Last Names - Finally Here

[Ardy Lay]

21 hours ago, rasterscan said:

No, I entered. If they had chosen my suggestion 'Quatermass' they'd be 40 bucks better off already.

Pretty sure they could not put ALL the suggestions in the first edition of the list.  Don't be surprised if your suggestion(s) appear(s) in a later edition.

Edited April 15, 2020 by Ardy Lay
-the +they

[Adam Spark]

5 hours ago, bigmoe Whitfield said:

I know people see that price and go "WHY!!!" but from my stand point as a service provider,  I would prefer my clients not change their name every 20 mintues or every 2 days randomly

You can't do that with Display Names but those are free...

[Pussycat Catnap]

13 minutes ago, Ardy Lay said:

Pretty sure the could not put ALL the suggestions in the first edition of the list.

They could easily have done so.

They could have just made the last name the same as the first:

 

type you last name in the field below:

[.........................................]

 

 

[Ardy Lay]

1 minute ago, Pussycat Catnap said:

They could easily have done so.

They could have just made the last name the same as the first:

 

type you last name in the field below:

[.........................................]

 

 

I won't speculate why that isn't done.  Others have beat me to that.

[Adam Spark]

2 hours ago, Evangeline Ling said:

Actually "Covfefe" has become a popularly chosen twitter handle among Trump supporters.  Sort of the same way they began referring to themselves as "Deplorables" after Clinton used that term against them.

It is a classic thing to take something that was once a slam or a dig and then self identify with it.

My guess is it will be a mixture of the two... Personally i dont really care who chooses the name and why... I just think its a dumb thing to invite political controversy to your SL by choosing a name so closely identified with RL politics.

Some people will choose the name without knowing the relation to anything Donald Trump. I read the list and only through this forum discussion later did I have any known reason to associate it to the American president.

This is a global platform.

Some will choose it because they like the name.

Just sayin.

[Adam Spark]

2 hours ago, Wulfie Reanimator said:

If it was a one-time fee of $50, you wouldn't be a Premium and see what that's about. It's called onboarding, a way for a user to get in and experience all the features.

Its pretty easy to see what premium is about without signing up. That's why Linden Lab lists the features on its website.

It makes far more economic sense to charge for volume. Lower the price and open it up to everyone.

Or add it to the easily accessible list of premium features and consider a slight bump in monthly fee, justified by the extra value. In the long run, that is more revenue than a one time fee.

[Adam Spark]

1 hour ago, Ardy Lay said:

Actually, yes.  That's pretty much exactly what they did.  Did you miss the contest?  What I would like to know is how many of there WERE NOT taken from the contest entries.

Well they said from the beginning they were only going to use 8 submissions. The point of the contest was an opportunity to award free name changes to winners. Actually, originally they were going to select even less, but they grew the number because they liked so many. The contest was never about feedback solicitation or list filling. 8 of the names came from the contest, as intended and known publicly for some time now.

[Rathgrith027]

6 hours ago, Parhelion Palou said:

Wake up. You can have a custom last name for the low, low price of only $500 per year.

You know, I'm getting very sick and tired of people saying this when you look at the fine print and realize that's not actually a thing.

And since people fail to understand that, I'm going to be blunt as all get out and tell you WHY.

Pursuant to SL's Custom Name Policy:
 

• Upon creation of a custom surname, the account designated as owner will be billed a US$500 setup fee plus the first annual US$500 fee. On each anniversary date, the owner will be billed US$500 to retain custom surname ownership. Last names must clearly be an organizational or corporate name, and distinguished from personal last names (surnames). For example, "Smith" is not acceptable, but "SmithCorp," "SmithInc," "SmithProducts" or "SmithConstruction" are. Linden Lab will consider names that are clearly made up or composite (for example, "SecondLife" or "Agilent").

This is not for consumers. This is for corporations, and if you took one second to look at the fine print of it, you would see that.

Edited April 14, 2020 by Rathgrith027

[Arie Spicy]

Why do premium members have to pay for name changes when we pay you all $99 a year? I feel as though basic members should be the ones paying $39.99 for the name changes and premium members get that option free for the first time due to the fact we already pay for OUR premium membership.

 

 

 

[LittleMe Jewell]

25 minutes ago, Adam Spark said:

Well they said from the beginning they were only going to use 8 submissions. The point of the contest was an opportunity to award free name changes to winners. Actually, originally they were going to select even less, but they grew the number because they liked so many. The contest was never about feedback solicitation or list filling. 8 of the names came from the contest, as intended and known publicly for some time now.

Actually they said that they were going to select - originally 5, then 8 - to be contest winners and those would get a free name change. They never specified whether or not they would use other names suggested, but I always assumed they would.

As it turns out, based on someone else's post, everyone that suggested one of the names in that first batch is going to get a free name change.

[LittleMe Jewell]

1 minute ago, RealLoveit said:

Why do premium members have to pay for name changes when we pay you all $99 a year? I feel as though basic members should be the ones paying $39.99 for the name changes and premium members get that option free for the first time due to the fact we already pay for OUR premium membership.

 

 

 

Because LL said so.  Their platform, their rules.

[Rathgrith027]

7 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

Because LL said so.  Their platform, their rules.

The king can demand my head cut off, but it doesn't make it right, Jewell.

Or more aptly - the king can tax me out the hoo-ha for simply decorating my house, but it doesn't make it right.

Edited April 14, 2020 by Rathgrith027

[Marigold Devin]

7 minutes ago, RealLoveit said:

Why do premium members have to pay for name changes when we pay you all $99 a year? I feel as though basic members should be the ones paying $39.99 for the name changes and premium members get that option free for the first time due to the fact we already pay for OUR premium membership.

 

 

 

I would guess that it's because Linden Lab saw a great opportunity to make more money out of the residents. Supply and demand. People have been demanding last names for ages, and Linden Lab would prefer it if everyone signed up for a premium account, and I guess premium account holders would like to feel more special than non-premium account holders. But I am just guessing. 

[Arie Spicy]

.

Edited April 14, 2020 by RealLoveit
Sighs

[LittleMe Jewell]

7 minutes ago, Rathgrith027 said:

11 minutes ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

12 minutes ago, RealLoveit said:

Why do premium members have to pay for name changes when we pay you all $99 a year? I feel as though basic members should be the ones paying $39.99 for the name changes and premium members get that option free for the first time due to the fact we already pay for OUR premium membership.

Because LL said so.  Their platform, their rules.

The king can demand my head cut off, but it doesn't make it right, Jewell.

Or more aptly - the king can tax me out the hoo-ha for simply decorating my house, but it doesn't make it right.

I never said if it was right or wrong.  The question was WHY followed by an expression of the person's feelings about it.  I simply answered the WHY.

[Arie Spicy]

2 minutes ago, Marigold Devin said:

I would guess that it's because Linden Lab saw a great opportunity to make more money out of the residents. Supply and demand. People have been demanding last names for ages, and Linden Lab would prefer it if everyone signed up for a premium account, and I guess premium account holders would like to feel more special than non-premium account holders. But I am just guessing. 

Why did they take them just to bring them back with a cost? It sucks

[Vanity Fair]

14 hours ago, Scylla Rhiadra said:

I understand this perspective entirely. And US$ 40 does seem a trifle steep to me -- although part of me is thankful that the cost probably means that people on my friends list won't be changing their names every two weeks.

I think that LL has found themselves in a bad spot, and were pretty much going to be damned if they did, and damned if they didn't.

On the one hand, offering this now, at this rate, does seem a bit insensitive, given the current state of the world economy, and the number of residents who are likely suffering financially.

On the other, they're already very late with this, and to have delayed it further would have caused howls of outrage from those who have been impatiently awaiting it.

A nice compromise might have been to offer it now, but at a discount, as a tip of the hat to the dreadful times we are in. But I suspect that the biggest infusion of cash from this is likely to be the initial one, as those most eager for this (and still able to afford it) rushed to opt in, and they might be reluctant to forgo that.

I AM beginning to think that LL should do something -- I'm not sure what -- as a sort of "gift to residents in light of the current crisis. Maybe some sort of freebie that doesn't cut too deeply into their bottom line? A number of inworld merchants, of course, are doing something like this. I don't know, but I think it would be good public relations at the least. 

I have editorialized my thoughts about the cost of avatar name changes here, after I figured out that, AT MINIMUM, it would cost me EIGHTY CANADIAN DOLLARS at the current exchange rate to change my avatar's name. Rather than risk a ban for linking to my blog (you all know where to find me, anyway), I will just re-post an excerpt from what I said there over here:

----

But if I had just wanted to change my avatar name, how much would I have to spend at minimum? I would have had to upgrade from Basic to Premium for one month on the Monthly plan (US$11.99 per month). Then, I would have to pay a one-time name change fee of US$39.99 to be able to change my avatar’s first and/or last names. Then, I would have to cancel my Premium membership once I had changed my avatar name (at least, that’s how I understand it would work).

That works out to a grand total of US$51.98. Now, factor in the exchange rate between the Canadian dollar and the American dollar, and that works out to an eye-watering CA$78.99.

Yes, you read that right—ALMOST EIGHTY DOLLARS FOR A NAME CHANGE. That is approximately double what I was expecting to pay for such a feature. This is outrageous.

Because of the economic damage wrought by the coronavirus pandemic, many non-American currencies are losing value against the American dollar, which has traditionally been seen as a “safe haven” for investors (along with gold) during times of economic distress. The Canadian dollar has gotten hammered, and it makes everything I do in Second Life much more expensive than it would normally be: the cost of a Premium membership (I now have three), buying Linden dollars, etc.

In a recent interview on Lab Gab, Linden Lab CEO Ebbe Altberg was asked about those people who are experiencing difficulties in paying for sims due to pandemic-related financial difficulties (with Second Norway being a recent example, where the owner cited the failing Norwegian krone exchange as part of his problems making ends meet). Ebbe encouraged those users to call the Support team to discuss their particular situations, which would be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.

Well, that might be well and good for major landlords in Second Life who are struggling to make ends meet. But I rather doubt that the Second Life Support team is going to help me out by offering to lower the cost of an avatar name change because it’s so goddamn expensive in Canadian dollars

Obviously, Linden Lab is going to make some serious coin off this new feature. They have a decade of pent-up demand, after all. But non-Americans, whose currencies are suffering in comparison to the mighty U.S. dollar, are getting walloped. I really don’t see how many people around the world can afford this service.

I mean, for eighty Canadian dollars, I could outfit my avatar from head to toe in a new mesh head and body, and still have money left over to go shopping for new hair, clothing, and shoes. What’s the better use of my money in SL, my appearance or a name change? You’re going to have to have some seriously compelling reasons to spend that much cash, just to change what other people see when they look at you in their SL viewer.

And, at a time when many are facing mounting economic hardship, when people are losing hours of work, gigs, or even entire livelihoods during this pandemic, these fees seem particularly harsh, tone-deaf and out-of-touch.

And it’s not just non-Americans I am thinking about here; many Americans now face unprecedented economic hardship, too. A virtual world like Second Life is probably not going to rank too terribly high when people are more worried about how to pay their mortgage or feed themselves and their families.

Frankly, this just makes Linden Lab look greedy. Not a particularly good look at a time like this.

[LittleMe Jewell]

2 minutes ago, RealLoveit said:

Why did they take them just to bring them back with a cost? It sucks

They has some study that told them that during the sign up process, way back in the day, it was the page of choosing a last name where people bailed and didn't complete the signup.  So they removed the last names, hoping to get more signups.  No clue if that actually worked for them or not.

[Marigold Devin]

Just now, RealLoveit said:

Why did they take them just to bring them back with a cost? It sucks

It does kind of suck, you are right.  Like in Real Life, if someone seems to have something for free at one time, and then there becomes a charge for it at a later date.  And I can only speculate as to why Linden Lab are charging for this, on top of premium membership.  From a financial point of view, it may be one of the best decisions they made, as I believe a heck of a lot of people, with more than one avatar, will be happy to pay the charge, and that will cover some of the losses Linden Lab have made over the years with certain projects.  

[Vanity Fair]

10 hours ago, Bartholomew Gallacher said:

It's good that it has finally been launched, by the price tag coming with it is just ridiculously overpriced. Especially for something which you would get 10 years ago for free, and nobody asked for its removal back then anyway. It's pure insolence.

LL should have instead made it maximum around the average price of a common state of the art mesh head or body for every resident, and cutting the fee in half if you got three month or longer premium status. Something like that.

For comparison: if you want to rename one of your characters in Blizzard's cash cow MMORPG World of Warcraft you've got to pay 10US$ for it.

I'll go you one better. In the Welcome Centre at Sinespace, there is a panel you can click to change your avatar name. Cost?100 Gold (which works out to US$1.00)

Edited April 14, 2020 by Vanity Fair

[Vanity Fair]

10 hours ago, Jenna Huntsman said:

Does anyone know how often the list updates? I want to change both my first and last name but I don't like any of the given options (LL -- why isn't the list longer?) so will wait until the next cycle to see if I like any of those names

In the old days, Linden Lab would rotate last names as infrequently as every six months and as frequently as every two weeks ("Fair" was only up for a two-week period in 2008, for example).

Edited April 14, 2020 by Vanity Fair

[Wulfie Reanimator]

26 minutes ago, Rathgrith027 said:

You know, I'm getting very sick and tired of people saying this when you look at the fine print and realize that's not actually a thing.

And since people fail to understand that, I'm going to be blunt as all get out and tell you WHY.

Pursuant to SL's Custom Name Policy:
 

• Upon creation of a custom surname, the account designated as owner will be billed a US$500 setup fee plus the first annual US$500 fee. On each anniversary date, the owner will be billed US$500 to retain custom surname ownership. Last names must clearly be an organizational or corporate name, and distinguished from personal last names (surnames). For example, "Smith" is not acceptable, but "SmithCorp," "SmithInc," "SmithProducts" or "SmithConstruction" are. Linden Lab will consider names that are clearly made up or composite (for example, "SecondLife" or "Agilent").

This is not for consumers. This is for corporations, and if you took one second to look at the fine print of it, you would see that.

You forgot the part that says: Linden Lab will consider names that are clearly made up or composite (for example, "SecondLife" or "Agilent").

It doesn't need to end in Corp/Inc/LTD/corporate speak. It just can't be something that sounds like a real surname, like Smith, Johnson, Williams, Miller, Wilson, etc.

Twitch, Streemr, Seamstress, Newguy, Paladin, [insert name you want], etc. would be up for consideration. Besides, Oz himself linked that page in response to someone else wanting a unique name. If you really wanna pay that fee, you can always ask if the name you want is up for approval. There's no requirement that you have to have a corporation of any kind.

[Vanity Fair]

4 hours ago, Tari Landar said:

So let's call the fee what it is, LL's greed. Greed isn't always a bad thing, businesses are designed to make money, that is the bottom line of every business, they need to make money. They will, in fact, make a lot MORE money on this if people do choose to change their names frequently, which I am guessing someone at the helm has suggested, thereby increasing what most would consider a reasonable fee for something like this, to unreasonable.  We may not know exact numbers for a while of people willing to pay these fees for a name change, but let's not pretend those numbers are going to be small. We all know people will throw their money at whatever they want, when they want, whether or not others think it reasonable (and I'm not judging people that do...so, don't go there, lol...your money, do what you want with it). 

This. THIS. And at a time when millions of people around the world are losing their jobs and facing economic hardship, I think this fee is outrageous and tone-deaf. Linden Lab is coming across as greedy, and frankly it's not a very flattering look nowadays.

Edited April 14, 2020 by Vanity Fair

[Vanity Fair]

2 hours ago, Ardy Lay said:

Actually, yes.  That's pretty much exactly what they did.  Did you miss the contest?  What I would like to know is how many of there WERE NOT taken from the contest entries.

Well, *I* submitted Hijinks. I assume all these names were non-winning contest entries. (Including, of course, the winning names). What better way to come up with a list of last names? The contest was essentially free labour for Linden Lab. We crowdsourced the list of last names they'll be using for years. 

Edited April 14, 2020 by Vanity Fair

[Amina Sopwith]

Oh my God, I just got a laugh from a Linden! I'm so excited!

Edited April 14, 2020 by Amina Sopwith
Embed the gif. Third time lucky.