New Winter-Themed Last Names

 

For those looking for a new last name to change to, especially something winter or Christmas-themed, good news. A few days ago on the official blog, Linden Lab announced a list of new last names one can change to, for a fee.

 

 To celebrate the winter holiday season, we have released some festive new last names!

 

 The list of names are: Candyclaws, Merry, Frostlake, Candlewick, Prancer, Silverbells, Mistlefluff, Alegria, Befana, and Hollyberry.  

 

The Lab says the names "are only available for a limited time," but "are seasonal and may come back around this time next year."

 

Most residents will need to pay a $49.99 US dollar fee to change their last names, with Premium needing $34.99, and Premium Plus $14.99 respectively, with the answer to other questions in the FAQ.  

"Fairelander" Now Available As A Last Name, Through Inworld Kiosk

 

 

At the Linden and Mole Jail and Bail at the Fantasy Faire over a week ago, the Lindens offered to make "Fairelander" available as a last name, through a special kiosk at the Faire. A few days ago, there was an announcement in the Fantasy Faire group that it was up.

The Power of a Name ~ Fairelander Surname Now Available
Last week at the Linden Jail and Bail. a request was made and answered for the surname Fairelander to be made available. For the rest of Fantasy Faire, thru April 8, 2024, the opportunity to obtain the surname Fairelander for a donation to RFL of 12,500L has been granted to us by the Lab. All who believe in the magic of Junction are Fairelanders in their hearts. Now you can also be a Fairelander by name! Take the landmark to the RFL Fairelander Renami

Checking the kiosk out, there was some fine print. Besides paying the money, one needs to file a ticket with Linden Lab. And the request can be given as a gift as an option. But, only for a limited time. All tickets have to be redeemed by Wednesday May 8. 

So for the core fans of the Fantasy Faire, they can do more then just have Fairelander as a tag or display name, but an actual account name.

http://maps.secondlife.com/secondlife/The%20Golden%20Hour/99/125/85

 

Bixyl Shuftan

 

Linden Lab Changes Name Change Fees

 

When Linden Lab made it possible to change the last name of one's account a couple years ago (or bringing back last names as it was often called), it could be done only by someone with a Premium account. So someone with a basic account would have to sign up for it, at least temporarily, and then pay the fee.

A few days ago, Linden Lab announced that there would be changes to how one would pay for a name change. The good news, those with basic accounts won't need to sign up for Premium, and those with Premium Plus will pay a much smaller fee. The bad news, those with basic accounts won't be paying much less.

 Today, we’re excited to announce that we’ve updated our Name Change service in a major way. We’ve told you that we were going to keep working on adding new features to the Premium and Premium Plus offerings, and we’re delivering on that once again today. From here on, Premium and Premium Plus subscribers will benefit from a reduced price for the Name Change service.

But that’s not all! Not only are we discounting the service across the board, but we’ve decided to democratize the service to everyone.

For those with Premium accounts, the fee has been cut from $39.99 US Dollars to $34.99, a reduction of about one eighth the price. Those with Premium Plus will benefit the most, as they will now only have to pay a $14.99 USD fee, less than half. For those with basic accounts, their fee is $49.99. While more convenient than the old way, it's not much less than the $51.98 combined for a one-month subscription for Premium and name change.

For the blog post in full, Click Here.

Bixyl Shuftan

 

New Last Names Available "For A Limited Time"

 *

With the start of the Second Life Birthday, Linden Lab announced they were offering some new last names for accounts.

Blakewell
Chattoway
Davonius
Hogwood
Lygon
Philbert
Steverus
Throgmorton
Whipple
Cogtail 

The Lab stated they were in the Steampunk theme of the Second Life Birthday. They didn't say how limited a time these names would be available.

Only Premium residents can change their account's last name, and there is a fee in doing so. 
 

Limited Edition Last Names Available For Mother's Day

 

Linden Lab has a few new last names available. But these are available for only a few days. Just in time for Mother's Day weekend, the Lab announced three limited edition last names available only until April 10.

To celebrate Mother’s Day and all the mothers in the Second Life community, we are releasing new limited edition last names today, only available until May 10th: 
Mama
Matriarch
Mum

These names are seasonal and may come back around this time next year, for a limited time.

When the Lab has made a last name available before, in it's early days it was available for several months, then dropped and never available again. Recently, it could be available for longer sometimes, but still never available again once dropped. This would be the first time that the Lab has considered the possibility of a last name available for a second time. 

On April 1, Linden Lab announced two other limited edition last names which were around for only a week. It was never stated whether or not they will be available again.
  
Source: Linden blog
  

News and Commentary: No New Announcement On Last Names, Yet

On November 21, Linden Lab stated that they were "working furiously" to have the option for residents to get a last name or change it (if they had a Premium account) by January 31. Since then, the only announcement on the subject was their contest asking for suggestions for last names, and January 31 came and went with no option for last names.

So why no announcement over the past several days? One can only guess. Perhaps the Lindens feel they're on the verge of solving one or two technical issues and that finishing the big change is just around the corner. Or perhaps when they tried testing the change, they keep finding bugs and decided to take a little extra time to squash them before releasing the option.

There should be an announcement on the issue soon. In fact, it might be later today.

Bixyl Shuftan

Linden Lab Announces Contest For New Last Names

Last month, Linden Lab announced they would soon be making last names, or changing one's existing last name, an option for Premium residents (provided they pay a fee). On Monday, the Lab announced a contest for suggestions for new surnames.

Sharpen your quill! Get your wits about you! We are happy to declare the Last Names contest is officially open.  What contest, you say? What name changes?

We will make Name Changes available to Premium account holders in early 2020.  It will be possible to change First Name, Last Name, or both. There will be a one-time fee per Name Change. Just like in the olden times, First Name will be freeform, Last Name will be from a list - and here is where this contest comes in: we want your help coming up with the first batch of Last Names! 

To take part in the contest, fill out the contest form (here).  Residents are allowed to make three suggestions for new last names (existing ones cannot be reused). Those who think they have a clever idea should check the list of existing last names, as there are a LOT of them. The five residents coming up with what the Lab sees as the most original and clever names will be allowed to change their account names for free, or choose another account for the change. It wasn't specified on whether or not this could be someone else's account if the winner wanted to give the name change to a friend.

Taking a look at the page for the contest in the Second Life Wiki, there was an estimated price of what the upcoming price would be to change one's surname.

estimated value at US$39.99 plus $11.99 to represent the value of a month of Premium Membership

So it appears the price to change one's name in Second Life will be $52 dollars USD, or $40 for those who already have Premium accounts.

So if you think you have a particularly clever idea for a surname, go ahead and enter the contest.

To read the blog entry in full, Click Here.

Reader Submitted: "To Surname, Or Not To Surname?"

To Surname, Or Not To Surname? Whether 'tis nobler in the mind to suffer the looks and smirks of questionable lineage, Or to pay the fee to the Master of Heraldry, and by purchase, end then. To lie in sleep No more a ruffian of the street, but to rise up as the scion of House and Manor. And to end all manner of heartache and perplexment. But what a cost be this worth? What Life's Journey then may be cast aside, in vain pride forgoing a harder path, whose darken cobblestones lay to a greater Destiny that only those who Chargeth all their worth in a Single Name, Make it Blaze In Glory though the annals of history? Who can know what path is best for you. What Glories or Calamities might besought from either path. Only that each must go their own way. And be what they must be. To those who travel both paths, whichever they choseth. May the winds guide you fair.

Rocketoo Resident

Linden Lab Announces Upcoming Changes, Including Return of Last Names

In an announcement that they linked to Second Life's upcoming 15th Anniversary, Linden Lab announced there would be a number of changes this year. Counting a few earlier changes such as lower mainland tier, they listed a total of fifteen, one for each year the Grid has been around.

Among the changes are "more value for Premium members," which could mean more perks. The Lab also promises "more exclusive games and experiences," which could mean at least one more game like "Tyrah and the Magical Glitches" last year. Some interesting changes mentioned included "themed learning islands," "Linden Homes improvements," and "land auctions." They also plan to move Second Life's infrastructure to The Cloud, and officially release animesh in full.

But the change that's gotten the most attention, "The return of last names." Until about 2010-11, those signing up for a Second Life account gave it two names, the first whatever they desired and the second one from a list that varied depending on when the account was created. Then Linden Lab gave new accounts a different naming system. One was a display name that was whatever the person wanted. But for account names, they did away with surnames and on browsers all new avatars showed up as having a default last name of "Resident."

While display names have been popular overall, the move to ditch last name choices for account names was highly unpopular. With every newcomer listed as having the surname of "Resident," many felt like second-class citizens. There were also complaints in the first few months that some clubs were banning everyone with the default name as it instantly identified them as newcomers and possible griefer accounts. People also looked for ways to make an account with a last name.

Linden Lab realized they had a problem, and in December 2011 announced they would study how to bring back surnames. But in March 2012, the Lab announced they just couldn't find a way to do so. While several years have gone by, the issue was never forgotten.

Exactly how the Lab plans to return surnames is unknown. It's also unknown if existing "Resident" accounts will be given a chance to get a real surname. Time will tell on both.

To read the Linden announcement, Click Here. 

Bixyl Shuftan

Breaking News: No Return for Last Names

Some sad news for Second Life's more recent residents hoping to have their accounts get a last name like those who came earlier. Linden Labs won't be bringing back surnames for new accounts after all.

The news was posted by Linden Lab CEO Rodvik Linden in the Second Life forums, "when it comes to last names, I have spent a lot of time going through all your comments and chatting with the team here. I learnt a lot. Firstly, as I already knew identity is very important, and the last name issue is extremely polarizing. What I didn’t know was how big a negative impact it used to have on new users signing up (the data is startling at how much friction it added). Folks just wanted to create their own name; they became even more annoyed if there was a pre-done last name that could fit but that had already been taken. The namespace hijacking issue was not solved by pre done last names."

"...if we couldn’t figure out a way that was a win/win for folks who want complete freedom vs. a list of last names, we wouldn’t do it. We couldn’t, so we wont."

"Thanks again for all these comments and discussion. It’s a pity that the first one couldn’t come up with a clean solution that solved all the world’s problems (or cats’ problems) but it was valuable nevertheless."

The forum post didn't allow for comments, but there was a link to Rodvik's profile posts, where residents posted a large number of replies. Naturally, there were many disappointed people. Rodvik had suggested the possibility of adding the option of a hyphen, but residents commented that was a poor substitute.

Prim Perfect already has an article on the matter, "the Lab has just blown off one way that could have given a greater degree of engagement and building community – without costing residents money."

*Addition* In Hamlet Au's article, he supports Linden Lab's decision. But most of those commenting on it were either outright opposed or skeptical, which seems to be the general feeling.

Breaking News: Last Names for New Accounts to Return

In Rodvik Linden's comment feed, or social network page, the Linden Lab CEO posted that plans were under discussion on how to bring back surnames for accounts.


Last names under active discussion. We are trying to figure out how to do it in a way which would be excellent rather than just ok. We want it intuitive with extra features. Hopefully we will roll out what we are thinking early January latest.

Identity is very important so as we touch it we need to make sure we are adding something great.

So far, responses, such as on the Linden blog, have been overwhelmingly positive. There have been some voices expresses skepticism, wondering just how easily can Linden Lab correct it's decision. But for now, most are cheering, and looking forward to the option for newer residents to have a last name like those before them.

Click Here for the Linden Blog thread.

Source: Daniel Voyager's Blog

Bixyl Shuftan

Linden Lab Responds to "Bring Back Last Name Options!" JIRA

For some time, there's been a JIRA aimed at amending Linden Labs' decision to change the way new accounts are created from first and last names to a name that on Viewer 1-based viewers appears to have the surname "Resident," with an option for a display name. The new system is disliked by many, and some see it as creating a division between newer and older denziens on the Grid.

Although there were stories of individual Lindens talking about this behind the scenes, there has been no official response, until now, when ProductTeam Linden finally made a post in the JIRA.

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 inusers' 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.

While a canned response that was quickly answered, "We know that was the idea, but it DOESN'T WORK for the things about which we're complaining ... ," this shows it's finally gotten through to the Lab that they, or rather the "Resident"s, have a problem. Hamlet Au predicted Linden Lab would soon give those under the new naming system the option for a surname. No doubt they're hoping for this or something close to it.

Other articles: New World Notes, Daniel Voyager

Bixyl Shuftan.