Jammy Voxel

Penny Patton wrote: There are two issues here. First, older residents need to not think of new resident "usernames" as "avatar names". LL has deliberately divorced the two, and that's a good call. The problem as I see it, having gone through the new resident sign up process to see how it differs from previous incarnations, is that Linden Lab does not make a clear distinction to people signing up for the first time. On one hand, they do not let you know that your username will always be visible (having lead to many people using their private e-mail address as their username without the knowledge that this would be visible to all, and they don't do enough to prompt new users into creating a display name. New residents basically choose a username, then get dumped into the grid with that as their display name until they learn to change it on their own. Everything about the new user sign-up and orientation process is poorly thought out and this is no exception. New users should be put through an agressively interactive tutorial/orientation process much like you'd find in a well made videogame. During this usernames should be given the spotlight. As a new resident rezzes for the first time a box should pop up in the middle of their screen prompting them to create a display name. Some examples should be given, driving home that they are choosing a name, not an AOL screenname. Once chosen, they should be shown how to change it and told what limitations there are on this. Oh I couldn't agree more. I complained about this in my own post. And Display Names are their own issue since many people changed their settings so as not to display them, because of issues with them. I really wish I had been more clearly warned that the name I was choosing was going to be a visible first name and not just an account name. And that I was going to have the last name Resident handed to me. I would have made very different choices. It's too late now. I'm invested in this avatar. Maybe someday an alt.

Deltango Vale wrote: Very cool, but there is something confusing that has tricked me on other sites. Username implies a my-eyes-only account name (private) different from an avatar name (public). This made a mess of my first Blue Mars account, for example, where I ended up with an inworld name identical to the quick username I entered on signup. I had to delete the account and go back through the signup process again. Therefore, instead of: "Create a Username" and "You will use your username to login, so don't forget it" The message should be: "Create an Avatar name" and "You will use your avatar name to login, so don't forget it" ETA: I still don't understand why there is only one name space in which everyone must fight for a name. It makes far more sense to have two or even three spaces: forename surname or forename middlename surname. This would greatly increase the number of possible combinations, reducing the 'debbbbie123' problem. This lack of clarity about user (private) name vs avatar (public) name is the gotcha that sticks in my craw. There is still nothing on this new signup page that warns you that the name you choose is not only your account name but also the name by which you will be addressed in world. So if you choose an account name of bananaslug12345, well congratulations, now you're bananaslug12345 Resident and good luck with that.

Irene Muni wrote: Claireschen Hesten wrote: ... i find the most annoying thing about DN's is when unicode/ascii characters are used To9tally agree! I cannot imagine how to chat with a Resident with a name (name???) that I cannot write or speak. And that's the crux of MY problem. During the account setup process there was no warning that the account name was what was really going to serve as the name that most people saw and used to refer to or address a person. I thought the display name would serve that purpose only to slowly discover how wrong I was.

Qwalyphi Korpov wrote: Just a month old could make it easy to start over with a new name you like. Hopefully you didn't spend much money for no-transfer purchases the first month. Make a new account. Transfer over what you can from the old one. Delete. Move on. Well, that is the major problem now. I've spent quite a bit on clothing, etc. It may still be the best solution in the end, albeit a costly one.

Kolby Nissondorf wrote: Display names work just fine I use them to change my name to Mike Nissondorf, but when I click a scripted object, it still shows as my username, is that where your frustration comes through? ~K No, it's in the fact that the account name is what most people see and use as the "display name", essentially. During the account setup process there was no indication that the account name was what was truly going to be used by most people as the "real name" so I didn't know I needed to make it something that wasn't so unwieldy. If I had known that the actual display name was going to be essentially useless I would have been more careful. So, in sum, in my opinion it was a Linden failure to prepare a newb. By the time I began to really understand the ramifications, it was too late.

The part where it annoys me is that when I was creating the account nowhere in the process did it suggest that the account name I was creating was going to serve as a sort of viewable first name, so I didn't make an effort to have it serve as such. I thought the display name would serve that purpose. Obviously, now, people address me by my unwieldy account name rather than my easily remembered display name.

I'm sure there are a million threads on this topic already, and my complaint won't yield any resolution anyway, other than suggestions to start over and make a new account, but I just want to add myself to the list of people who were unpleasantly surprised to be handed a last name of Resident without any warning when creating an account. If I had known that was going to happen I would have set up my chosen portion of my account name much more carefully. And don't get me started on the Display Name. A lot of people don't view them because THEY were broken for awhile, too, I'm told. So, as a newb, just over a month old, I just want to say THANKS FOR NOTHING LINDENS.