As of April 13, 2020, we have last names… again. The Name Change feature has gone live. The Lindens say it is WAY more popular then even the most optimistic Lindens expected. At US$39.99 per change, I am surprised. But there is ten years of demand stacked up. So, I probably shouldn’t be.
If you haven’t heard the feature is live, check out the official announcement, Now Available: Last Names in Second Life.
The interesting bit of news in this regard is from the Third-Party Devs’ user group meeting. It was suggested that a Premium Member be allowed to change their alt’s name via their Premium account. It would be a PITA to have to take an alt to Premium, change the name, then revert to basic… and expensive.
That feature is being added to the JIRA, as I write this, I haven’t found it. But I would vote for that.
Also, third-party devs are looking at updating the chat log file names when an avatar changes name. I think that would be neat. I hadn’t thought about that being a problem, but I would eventually run into it.
I also had not thought about the name change affecting the login ID but it does. Since you login with a different user name the viewers are going to treat you as a new user. You will get a new set of log files and default viewer settings. Hmmmm. I hadn’t thought of that either.
This makes for some interesting questions regarding privacy. If I am trying to escape an in-world stalker and change my avatar name, what all does and doesn’t change? Can I escape?
There is also some discussion about being able to use a current name to look up previous names… which I think is probably a bad idea. That would make for big drama.
If you have an old name it is possible to find the current name. Sort of a forward look up. But, not exactly what I think would help in an escape attempt.
For instance, if you have an ‘old’ calling card and click it, it will open their Profile with the new name. So, I suppose we will have to go back to shooting stalkers…
I still have questions. If you do too, check out Changing your username FAQ.
The privacy issue is undoubtedly complex.
Having said that there is also the issue of chat log history files – linking the old and new names.
I guess one can make a process that you would have to give old / new name pair and it could catenate the histories (searching the various chat folders that one has probably piled up over time). Now where did I put my coding pencil …
The chat logs are likely to be a problem. I am not sure how many people will experience it.
I think the Firestorm people are going to make a try at updating the chat logs.
My biggest worry about name change is in regards to land ownership. Of course, transitioning to a new name (either changing the first name and changing or adding a last name) should be “pretty” smooth, but you know… the Lindens… they… erm… Well, I thought that maybe, and only maybe (those “maybe’s that scare the hell out of you), going for a new “identity” will cause the system to classify you as a new or different account and then you become insta-squatter somehow…
Will the agent uuid change? I would assume not, and that should be the key to continuity. But as you say this is LL …..
Get real. The avatar (agent) UUID is specific to an avatar account. It never changes.
I did just recently change my name (previous user name: carolinestravels). I also own a parcel on Zinga and no issues at all.
Caroline