the change that name changing... changed

[Pussycat Catnap]

8 minutes ago, Adam Spark said:

Games are an entirely different category with only so much in common with virtual worlds

Only... in that all the ones that offered XXX content are basically dead.
I would have said "and had bad cheesy animations and poor quality game engines" but... those are things they had in common...
 

Otherwise almost everything here is found there and vice versa.

Just one is full of a bunch of boomers that feel "game" brings shame on their toy, and the is full of a bunch of people who have gotten over themselves over that term...

We even had MMOs like Wildstar where people spent most of their time in their houses playing dressup and home decoration and ignoring the mainland...

 

 

That said...

There are so many parallels when it comes to use habits and what keeps people playing that they are essentially the same thing in that regard.

 

Edited April 16, 2020 by Pussycat Catnap

[Adam Spark]

2 minutes ago, Pussycat Catnap said:

Only... in that all the ones that offered XXX content are basically dead.

Otherwise almost everything here is found there and vice versa.

Just one is full of a bunch of boomers that feel "game" brings shame on their toy, and the is full of a bunch of people who have gotten over themselves over that term...

 

That said...

There are so many parallels when it comes to use habits and what keeps people playing that they are essentially the same thing in that regard.

 

Almost everything found here is found there. But there is a lot found there that is not here.

Quests, experience points, storylines, and all things that make games games are not here. SL is no more a game than Facebook is.

[Pussycat Catnap]

Just now, Adam Spark said:

Quests, experience points, storylines, and all things that make games games are not here. SL is no more a game than Facebook is.

You've never been to a RP sim or to Linden Realms then...

 

That you limit your imagination is something you should stop throwing on the rest of us and get over this hangup over "I'm not playing a game, I'm not a child" or whatever the heck the issue is with you people that mentally blocks you from ever accepting any parallels to the outside world...

 

[Adam Spark]

1 minute ago, Pussycat Catnap said:

You've never been to a RP sim or to Linden Realms then...

I never said SL couldn't or don't have games on their platform. You can also buy countless games in-world.

There is a difference between being a game and having sims with games.

[Pussycat Catnap]

I drive an electric vehicle, many people drive ICE cars (Internal Combustion Engine). 90% of the parts, engineering, manufacturing, software, upkeep, usage, and skills of the developers / builders / etc are different.

There is less in common between my EV and an ICE car than between SL and WoW - and yet still I can make comparisons and analogies across them.

 

[Adam Spark]

4 minutes ago, Pussycat Catnap said:

I drive an electric vehicle, many people drive ICE cars (Internal Combustion Engine). 90% of the parts, engineering, manufacturing, software, upkeep, usage, and skills of the developers / builders / etc are different.

There is less in common between my EV and an ICE car than between SL and WoW - and yet still I can make comparisons and analogies across them.

 

WoW is comparable to the RP sims and to Linden Realms. Very much so. Go to a live venue sim or some other business and the comparisons stop at 3D graphics.

[Cristiano Midnight]

1 hour ago, Adam Spark said:

Games are an entirely different category with only so much in common with virtual worlds

My point was the OP said it was the same cost as a AAA game. While MMOs are different from SL, it is still a valid comparison to look at what other online environments are charging for name changes. LL's pricing for this service - requiring Premium and then $40 for a name change is extremely inflated pricing for a service like that.

[Cristiano Midnight]

1 hour ago, Adam Spark said:

I never said SL couldn't or don't have games on their platform. You can also buy countless games in-world.

There is a difference between being a game and having sims with games.

People have argued about whether or not SL is a game from the beginning. Some consider it a game, some don't. Regardless, a $40 charge (with a subscription requirement as well) to change the name of your account is on the high end of the scale for what amounts to an automated update to a database.

[Lindal Kidd]

A hypothetical staff meeting at Linden Lab...

Team Lead:  "We're finally ready to roll out the new Last Names function"
Ebbe:  "Great news!  Got the announcements ready to go?"
Blogs Boss:  "Yep, all set."
Ebbe:  "OK, great.  Now, what are we going to charge?"
All:  "rooba rooba rooba..."
CFO:  "Boss, we researched that.  Most other ga...uh, platforms charge about ten bucks"
Head of Accounting:  "We ought to set the price where we can put it on sale later, if it doesn't sell well right out the gate.  That way, we look magnanimous.  If we have to raise it later, the Residents will raise Cain."
Ebbe:  "Good point.  But it's got to be lower than that damn "corporate" name option.  Only IBM ever bought into that one."
CFO:  "Oh, sure.  Nobody would pay 500 bucks.  But, um...how about a tenth of that...$50?"
Commerce Linden:  "Too much, I think.  Most people who buy $L spend about twenty bucks a pop.  I say we should keep it around that."
Ebbe:  "Hmm.  We'll compromise.  Let's try it at forty.  After all, we don't want everyone changing their name as often as they buy $L."

[Sassy Kenin]

2 hours ago, Cristiano Midnight said:

 to change the name of your account is on the high end of the scale for what amounts to an automated update to a database.

a Dozen Databases, Linden Servers, Amazon Servers, MP, Support, Billing, CDN Nodes, Forum, et cetera. all had to be synced in perfect coordination, 2 years of QC, mistakes could lead to residents unable to log in, massive inventory loss, Disruptions in Friendship Contacts & Groups, massive support delays. but most importantly customer dissatisfaction from a wave of lingering bugs facing anyone who elected to use it.

They could have rushed it out a year ago, dealt with a year of major bug issues, a crowd of pitchfork holders...Instead they went in and did everything right the first time with maybe a few small glitches to touch up. so residents from the start could be happy with there choice, while not having buyer remorse from frustrating bugs.

If anything linden lab has showed impressive skills by the coders & smart choices by management. I'm proud of them.🤗

[Sassy Kenin]

1 hour ago, Lindal Kidd said:

A hypothetical staff meeting at Linden Lab...

Team Lead:  "We're finally ready to roll out the new Last Names function"
Ebbe:  "Great news!  Got the announcements ready to go?"
Blogs Boss:  "Yep, all set."
Ebbe:  "OK, great.  Now, what are we going to charge?"
All:  "rooba rooba rooba..."
CFO:  "Boss, we researched that.  Most other ga...uh, platforms charge about ten bucks"
Head of Accounting:  "We ought to set the price where we can put it on sale later, if it doesn't sell well right out the gate.  That way, we look magnanimous.  If we have to raise it later, the Residents will raise Cain."
Ebbe:  "Good point.  But it's got to be lower than that damn "corporate" name option.  Only IBM ever bought into that one."
CFO:  "Oh, sure.  Nobody would pay 500 bucks.  But, um...how about a tenth of that...$50?"
Commerce Linden:  "Too much, I think.  Most people who buy $L spend about twenty bucks a pop.  I say we should keep it around that."
Ebbe:  "Hmm.  We'll compromise.  Let's try it at forty.  After all, we don't want everyone changing their name as often as they buy $L."

Very possible, in an uncanny way that's how it might have went down.🤣

[Mollymews]

29 minutes ago, Sassy Kenin said:

Very possible, in an uncanny way that's how it might have went down.🤣

i agree. Sometimes the most simple rationale is the correct one  

[Cristiano Midnight]

1 hour ago, Sassy Kenin said:

a Dozen Databases, Linden Servers, Amazon Servers, MP, Support, Billing, CDN Nodes, Forum, et cetera. all had to be synced in perfect coordination, 2 years of QC, mistakes could lead to residents unable to log in, massive inventory loss, Disruptions in Friendship Contacts & Groups, massive support delays. but most importantly customer dissatisfaction from a wave of lingering bugs facing anyone who elected to use it.

They could have rushed it out a year ago, dealt with a year of major bug issues, a crowd of pitchfork holders...Instead they went in and did everything right the first time with maybe a few small glitches to touch up. so residents from the start could be happy with there choice, while not having buyer remorse from frustrating bugs.

If anything linden lab has showed impressive skills by the coders & smart choices by management. I'm proud of them.🤗

Sorry, none of that justifies $40/per name change and requiring premium to do so.

[BelindaN]

My conversion currency is a bottle of wine. If I have doubts on cost I consider how much wine I could get for the same money. 

The $40 I would happily part with to get a name of my choice. But that would be "of my choice".

I looked at the list, and most names are, well, no offence but rubbish. In a sense of why would I want that name.

So for me it's a no sale.

Maybe a "name of your choice" should be a Premium Plus incentive.

[Cristiano Midnight]

Also, to be clear, I do appreciate the effort that went into bringing last names back and allowing name changes. I just think the pricing is exorbitant for the service being provided.

[Sassy Kenin]

4 minutes ago, Cristiano Midnight said:

Sorry, none of that justifies $40/per name change and requiring premium to do so.

It's just an optional service, anyone can just change the display name instead..I would still like to see the option of gifting premium memberships to friends & family..It would be great if they offered a real life merchandise store too, so i could buy an ebbe autographed covfefe cup.. but that's another thread.😉

I think Lindal Kidd already covered the possible rational of costs..maybe some on a budget can wait for a one time discount sale in 6 months or a year.

[Cristiano Midnight]

8 minutes ago, Sassy Kenin said:

It's just an optional service, anyone can just change the display name instead..I would still like to see the option of gifting premium memberships to friends & family..It would be great if they offered a real life merchandise store too, so i could buy an ebbe autographed covfefe cup.. but that's another thread.😉

I think Lindal Kidd already covered the possible rational of costs..maybe some on a budget can wait for a one time discount sale in 6 months or a year.

One does not have to "be on a budget" to think the price of something is too high, especially with the unnecessary premium requirement as well.

[Sassy Kenin]

9 minutes ago, Cristiano Midnight said:

One does not have to "be on a budget" to think the price of something is too high, especially with the unnecessary premium requirement as well.

To Each His Own.

[Solar Legion]

Since it was brought up: originally Blizzard was charging $25 for a Character Name change. Same with changing your BattleTag (the closest equivalent to a Second Life User Name) and guess what? Changing the character name had no effect on the inventory system outside of a simple flag change. Ditto the BattleTag.

Here? They had to change the scripting and other systems to use the raw agentID and even then it is highly likely that some of the asset system still treats the Avatar Name as more than a simple flag.

If you're going to try to make an external comparison, compare it to changing your legal name in real life - you'll be a lot closer to the mark then.

[Mollymews]

14 hours ago, BelindaN said:

My conversion currency is a bottle of wine. If I have doubts on cost I consider how much wine I could get for the same money.

my wine conversion rate is about 1:8.  NZD65 / NZD8. I get the $8 bottles as after the first half-bottle the effect is the same. 😸

[Whisperwind Snowpaw]

9 hours ago, Solar Legion said:

(...) Here? They had to change the scripting (...) If you're going to try to make an external comparison, compare it to changing your legal name in real life - you'll be a lot closer to the mark then.

Well, yes. But actually no!

The extra effort due to lack of coding skill from the original dev team should not factor against customers.

[Qie Niangao]

7 hours ago, Mollymews said:

after the first half-bottle the effect is the same. 😸

A half-bottle of wine should ease the pain of the name change fee, too.

It's interesting that other games even have a paid-for service to change names. I'm no gamer so don't mind me, but I'm kind of surprised anybody would pay anything to change their name anywhere other than SL and RL.

Also, the OP has mentioned a (disappointed) expectation that the fee would be "token" -- but I never had that impression at all, even from the very first I learned Ebbe was committing to making it possible after all these years of requests. Did I miss "nominal fee" claims at some point?

@Lindal Kidd hit the nail on the head: the price is set by Marketing, and surely factors-in some future promotions... either discounts or (more likely) special pricing for Double Plus Premium members. If it were cheap enough to be attractive without a discount then there'd be no way the offer of a discounted price could seem special.

[LittleMe Jewell]

7 hours ago, Mollymews said:

 after the first half-bottle the effect is the same. 😸

Lightweight

 

 

 

[Mollymews]

1 hour ago, LittleMe Jewell said:

Lightweight

i am a cheap night out 😺

 

[Mollymews]

2 hours ago, Qie Niangao said:

 

@Lindal Kidd hit the nail on the head: the price is set by Marketing, and surely factors-in some future promotions... either discounts or (more likely) special pricing for Double Plus Premium members. If it were cheap enough to be attractive without a discount then there'd be no way the offer of a discounted price could seem special.

i think so as well. Its a marketing decision.  At $40 there is room to discount future offerings/packages/promotion like you say

it could be said that $40 will recover the costs faster than $20., but is not always true this.  While $20 might encourage more people to buy, is not always true that the number of people who buy at $20 will total twice as many or more

Edited April 17, 2020 by Mollymews
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