Ciaran Laval brings word that Linden Lab may well be making moves to “hide” the server Release Candidate (RC) channels away from casual viewing.
I’ve written in the past about RC channels and how they work, commenting on the three most widely recognised channels of BlueSteel, Magnum and Le Tigre (while there are others on a smaller scale that may come and go according to needs). Currently, one can find out if the region one is on or visiting is running on an RC channel in a couple of easy ways:
A pop-up will announce the fact that you are running on an RC channel (or, for that matter, the primary release channel) whenever you teleport to a region running on a different version of the simulator software
You can open HELP and the ABOUT option for your Viewer and see what version of the server software the region you’re in is running
Now that is apparently about to change, and the information removed, hidden, tippex’d out or fudged over in some manner because, apparently, Oskar and others at the Lab feel the information is too easy to find, and people then start complaining about issues they are having and blaming it on the fact that they’re on an RC channel; something which may well have absolutely no bearing on the issues they are experiencing.
Well, I’d like to say I’m sympathetic to Oskar’s plight – but actually I’m not.
The solution to the issue isn’t to simply hide information about the RC channels because it is “too easy” to find. The correct solution is to engage with your users, explain the situation to them and tell them why the RC channel they may be on probably isn’t to blame for their woes.
Hiding the information or fudging it, or whatever solution Oskar and the team comes up with doesn’t remove the problem – it simply obfuscates matters.
There is a forum for server releases. There is a bloody technology section to the Linden Lab’s own blog. So why aren’t the Lab using them? If there is an issue with people understanding the purpose of the RC channels and how they work and so making incorrect assumptions, then is it really that hard to blog / post a couple of educational items on the subject to help enlighten people?
OK, so – as Ciaran points out – doing so might not stop all those complaints about RC channels “causing” people issues – but it’s fair to say it’ll go a long way towards stemming the flow – and it will put information out into the public domain that users themselves can point to and help others understand the nuances of the release process and why problems may well be unrelated (or not) to the server version someone is sitting on.
Rodvik – I’ve asked before, and I’ll ask again – just what have you people at the Lab got against constructive, on-going engagement, using all the tools at your disposal, with your user community as a whole? Precisely when will we see the uptake in improved communications from the Lab you yourself promised us back in May of this year?
Both state that among other things, Kimberly Salzer was responsible for the most recent communications regime at Linden Lab which not only regimented internal communications, but also impacted how the Lab engages and communicates with the user community and the world at large.
If this is true, then I would tend to stand on Will’s side of the fence where her departure is concerned. It’s an inescapable fact that since late last year (Kim Salzer arrived at the Lab in September 2010), outward communications have not so much continued to decline as they have apparently tumbled headlong into a void.
The inability for the Lab to effectively and efficiently engage and communicate with its own user community is nothing new; it’s a fact of life, sadly. Regular readers of this blog will know it is something I’ve repeatedly banged on about over the course of the last couple of years. Indeed, such was the downturn during the first quarter of this year, that I wrote at some length on the need for, and value in, more constructive engagement from Linden Lab towards its user base.
Catherine Smith
The origins for the collapse can be traced back to early 2008, when after years of encouraging users to embrace and use the company’s trademark, it was announced that henceforth there would be a new Trademark Policy which would severely curtail people’s ability to use it. This initiative was spearheaded by Catherine Smith (Catherine Linden) who was at that time Linden Lab’s Director of Marketing. That the company had the right to define how and where its trademark could be used was never the issue; the problem was the way in which the company summarily went about setting up the new rules, which many saw as a betrayal of Lab / user trust.
It was the start of a long and steady decline in open communications between Lab and the user community which has, in many respects, now reached rock bottom. In the course of the last twelve months alone we’ve seen:
Amanda Van Nuys
Amanda Van Nuys (Amanda Linden, another now ex-Linden Lab Marketing executive – spotting a trend here?) announcing the forthcoming arrival of the new Community Communications Platform (CCP) – and then promptly championing its future use by telling users that actually, if they want to keep up with the news from LL, then really they should go elsewhere.
In a near total re-hash of the Jive platform roll-out two or so years previously, LL ignored all requests for a General Discussion forum to be included in the new CCP. Instead, on rolling it out, they instigated a heavy-handed moderation process, arbitrary shutting down threads and discouraging discourse. At the same time they introduced some kind of “keep it clean” censorship policy that meant, as Ciaran Laval memorably blogged, the name “Dick van Dyke” became “bleep van bleep”. The result of these actions were to a) actively discourage the use of the new platform, driving many users elsewhere; b) turn the whole CCP into something of an item of derision.
Office Hours have, for a variety of reasons, have been replaced by User Group meetings. Some of these have thrived, but when reading the transcripts of others (when available), the information flow out of LL in these meetings often comes across as cautious and stilted – almost as if staff have been told to mind what they say to the point of being unable / unwilling to say anything at all.
JIRA policy was arbitrarily changed. Rather than voting for issues, people were told that, henceforth, they’d have to watch issues. Given the fact the watching leads to people receiving an e-mail each and every time someone else comments on (or otherwise edits) an issue, and that for hot topics, this can lead to dozens of e-mails per day hitting one’s in-box, this could only be interpreted as an attempt by LL to actively discourage people from engaging in the JIRA.
Any attempt at structured communication seems to have ended. I’ve nothing against the company using Facebook, Twitter, Plurk and what have you, as long as they are consistent in the use of such channels. The problem is, LL isn’t. Rather, what seems to be in place is a “heads-its-the-blog-tails-its-Twitter” approach. And while it is good to see the CEO engaging in discourse on third-party forums, even going so far as to provide information on upcoming changes to things like the Viewer, one has to ask why the hell such conversations aren’t being encouraged in LL’s own blogs and forums.
It’s fair to say that during the first four months of the year, communications from the Lab were close to non-existent to any meaningful degree. Tateru Nino summed it up beautifully by referring to it as “The Silence of the Lab”. It’s something I’ve failed to understand, particularly as Kim Salzer came to Linden Lab from Blizzard, a company known for its willingness to engage with (and indeed listen to) its user community through its blogs and fora.
Come May, Rod Humble was indicating (via Twitter) that we could expect a resumption in communications from the Lab. If only that were so. Other than totally vapid “monthly updates”, we’ve seen very little improvement in the use of the channels at LL’s disposal, much less a more disciplined use of their own Community Communications Platform.
The other side of the coin is in the matter of the Lab’s outward communications to the world at large – and here things are, in many respects, very much worse. Simply put, and as Tateru comments on her blog, Linden Lab appears to have relinquished all control over the presentation of the Second Life brand to third-parties – many of whom do not have the brand’s best interests at heart.
The most recent example of this is Dan and Chip Heath – and forgive me fr bringing this up again; it’s been done to death a dozen times over, I know, but it does serve as a timely example.
In their latest book, they offer up Second Life as an example of a “failed” venture. To them, Second Life is dead and done. That their viewpoint is largely incorrect isn’t actually the point in the context of this piece. Rather the issues of note here are that:
They picked on Second Life as an example of a failed enterprise (note past tense);
Of all the chapters in the book, it was the one on Second Life that media outlets chose to go to press about.
However you look at it and regardless of the inaccuracy of the Heath brother’s conclusions, both these points demonstrate that the prevalent view among pundits and the media alike is that Second Life has failed and should thus be referred to in the past tense. Not, I would venture to suggest, the kind of message most companies would want to have in the mainstream media regarding their sole product.
Nor do LL particularly help themselves. The last time LL issued a press release was December 2010. That’s an awfully long time ago; which is odd, because there is much going on in SL that is worth celebrating and promotion in the media. Indeed, LL actually do keep track of things that reflect positively on Second Life through the In The News page (although admittedly, you’d never know they actually had an In The News page given the distinct lack of obvious links to it – great going on the communications front again, guys).
Again, one doesn’t expect LL to create a song-and-dance about absolutely everything that happens in SL and which gets a positive light shone upon it; but by the same token, it doesn’t mean all should be left with only passing mention.
Take the SL Relay For Life. This is a stunning annual event which this year smashed all records: $375,000 USD raised – $100,000 more than the hoped-for target – which took the total raised by the event in-world over the years to over the $1 million USD mark. However you look at it, this is a remarkable achievement, one deserving of being placed squarely in the public eye, as indeed ACS did, yet Linden Lab gave it little more than passing mention.
Given the lack of this kind of pro-active management – which any marketing executive should be able to handle – is it any real wonder that the media at large refer to Second Life in the past tense?
Communications are the lifeblood of an organisation. Yes, they can be difficult to manage where there is the added complication of a large and active user base – but this doesn’t mean they should be pushed to one side and looked upon as anathema (which is only how one can view LL’s own reluctance to openly engage with its user community). Similarly, outward engagement with the press is a vital part of any organisation’s activities: you either control the message and respond to misleading and potentially damaging articles – or you allow others to define the message for you, and allow their perceptions control how others see you.
Tateru hopes that we’ve now hit rock bottom, and the only direction left is up. Frankly, and despite my enthusiasm for the platform and the overall technical direction LL are taking, I’m not so sure. In terms of communications over the last four years (2008-2011), LL have behaved like an existential elevator, demonstrating that whenever down isn’t an option, there’s always sideways until such time as entropy resumes its natural course.
So, another part of the Premium package is the use of exclusive sandboxes. I’m fortunate enough to have a build platform of my own right now – but what would it be like using one of them if I didn’t?
Some twenty sandboxes are available for use by Premium members in five groups of four apiece:
Note that all of the sandbox with the exception of the last four above are rated General. Bricker, Colborne, Goyer and Teagano are all rated Adult. All are subject to the usual rules: no combat, selling, gambling, advertising, boxes cleared-down every four hours, etc.
For those interested in trying the Linden Realms game, you’ll also find a portal on one of the sandboxes in each of the groups of four.
Performance-wise they all seemed pretty good: on Firestorm I was hitting 38-40 fps on average, even when building, lag was minimal ( shared the sandbox I was in with two other large builds).
I spent a happy time re-working my personal version of Fallingwater (yay for 64m prim sizes!), and while I have rarely used sandboxes in the past, I have encountered the odd problem in public sandboxes elsewhere, I found my time passed as quietly and as uninterrupted asit does building at home.
Happy building
The whole idea of Premium sandboxes struck me as “Meh,” before; but as I said, I have the luxury of having space to build, so seeing something like this as a benefit escaped me. Now I’ve tried four out (yup, I actually bounced around trying-out different regions!), I can see why they could well be attractive.
Certainly places to keep in mind should I ever opt to downsize land holdings!
Linden Homes came about some time after I’d given up my original Premium account and when they first arrived, I wasn’t overly impressed. I found some of the regions unimaginative, and most of them rather crowded. However, as I’m back on Premium, I thought I might as well exercise my option of having one, if only to see what the process is like.
Typical Tahoe (click to enlarge)
For those unfamiliar with Linden Homes, and to save repeating things here:
You can find essential information in the knowledge base
Before leaping-in and selecting a Linden Home, it is worthwhile preparing the ground:
Read through the links above – especially the knowledge base article, the FAQ and the Linden Home Reference Guide
Visit the themed regions before you decide on which theme / style to go for – first hand experience outweighs leaping in blind and then finding you’d rather be elsewhere. Get a feel for the look of each theme and a taste of how the regions perform on your computer; view the various styles first-hand (while respecting people’s privacy!). You can reach the themed estates via their info hubs:
Meadowbrook Infohub – modern look apartment-style units, minimal landscaping
Tahoe Infohub – A-frame houses in a more rural setting
Elderglen Infohub – fantasy environment with a strong lean towards Tolkien
Once you are suitably informed and have an idea of the theme you’d like, hop over to the Registration Page to select your preferred home theme / style.
The main registration page is in two parts: on the left is a drop-down list for the various themes, with previews of the available styles shown below it. Click on a given preview image, and it is displayed in a larger size on the right of the page, together with further images you can flick through.
Again, some points to bear in mind:
As stated above, it’s worth seeing the various themes in situ, rather than relying on the images along, if you’ve not already done so
Not all the styles for a theme may be displayed (for example, Meadowbrook has 9 styles, but it appears rare for more than four or five to be displayed in the registration page at any one time)
If the style of house you’re seeking isn’t displayed, try reloading the page a few times – this can cause the listings to update
Available styles tend to vary
If the style you want still doesn’t appear, leave the page a while and come back to it.
Once you have selected your preferred style, enter a name for it and click NEXT. A confirmatory page is displayed, outlining your choice, with the nine covenant rules relating to the use of a Linden Home. You need to tick the check box relating to these rules and click the ACCEPT button in order for your order to be processed, or if you have a change of heart, you can go back and changed things before accepting.
Typical Elderglen (click to enlarge)
The order processing takes a couple of minutes to complete, after which a final page is displayed, listing the region in which your house is located, together with a SLurl, together with assorted additional links intended to help you get started with your new home. An e-mail containing this information is also sent to you as additional confirmation.
And that’s it! All that remains is to log-in to SL (if you’re not already) and go see your house!
So, What did I Get?
In the end and after careful explorations, I opted for the Tahoe theme purely on the basis of performance; I found this theme to be the least laggy for my PC. Firestorm also handled it somewhat better than the other theme regions, where I’d invariably crash after about 15 minutes of moving around – a novel experience for me when using Firestorm. Viewer 3 did tend to manage things better – but with appallingly low frame rates.
Outside my Linden Home
My specific choice of Tahoe house was the Aspen (my thanks to @SecondLife on Twitter for getting Aspen actually back onto the registration page options!). This, to me, offers the greatest flexibility for customisation.
Customising
Linden Homes can be customised in terms of textures and appearance via the web-based house control / configuration options. These present the textures specific to your house style and make applying them very easy. If you want, you can also load the texture sets for other house styles in the theme and try those out.
For the intrepid of mind, there are also texture packs available from the local info hubs that allow you to use the textures common to your house theme to make any additions of your own more readily match your chosen decor.
Tahoe “Aspen” default interior – note angled wall on the right
For my Aspen, I opted to understake a minor make-over, adding an additional vertical interior wall, net curtains on the end windows for add privacy without having to shutter the windows entirely, and a galleried bedroom loft. This claimed a total of 16 prims from my allowance of 117.
The new additions – wall, loft and net curtains
To get a feel for the place once furnished, I “borrowed” my PrimPossible furniture and added a few of my own. These gave me a comfortable home, complete with piano, pictures, some lighting of my own and a potted plant, all for a grand total of 23 prims.
The furnished house with lighting
Opinion
The process for obtaining a house is well-designed and easy to follow; the only potential issue being the fact that all the styles for a given theme may not always be available. Patience tends to win out when this does happen – most styles eventually turn up over the course of a day or two.
There’s nothing particularly eye-catching in the Linden Homes; build quality is good, but not especially outstanding; texturing is kept to 512×512 for better loading, so can appear a little blurry and flat when seen up-close. Houses with upper floors tend to have ye olde ramp rather than stairs of any description, which gives them a very dated feel. As they are intended as a “first step” on the property ladder in SL, much of this is possibly deliberate to encourage people to move on to bigger and better. So the best way of describing the Linden Homes is “workman-like”.
One point worthy of mention is that given the way houses are crammed together in some of the themes, it’s probably worthwhile invoking parcel privacy (if your Viewer supports it). This prevents your own chat being overheard from outside, and protects you from overhearing others.
As for the house I now have – well, I’m not sure what I’ll do with it. It’s no substitute for my “real” SL home, true enough. But on the other hand, now it’s sorted out, it’s not actually too bad. I also like the idea of having a little pied-à-terre I can use on occasion, so I might hang on to it for a little while!
Important update Nov 8th: Viale Linden dropped me a DM to state a confirmatory e-mail is sent out on upgrading. I’ve again check my spam folders & in-box, and can find no sign of receiving one – but as noted below, I did encounter an issue with Firefox when upgrading, and that could very easily have thrown a spanner in the works.
Ergo, I’m happy to correct this piece vis-a-vis the fact LL do sent out e-mails.
Once upon a time, I had a Premium account. For various reasons, I ended up at Basic and swore I wouldn’t upgrade again. Period. Never. Nada. Niet. Non. No chance in hell. Forget it.
Yesterday, I re-upped.
Yeah, I know. Some of you are no doubt thinking my middle name might well be “mug” – but if so, it sits alongside “optimist”, and as I’ve noted elsewhere, I’m feeling very optimistic about SL and LL. Something I’ll return to later :).
…There’s also that blasted Project LR game …
No, seriously. Thought it was time to put money where mouth is and give things a go once more. Call it a frivolous spend of a birthday gift.
So – the upgrade process. Simple enough. Click on an upgrade button on the website, then choose your payment preference:
Note the VAT… I’ll come back to that.
Choose the option that suits your pocket (annual is obviously the most cost-effective), and click SAVE CHANGES.
Now – I have to admit, I have no idea what happens after you do; I was upgraded, but my web browser (Firefox 7.0.1) locked on me loading the next page (an increasing issue I’m having with it, despite clearing cache, history, etc., routinely); clearing it left me with other issues I’m still trying to sort out.
In my original piece, I failed to receive an e-mail notifcation of the upgrade. Viale – as per the update at the top of this piece has indicated that e-mails are sent out, so I’ve removed my comments, as they don’t reflect what should happen.
Of Rewards and Bits
Once upgraded, I took time out to collect my exclusive gift. Some have mistakenly taken these as being offered monthly, and I’ve heard grumbles in fora about the initial set of furniture “still” being on offer. However, in their original blog post about the launch of the gifts and bits, LL actually said, ““Premium members will regularly receive exclusive virtual items that you won’t find anywhere else.” [My emphasis].
Note the word “regularly” – not “monthly”. This could mean bi-monthly, quarterly, half-yearly… As it is, I rather suspect the next round of gifts will be in the run-up to Christmas, and will be suitably themed.
As to the current offering, the furniture is very nicely styled and presented,but – as an established user, I again stand by what I’ve said previously: furniture and lighting isn’t something many established users are likely to need, as they’ll have an inventory packed with them. It’s also a little discomfiting when one considers balancing such gifts against encouraging people to engage in the SL economy and buy things and also the sticky question of how LL go about selecting merchants, commissioning gifts, etc.
Setpember gift: 47 prims and nicely styled. But…
But still, as pretty as it is, I’ll not be using my little gift.
Stipend is often cited as the major benefit for signing-up to Premium: L$300 a week back in your account, together with a bonus of L$1000 your account is Active for the first 45 days after upgrading. Stipend isn’t what it once was, but so the times change.
Those paying annual membership stand to gain the most (obviously) where the weekly stipend is concerned. Someone joining in the US, for example, sees approximately 62% of a $72 fee coming back to them in-world over the course of a year. Those of us in Europe, however, aren’t so lucky. VAT means this is substantially cut to a return of only 38.6%. Again, this isn’t LL’s fault, but it could be an offsetting factor when considering Premium and the benefits as a whole – particularly as not everyone in Europe is in a position to reclaim VAT paid. But – c’est la vie; what is there is welcomed.
Of the rest of the rewards, the Linden Home interests me the most. When I initially reviewed them. I’m not sure all my concerns have been realised, although the regions devoted to Linden Homes have continued to grow (but not all are fully occupied, LL appear ro keep a “float” of regions) – but it does seem from comments passed at SLCC 2011 that the houses aren’t working as expected. When launched, they were seen as a means of kick-starting people not on the SL property ladder into getting involved, with the hope they’d eventually out-grow their initial house and seek a residence elsewhere. From comments passed by Vogt Linden, this hasn’t really worked out (unsurprisingly), and Linden Homes may be in for a shake-up. Ergo, I shall likely be grabbing one in the near future, just to see what happens (no danger of me abandoning my existing home).
I’m not going to comment on anything else rewards-wise; my thoughts remain unchanged, and I didn’t upgrade for them (or any of the above, in fact). I am, however, curious as to where the “more privacy” comes from in the add (see above); I don’t see sandbox use quite cutting it here. My reason for upgrading falls into two parts:
A genuine renewal of optimism for Second Life and interest in what LL are doing. I think the last 12 months have – whether people are willing to be fair and honest or not – seen some tremendous progress within the Lab and Rod Humble is to be thoroughly congratulated for what (and who!) he’s brought to the company, and the way he has managed much that has happened in a short 11 months. As such, my upgrading is my little way of renewing my commitment to the platform
My joking at the top of this piece aside, Project LR does have me intrigued; not so much for the game (tho doubtless I’ll be trying it), but because of the way it’s being offered to premiums first. This leaves me wondering what else will come down the line with a “Premium preview”, and I’d like to be in a position to see for myself
So, the Pey Adventure is Just Beginning (cue fanfare and starships…). I’ll be exploring more on Premium in the near future.
Further Update 9th November
Click to enlarge
Following-on from my DMs with Viale, LL have helped put things right be re-sending my introductory e-mail (twice! :)). It’s well presented and laid out, with a series of useful links – including a major link through to registering for a Linden Home in the top half (also repeated lower down).
Many thanks to Viale, and happy to put this matter to rights.
Ever since Display Names came in – and a jolly good idea they are to, in many respects – there has been an on-going reaction to the loss of the last name option in Second Life. To be frank, the removal of the last name option in the hope (in part) of spurring the adoption of Display Names was a bloody stupid idea.
Now it seems, voices may be being heard. A JIRA started earlier this year petitioning for the last name option to be returned has gained a response. Admittedly, it’s a response that is open to interpretation, but it’s a response nonetheless. Commenting on the JIRA, one “ProductTeam Linden” said:
“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.”
Does this signify anything may change? Possibly; but equally possibly not. At least it shows someone at the Lab is aware people aren’t entirely happy with the situation. Quite who from the Lab is listening is also open to question; “ProductTeam Linden” is another of those “group” Linden accounts that appear to be on the increase and which seem to be aimed at obfuscating communication as much as anything by generating anonymity behind “official” posts and commentary. Just what is the problem with company representatives using their own names when dealing with customers by way of things like the JIRA?
I’ve never personally understood why LL did away with the last name feature – the ability for the platform to accept new accounts with the traditional first name / last name set-up hasn’t actually been removed, only disabled from the official sign-up page. Those who are prepared to make the effort can find a number of sign-up portals that offer the first name / last name format when creating a Second Life account.
Of course, there are security risks involved in trusting third-party sites – so going and finding one that offers the ability to sign-up to SL is a case of caveat emptor, so to speak. But for those who are interested, I can offer at least one small pointer: there is one portal that should be relatively safe, and that can be found here in the UK, on the Daden servers.
Daden Limited are a Birmingham-based company heavily involved in virtual worlds, most notably OpenSim, where earlier this year they sponsored the initial development of non-player characters well ahead of LL’s announcement to they’d be offering this in the future. As such, it is unlikely the Daden website hides any nasty surprises, although the choice of last names is limited.
There is much to be said against the current sign-up process as implemented by LL, and most of it has been argued in-depth often enough for it to need no repetition here. Suffice it to give just a handful of reasons why it was a bad move:
First names effectively become a one-time use option, as anyone trying to use a simple “Dawn” or “Peter” without having to resort to a numeric string (“Dawn12345679”) or and idiotic name born out of sheer frustration (“PeterXrayHowsYourFatherBongBong”), will testify
People end up spending what can amount to 30 or more minutes trying to find a suitable name that avoids either of the above – as I can testify; and even then, it’s not easy. When testing the new system, I resorted to Maori, Swahili and Sinhalese names – and still had problems. It’s a wonder there has been any upturn in sign-ups, frankly
While probably well-intended (give it’s old connotations), “Resident” actually leaves people without the same sense of belonging that is created when they can pick their name in full and take it as their identity. Let’s face it, would those at the Lab feel particularly happy if real life dictated they all had to adopt “Citizen” as their last name?
Nor does the Linden argument relating to Display Names actually carry any weight in the matter of name choice. Really, it matters not if “Dawn12345679” uses the Display Name option to change her name to “Dawn Glorie” or whatever. To (probably the majority of) those observing her, she will remain “dawn123456789”, because that’s what we see sitting under her Display Name, and that is what most people seeing it will take as her identity in SL, no matter what her Display Name states.
Far better for the last name option to have been retained, as at least “Dawn” would have been able to become a Starr or a Ghost or an Orchid or … well, Pey for that matter, right from the off and not have to worry about looking like a refugee from AOL or CompuServe while wandering SL.
Nor should bringing back the last name option be that hard – as stated above, new accounts with a first / last format can still be accepted by the system, and would it really be that hard to implement a set of last name lists once again that are rotated periodically as part of an automated process? Or how about being really radical, and allowing the use of a space when users define their names. Again, the functionality is there in the Viewer, so shouldn’t be that hard to implement in the sign-up pages.
Finally, it’s a shame that when LL get so much intrinsically right about our right to identity they have, in the matter of names, got it so fundamentally wrong. In the past, the names we chose for our avatars were always personal; we took care in selecting a last name that would reflect our personality or character and which would become as much a part of our in-world identity as the look of our avatar. For those entering virtual business, the name could in fact become a brand around which a reputation is built.
In abolishing the last name option, LL stripped that part of identity-building away from SL, and lumped everyone coming into the platform or who needs to create a new avatar together in some homogeneous pile tagged with the label “resident”. In doing so, the also curtailed some of our ability to embrace new avatars perhaps as closely was we once did. “Inara Pey” is very near and dear to me; I’m not sure I’d cherish “Inara23412 Resident” (were I ever to have cause to create her) to quite the same degree.
So come on, Rodvik & Linden Lab. Stop dithering. Let’s see last names returned. Christmas is coming – it’ll be a nice treat for everyone.
Inara Pey: Living in a Modemworld 