I see that the names conundrum is being discussed again, with a thanks to a blog post from Hamlet Au, followed by a reference to Jira SVC-7125 it seems that there may be some light at the end of the tunnel:
“It’s clear there is a lot of interest in SVC-7125. The intent was for users to specify their last name using the Display Names feature found in users’ profiles, which most Viewers now support. For those that haven’t used Display Names yet, you can also set them on the web: https://my.secondlife.com/settings/profile.
Know that we hear you and value your passion and that we are currently reviewing some of the decisions that were made with the username /Display Names implementation.”
The issue here really though, is that Linden Lab can’t really go back to the old system, one of the reasons they moved to the new system was because they realised that plenty of people didn’t want to fanny around trying to pick a combination of first name and last name that suited them, a single name is easier, however the process really needed more options somewhere down the line.
Linden Lab had the right idea here, make it easier for people to signup, Linden Lab often have the right idea, unfortunately the implementation wasn’t optimal … I’ll let you fill that part in!
The problem with the new one name user names is that everyone automatically gets assigned the last name of Resident to fit in with the legacy system, even though the Resident surname won’t be found if you search using viewer 2, I search for people when I get notifications from scripts that so and so Resident did this and if I add Resident, there are no results, so we’re into square peg round hole territory.
The concept of being able to have more flexibility over your name was again a good one, I don’t mind display names, indeed I use one, but again due to Linden Lab having to respect legacy names and systems, implementation wasn’t optimal. This is the sort of scenario where it’s a tad unfair to blame Linden Lab, they have tried to do the right thing here, the question really is whether the signup system can be improved to allow people to pick any first and surname combination that is not already in use. The old system had a selection of bizarre and theme related surnames, but they were set from a dropdown, you couldn’t choose any surname you like. There was a site that would tell which surnames were available and you could try and get one you liked to appear but to a brand new person, that wasn’t appealing.
However new users come into the brave newish world and see people with surnames and wonder why they can’t have one, all Residents are newer avatars, not all are on new accounts of course. So yes, I’d like to see the option of surnames again but I’d like it to have more flexibility than the old system as well as allowing people to have a blank surname, that will be a challenge because of legacy systems but it offers the most flexibility.
However what I’d really prefer is one account, multiple avatars, if Linden Lab are going to look at the naming system again, they could also look at the master account idea as described in Jira SVC-6212 this would be the ideal time to look at the whole process again. Linden Lab do of course have other things to do, so I wouldn’t expect any moves in the direction of surnames anytime soon.
I don’t really get why this is not feasible. Legacy names can’t be phased out so bringing them back doesn’t really change anything. What they should do is just allow an optional single dot in the username choices which would be the separator for First Last. This method would be compatible with the current system and allow the flexibility to choose any name you wanted before and after the dot.
On Twitter I use Ciaran_Laval, I never even thought about this until someone on another blog said that people shouldn’t think of the one name option as a first name only. That’s exactly what I did when I setup my Twitter account, decided I’d use two names in one box.
But what if Twitter appended Resident to the end of it? Would you still be okay with Ciaran_Laval Resident? That’s why we need the dot. It would discern whether you get Resident or not.
Sorry, I’d skipped to a different point of how we look at the one word box.
Firstname.Lastname is a common naming format, it’s what I use at work for email accounts and that in turn because a display name that looks like a normal name. That would probably be a sensible solution and give people greater choice of names.
I posted some suggestions at my blog some weeks ago (I guess most SL bloggers did).
This is another case of LL running into unintended consequences. They saw the problem with people dropping out of signup at name selection and looked at online games and social networks for solutions. Unfortunately SL does not fit neatly into those boxes. Names have *social* consequences in our world. Complicated “gamer names” are not usable in chat. Display names are creative, but often not usable either.
I support a return to last names that are associated with a calendar era.
It would be fun if LL developed an on line system like a jira for people to suggest and review last names. With a name pool like that LL would not have to invest their own time in finding names.