Last names nearly here - and more. Yay!

[Alyona Su]

7 hours ago, Alwin Alcott said:

9 hours ago, Prokofy Neva said:

 Newbies can get a new account with new last names.

no they can not, it's often explained by Oz ( i think) , unless they changed their mind about it,  all new accounts will keep starting as "resident" you only get the ability to buy a new name when you are premium, no matter new, resident, or legacy accounts.

Edited 7 hours ago by Alwin Alcott

This is definitely the case because I had presumed this as well, sort of: I had known that new basic accounts would always be "Resident", but thought that if a new account signs up for Premium that they get the option of choosing a list name with that and asked Oz Linden to confirm or correct, Oz replied that last names always will be an optional purchase and not included gratis in any method, including new sign-ups opting for premium.

Also, that the ability to option a last name will be available to premium accounts only.

[Alyona Su]

6 hours ago, Prokofy Neva said:

IT DOESN"T MATTER IF YOU HAVE TO PAY FOR IT AS A PREMIUM. WHAT MATTERS IS THAT THEY COULD MAKE AVAILABLE RIGHT AWAY THE ABILITY TO HAVE LAST NAMES *if* THEY GIVE UP THEIR OBSESSION WITH HAVING THOSE WITH THE LAST NAME 'RESIDENT' GIVEN THE ABILITY OF  *CHANGING* THEM.

I believe this is a fair point, Prok - on the face of it. But that is going with the strictly technical aspect of it. I believe the reason for the changeability of it all is for "political" reasons. If they just reinstate the existing ability to choose a list name when creating accounts, imagine the shrill, vitriolic backlash directed at them for all these years with no choice at all.

I'm sure if they thought it were feasible to simply reimplement what is already there, they'd do it. The method they are choosing is to a means to prevent any mass exodus of pee'd-off people. Which I know you know would happen were they to implement last names by the method you suggest.

Edited January 6, 2020 by Alyona Su

[wesleytron]

51 minutes ago, Alyona Su said:

I believe the reason for the changeability of it all is for "political" reasons. If they just reinstate the existing ability to choose a list name when creating accounts, imagine the shrill, vitriolic backlash directed at them for all these years with no choice at all.

I agree, and it's the same point I was trying to make - the only people who want the return of last names are those who already have long-standing accounts without a last name.

It would be something of a smack in the face to those people if they were then told you have to sign up for a new account to get it - "never mind all the money you spent on your inventory with it's mesh body and mesh head and the skins and the clothes and the AOs, not to mention all the furniture and the vehicles and the pets and the babies. Just abandon all that along with your home and your land and your friends and sign up with for a new account! It will have nothing, but at least you've got a last name now!" (and an extra $40 on top of Premium might not seem so bad to someone who really wants a new name when compared to how much it would cost to replace all of that)

However, as I think I said in an earlier post, although this is marketed as the return of last names, primarily I'd say thi is the introduction of a NEW feature which allows you to change your name. Last names is a bonus bolt on to the feature - and as I understand it you still don't have to have a last name at all if you don't want one. So all those oldbie last-namers who are dying to be called something like xgarry63907x will be able to do so 😛

 

 

Edited January 6, 2020 by wesleytron

[Alyona Su]

32 minutes ago, wesleytron said:

this is marketed as the return of last names, primarily I'd say thi is the introduction of a NEW feature which allows you to change your name. Last names is a bonus bolt on to the feature

This is precisely what is going on, very well-put!

It's a marketing issue, not a technical or social issue with regard to how it is all being perceived. I understand why they are calling it the "return of last names" - because that has been the cry for years "Return last names, please..." But because people don't know how to ask their questions properly; 
Return last names..." as opposed to "I want my current account to have a last name..." - that is how they marketed it.

That, along with the inability of many people to take into account the context of written messages, with critical-thinking cognitive ability. Hence: misinformation, though not on the part of the communicator, but rather on the part of those receiving it.

[rasterscan]

We're all one big happy family, right Residents ?

[Lulabells Starlight]

On 1/5/2020 at 9:03 PM, Gregorian Chant said:

 

There are still too many stories of people having difficulty coming up with usernames that aren't already taken. Surnames from a list would alleviate this frustration. Right now what if someone wants to be plain old Frank? That poor bastard is 10 years too late, for there can only be one Frank Resident.  All others would have to come up with some rough alternative, like frank963257somesuch just to get in the door. Display names simply does not cut it. We can still see your username. 

From what I understand about the eventual return of surnames, it makes me sad that new accounts won't get to have them the same way like oldbies do.  I was hoping to see a new generation of double namers (and maybe, hopefully necro this thread).  But alas.

 

Yes!  I would log on as one user name, a long time ago

then forget that user last name by the next time I logged on a year later.  How come SL is going backwards instead of forward?

 

[Lulabells Starlight]

15 hours ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

IMO, this is 100% spot on.  Maybe an existing account holder creating a new alt that they specifically want to have a last name for some reason.  However, a totally new person just isn't going to hand over $50+ at signup.

How come Newbie want a given last name?

They are so hard to remember.  How come  we just can't chose our last names.  Even newbies know how to do this.  Very confusing though when SL is telling the newbies they must pick

one of the names, they are given to pick.  Best that SL powers that be, let the newbies, pick their own last name.  My last name is Amour.  It will remain Amour, till my partner and I desperate  or untill we no longer live on SL

 

[Lulabells Starlight]

On 1/5/2020 at 9:36 PM, Prokofy Neva said:

Well, there are millions of "Jacks" who didn't get @jack on Twitter, either, but that's life in the big city. There is no need to be sad. Newbies can get a new account with new last names. Many people have more than one account. They are FREE unless you want land, cash, and gifts from the Lab. No reason not to make at this part possible and have done with it.

The Franknap I knew , the very first time I joined SL with him, he is still Franknap

But after we went our separate ways he created a new acct.  -  Franknap1.

so even if the last name you want is not available

you can just put a number behind it

till you see that name is avaiblable

We do NOT need last names assigned to us

Please no going back.  Only going forward

 

[Gregorian Chant]

15 hours ago, wesleytron said:

But it's not really for newbies (unless you consider everybody who joined since you a newbie!) - it's an optional service for existing residents who wish they could have a last name since they found out that was a thing - or just for anybody who wants to change the stupid name they signed up with all those moons ago!

Anyone rezzed after me could be up to 9 years old and they hardly qualify as n00bs after nearly a decade. 

 

15 hours ago, wesleytron said:

So what is MORE 'unfair' is that all those people who signed up since last names were no longer a thing would now have to abandon their accounts and their inventory and sign up just for the privilege of getting a last name. And it is THOSE people who WANT last names in the first place - oldbies have them already. And genuine newbies don't care - at least until they have spent some time in world.

Nobody said those single namers need to abandon their existing accounts for a new name.  They (and everybody else) can pay for the optional service to change or get a new name.  No inventory to forsake.  I'm pretty sure I saw someone mentioned upthread that new sign-ups won't get a last name automatically without paying for it.

 

15 hours ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

16 hours ago, wesleytron said:

I also think that nny idea that newbies want last names and would pay the extra on top of the price of Premium at the point of sign-up is a falsehood - they know nothing about the concept of last names or the SL history, don't care and are not going to pay extra for it at the point of signup - because why at that point would or should they care?

IMO, this is 100% spot on.  Maybe an existing account holder creating a new alt that they specifically want to have a last name for some reason.  However, a totally new person just isn't going to hand over $50+ at signup.

I've never thought of this from the perspective of how a truly fresh newbie might view this.  Thanks for helping me understand with the insight.

[Lulabells Starlight]

On 11/21/2019 at 10:43 AM, Garnet Psaltery said:

Official blog - 

The highlight for me is that there's a contest to choose last names, and you can win one.   

I want to keep my last name - Amour

[LittleMe Jewell]

5 minutes ago, LulabellsAmour said:

I want to keep my last name - Amour

You can keep your name exactly as it is.  Nobody will be forced to change anything.  

[Gregorian Chant]

10 minutes ago, LulabellsAmour said:

I want to keep my last name - Amour

Nothing is going to happen to your name.  Nobody is forcing you to change your username.  Your display name will remain as you like it.  The return of last names the blog post talks about is simply an optional paid service for those who want to change their name.  You don't want it, that's perfectly fine; you're not paying for it.

(upon edit I see @LittleMe Jewell said the same thing. 😉)

Edited January 7, 2020 by Gregorian Chant

[Garnet Psaltery]

4 hours ago, LulabellsAmour said:

I want to keep my last name - Amour

Valentine's Day would be the perfect time for Amour to be chosen as a separate last name, if LL can achieve it.  

[Raevyn Addams]

I'm a little annoyed that we can't choose from the previous list. So for those of us who weren't here when those names were rolled out they're now completely off-limits? That stinks. I'd still happily pay for one of those (everyone knows I want to be Rae Hardy, dammit! If they didn't they do now.) 

With this competition they could have still allowed us to choose our favourites of those AND any new ones we had in mind. I was excited but now I'm irked. 😞

[Fauve Aeon]

I think at least some people signed up with little thought to their user name, then become invested in SL and will want to change it. I think many may just grow out of their name they chose 9+ years ago but don’t want to lose their inventory to start over. Someone named BananaFart Resident might find it a bit difficult to become a land baron or a university liaison or a CSR. I can’t really say the cost is ‘too high’ because I’m not privy to the business model, I guessed it would be $49.99, and possibly tied to premium only (not just one month to snag the change then revert to a free account, is that to beef up the ‘numbers of accounts with premium memberships’ statistic for 2020?). My fiancé predicted the name chance would be ~$20 so was surprised by the price being higher. Both of us would have probably paid it at either price to get a last name. Yes even from a list. We didn’t expect the last name lists to be done differently than they were done the first time. I’m not really sure why they stopped with that system and went to ‘Resident with display names’ with no ability to merge or combine accounts. 

I know some people with the last name ‘Resident’ have long been annoyed by it and are still irked. It’s not really clear at sign-up that you are getting a generic last name of ‘Resident’ while some people have a 2-word name. In IMVU, one of the most-asked things at first is how to get the generic name tag of ‘Guest’ off.  Some people won’t  pay to get the ‘Resident’ off,  some will be quite glad to finally have the option. 
 

I came on the SL grid in February 2008, Fauve Aeon is my first SL account and I stuck with it, it’s not the best name, it’s (unfortunately) hard for people to pronounce in voice (Fauve rhymes with ‘stove’ and Aeon with ‘neon’) and it was chosen in haste...but I’ll stick with it, I’m used to it. I’m not considered an ’oldbie’ just because I have a last name, BTW...there are still quite a few people who will always go by your rez date, which is why we hear a certain amount of the ‘well this isn’t my first account’ business. I’m not even sure how old your account needs to be for ‘oldbie’ classification come to think of it, I’m always looking at your most recent project/interests over your ‘time on the grid’.

Edited January 8, 2020 by Fauve Aeon

[Syo Emerald]

On 1/7/2020 at 6:57 AM, LulabellsAmour said:

We do NOT need last names assigned to us

First of all, nobody "assigns" a lastname to you. Not even +10 years ago. You picked from a list of lastnames. Also: Speak for yourself. 

On 1/7/2020 at 6:57 AM, LulabellsAmour said:

Please no going back.  Only going forward

So you don't want this? Thats fine, but why do you want to deny others what they want, if its not going to affect you?

On 1/7/2020 at 6:57 AM, LulabellsAmour said:

you can just put a number behind it

Which looks absolutly terrible.

On 1/7/2020 at 6:51 AM, LulabellsAmour said:

My last name is Amour.

Its not a "real" lastname though. Its part of your first name and you probably have set your displayname to look like you got first- and lastname. But there are not few people who their lastname to be displayed like it was in the old days. A displayname is not satisfying for many.

Edited January 8, 2020 by Syo Emerald

[Theresa Tennyson]

30 minutes ago, Syo Emerald said:

Its not a "real" lastname though. Its part of your first name and you probably have set your displayname to look like you got first- and lastname. But most people want their lastname to be displayed like it was in the old days. A displayname is not satisfying for many.

Evidence for this statement?

[Syo Emerald]

5 minutes ago, Theresa Tennyson said:

Evidence for this statement?

Ok, I'll take that back. I had based this on my previous years of experiance with countless people coming to the forum wanting lastnames back and the countless questions on how to change names, when people "married" in SL. 

[Alyona Su]

~Redacted~ I misread what I was quoting. ~Facepalms~

Edited January 8, 2020 by Alyona Su

[LittleMe Jewell]

3 hours ago, RaeLeeH said:

I'm a little annoyed that we can't choose from the previous list. So for those of us who weren't here when those names were rolled out they're now completely off-limits? That stinks. I'd still happily pay for one of those (everyone knows I want to be Rae Hardy, dammit! If they didn't they do now.) 

With this competition they could have still allowed us to choose our favourites of those AND any new ones we had in mind. I was excited but now I'm irked. 😞

Not any different that back in the day when a set of names would roll off the list and a new set become available.  I was ticked when I couldn't create a Jewel alt anymore, but that is the way the last name list has always worked.  Once a name rolls off the list, it is never available again.

[Alyona Su]

38 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

Once a name rolls off the list, it is never available again.

And this is what makes many of us unique. (Other than the hate-factor! LOL). I have only ever ran into another SU one time in 13 years, and my alt is Chernov - never once, ever, anywhere have I ever seen anyone else with that name. I have seen a Jewell or two, so you're a boring nobody special, at all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

>JUST KIDDING!<
You are among the more specials anywhere around, actually.

Edited January 8, 2020 by Alyona Su

[wesleytron]

On 1/7/2020 at 5:57 AM, LulabellsAmour said:

Please no going back.  Only going forward

This is going forward. Having the option to change our usernames will be a totally a new feature which has never been offered before.

[Theresa Tennyson]

2 hours ago, Syo Emerald said:

Ok, I'll take that back. I had based this on my previous years of experiance with countless people coming to the forum wanting lastnames back and the countless questions on how to change names, when people "married" in SL. 

There's a Canadian beer called Alexander Keith's India Pale Ale. You've probably never heard of it; it's regional and, at least in the past, it had an unusually hoppy flavor so it isn't a big brand. They acknowledge this - their slogan is "Those who like it, like it a lot."

That's how last names are in Second Life. Those who care about them are obsessed to them, to the point of tracking down off-brand login sites to get last names like "Hurricane" because they were Last Names.

However, not everyone is, even those who have them. Some time ago I was looking at the display names on my friend list and a quite a few people who had last names changed their display name to just their first name, thereby hiding their preshus, preshus last name.  It's also interesting to note that Second Life has now had no last names for new people longer than they had last names.

I joined SL only a couple of weeks before last names were phased out - I'm happy with the one I have but the rest of my alts family don't have them and they're happier with the last names I've picked for them than the one they would have gotten from a list. The whole Resident "nightmare" is only because of people who insist on turning on the display of the last name field when normally it's hidden. Also, it's possible to write scripts so that they automatically use the portion of your display name before the first space as your "first name" - that's how it works with some Drivers of Second Life events.

 

[wesleytron]

16 minutes ago, Theresa Tennyson said:

That's how last names are in Second Life. Those who care about them are obsessed to them, to the point of tracking down off-brand login sites to get last names like "Hurricane" because they were Last Names.

However, not everyone is, even those who have them. Some time ago I was looking at the display names on my friend list and a quite a few people who had last names changed their display name to just their first name, thereby hiding their preshus, preshus last name

Which is a reason why I think the 'last names' thing is just the current 'hook' and marketing used by the announcement. But this isn't the re-introduction of last names per-see (although a last name with be available for those ho want one) - the bigger part of the feature is the introduction of the facility to change your name. Including - if I've understood it all correctly - the choice to not have a last name at all, even if you have one already.

It's for two demographics, of which I suspect the latter is going to be the bigger appeal for many:

1. Those who desire a last name

2. Those who want to just change their name

[Alyona Su]

29 minutes ago, Theresa Tennyson said:

The whole Resident "nightmare" is only because of people who insist on turning on the display of the last name field when normally it's hidden.

This is a misnomer; you can turn off or on "user names" but when turned on, it never shows the last name "Resident" only when there is a last name other than Resident will it show the second name. The second name is never shown anywhere other than when it is via a scripted-function. Thus, it is only needed knowledge for older script-activated objects. Newer scripted objects do not require the second name because when a second name is omitted, it is automatically presumed to be Resident.

You cannot show the name Resident in the viewer unless it is an unusual function of a third-party viewer; the word Resident is always hidden from name tags.