Changing Usernames

[lolalab69]

Hi

Anyone know if the rumor going around last year about 'Residents' being able to change their username and able to choose a surname was a hoax .... or for real reals?

If real then when will this be available??

[Rolig Loon]

Real ... and  .... soon™.  Maybe.

[Gregorian Chant]

[Clara Hollyberry]

 

[Maitimo]

It was real, but I wouldn't hold your breath. I think it's one of those things that they'll just keep forever saying "soon, but not this year".

[Daniel Voyager]

Probably next year now. 

[Chic Aeon]

Or the year after --- or never.   Sometimes good idea don't make it to fruition. All the official comments that I have heard on this lately have sounded like the problems are vast and may not be overcome.  Just my take, it is officially still on the road map, but that map is a big one.   

[Cackle Amore]

Honestly I can't really blame em, the base account name is often a rather hard coded in thing, and the idea of "name changing" freely wasn't really a thing way back in the day when SL was born. So account names for it is something most likely buried at the heart of the games code. Discord and Battle.net have a number attached to your account, letting the name be more freely changeable, though battle.net charges a fee for it. And Steam and Secondlife just simply have a display name that goes over the account name.

I think Ubisoft might have a sort of invisible number ID, but you also have to go through support to get a name change. They had to change up their system to make it work cause you couldn't get an account name change on it long ago and it sounded like they had the game keys and the ID sort of intertwined from the rough recollection I recall being told when I tried asking about an account name change long ago. All the older games I had on that account would of been lost basically because of how their system used to be if I got a name change. 

 

Basically, ya gotta remember that to the code, an account name isn't just a simple name, it's part of the foundation of the account itself.

Edited August 28, 2019 by Digit Gears
fixed some typos and weird empty space at bottom.

[Kimmi Zehetbauer]

The last name should've never been dropped in the first place.

[Daniel Voyager]

Xiola Linden said this afternoon during Lab Gab #1 that last names is still be working on and that it's complex. Nothing much has changed since SL16B celebrations in terms of newer updates. I think the lab full attention must be on the new continent, EEP and bakes on mesh. 

I don't see it happening this year. 

[Daniel Voyager]

1 hour ago, Chic Aeon said:

Or the year after --- or never.   Sometimes good idea don't make it to fruition. All the official comments that I have heard on this lately have sounded like the problems are vast and may not be overcome.  Just my take, it is officially still on the road map, but that map is a big one.   

Mid 2020s at this rate 

[sirhc DeSantis]

@Daniel VoyagerEver walked in to a job where the basic data setup was put together by people long departed from a company that has been heavily glitched by another bunch who have also left but still has to function 24 hours by 7 by 365 (plus one at leap year)? I don't know if anti fun is a concept

Done it twice so for once - cutting the Lab a bit of slack. Not a lot I admit. Enough to know that this is 'non trivial'. Swear words available on request.

[Qie Niangao]

17 minutes ago, sirhc DeSantis said:

Ever walked in to a job where the basic data setup was put together by people long departed from a company that has been heavily glitched by another bunch who have also left but still has to function 24 hours by 7 by 365 (plus one at leap year)?

Good times!

*weeps*

[Freddie Dallas]

As ive said in another thread at this point would be easier just to enable new sign ups to choose a first and last name and people can transfer what they can and dump their resident av 

creators win in this, since same stuff will have to be rebought - but people will be happy

That probably wont happen though, since no revenue in that for LL - unless they create an option during sign up to become preimum and choose your first and last name. 

Edited August 29, 2019 by FredrickF

[Zero Starchild]

I long ago gave up hope!

[Lyssa Greymoon]

Maybe they fired the last guy who knew how changing user names worked back in 2010. The fact they keep kicking the can down the road instead of putting new last names in the registration portal says everything. Either the last guy who knew how to do that got the axe too, or they think "soon" will go down better than "that's what display names are for" to people who don't like display names. Either way ought to tell everyone where this is on LL's priority list.

[Rob Huntsman]

Probably was just bait for more people to go premium.

[Alyona Su]

1 hour ago, Lyssa Greymoon said:

Maybe they fired the last guy who knew how changing user names worked back in 2010. The fact they keep kicking the can down the road instead of putting new last names in the registration portal says everything. Either the last guy who knew how to do that got the axe too, or they think "soon" will go down better than "that's what display names are for" to people who don't like display names. Either way ought to tell everyone where this is on LL's priority list.

Please do not spread misinformation. Adding last names is easy. Making it so you can *change* names is the hard part. As for what's on their priority list - based on all communication thus far, it's actually pretty high and an ongoing work. As for the most people who want it? 95% of them are of the surname Resident family. 😕

[Lyssa Greymoon]

 

[Qie Niangao]

3 hours ago, Lyssa Greymoon said:

Maybe they fired the last guy who knew how changing user names worked back in 2010.

They literally never knew how to do it. Back in 2005 or thereabouts, Torley became a Linden and kept his pre-Linden account but acquired the Linden name for it. This was not an automated process -- not even close. There's lore about how long it took to even discover all the things that broke as a result and had to be patched, one by one.

It's not merely a matter of rediscovering and automating all that was done manually that one time for that one account. There's another decade and a half of features adding complexity that nobody ever considered.

If they ever do complete this feature, I'll pay to change an alt's ill-chosen name... but I surely would not want that alt to be among the first accounts to go through the process.

[Lyssa Greymoon]

1 hour ago, Qie Niangao said:

They literally never knew how to do it. Back in 2005 or thereabouts, Torley became a Linden and kept his pre-Linden account but acquired the Linden name for it. This was not an automated process -- not even close. There's lore about how long it took to even discover all the things that broke as a result and had to be patched, one by one.

It's not merely a matter of rediscovering and automating all that was done manually that one time for that one account. There's another decade and a half of features adding complexity that nobody ever considered.

If they ever do complete this feature, I'll pay to change an alt's ill-chosen name... but I surely would not want that alt to be among the first accounts to go through the process.

They changed the username for an alt of mine with an ill-chosen name in 2011.

Edited August 29, 2019 by Lyssa Greymoon

[MoiraKathleen]

I'm one of the surname Resident family who does not think the ability to change last names should be a high priority.

Regardless of whether the original coders are still there, when you need to change a core key data item, especially if changing how it is used in lookups and identifying stored data items, it can easily end up more complicated than originally imagined once you start examining every place in the system that is affected - and with a key change, it's important that every use is found, modified and tested.

Even if there were a couple of "one-time" name changes done in the past, those may have been done in a way which solved the immediate issue of why the name was being changed, but perhaps not in a way that would be needed for an automatic process allowing anyone eligible to change their name whenever they wanted to. 

[Rolig Loon]

1 hour ago, moirakathleen said:

when you need to change a core key data item, especially if changing how it is used in lookups and identifying stored data items, it can easily end up more complicated than originally imagined once you start examining every place in the system that is affected - and with a key change, it's important that every use is found, modified and tested.

THIS ^^

As a scripter, I know that I have to be really careful when I change a variable that is referenced in any way by other scripts.  I can imagine the nightmares that might be created if Linden Lab let you change your username but didn't realize that the change would mess up something that seems totally unrelated .... like your role in a group, or whether you are visible by friends in world, or whether you are still in some parcel ban lists.....  Names are in loads of unexpected places, and SL has a ton of cross-linked databases in its servers.  If I were in Linden shoes, I would want to be very sure that I had found all the major tripwires before leasing an update to something this important.  The downside risks are huge.

[Lyssa Greymoon]

I found the old e-mails from LL to me, here are the relevant excerpts (the emphasis is mine):

Quote

Violation: Indecency:  Inappropriate Avatar Name

 

Second Life avatar names must not be offensive, vulgar, or

obscene.  All names need to conform to the content standards

established for PG-rated areas.

 

We have placed your account on hold pending a change to the

name. If your request for a name change is not received in a

reasonable amount of time, this account will be

discontinued.

 

To request a name change, please submit a ticket to the

support portal located at https://secondlife.com/support

 

That's a form letter for being a jerk, not some one off because I'm as SL famous as Torley. Support ticket created, and a couple days later:

Quote

Thank you for contacting Linden Lab Support!

I am sorry you are having issues logging in.

 

To regain access of your account, please submit 4 suggestions for a new account name, we will then change your account name and release your account.

I did, and the next day:

Quote

Thank you for your reply!

 

I am pleased to announce that we have successfully changed your name to: 

That didn't seem too painful. Maybe if you really want your name changed you should AR yourself instead of waiting for LL to roll it out.

 

Edited August 29, 2019 by Lyssa Greymoon

[Selene Gregoire]

Starting to sound like it would be easier to just have all those who don't want Resident as a last name create a new account with a last name and then transfer inventory to the new account. But then there would be those who will gripe because they no longer have their original "birth" date.

Can't please everyone all the time.

Could be that is the only feasible solution though, code wise.

Edited August 29, 2019 by Selene Gregoire