling" to "Syrana Clasplinger" and several other friends do the exact same thing....weekly....so my original comment "That would just end up hella confusing. You would spend half of your time asking people who they are" is perfectly valid as in this case situation you would never be able to see the original username to know who was who. 

Edited January 20, 2019 by chibiusa Ling

[Syo Emerald]

^and that entire thing would open the gates for a lot of abuse

I also don't want to depend on peoples choice of fancy fonts and foreign letters, that they misuse, because they look a little bit like another letter... Its good, that the way names are displayed is still in the hands of the individual user.