Second Life Forums Archive - New surnames for new residents... PLEASE!

Kallisti Burns

Discordant Designer

Join date: 8 Dec 2006

Posts: 150

07-11-2007 03:29

A strange thing to raise admittedly, but having spend over an hour yesterday with a friend who wanted to sign up, searching for a name that wasn't a seemingly random chain of alphanumerics (because everything else is taken), can I ask that LL please do something about mothballing some or all of the current list of surnames available for new residents to choose from?

Picking through the current list, Examples like DeCuir, Boa, Hax, Beck, Kidd, Singh and Watanabe have been sat on the select list for the best part of four months now... My own surname was only available for selection for a period of nine days, by contrast, back when there were a great deal fewer members overall and signup rates were around a quarter of what they are now...

The result is that almost 40% of all residents, if the age of the names on the list is extrapolated fully, now have a surname that's one of the current options... and due to the need for each resident to have a unique name, the "real" options (those without training numbers etc.) are now very few and far between.

C'mon guys... any chance of clearing things out a bit and allowing the latecomers to actually have a name that both they and other established residents have a chance to remember?

Aaron Edelweiss

Registered User

Join date: 16 Nov 2006

Posts: 115

07-11-2007 03:52

Hey, if everyone there in the office has gotten tired of thinking up names, how about letting users propose names.

Kyrah Abattoir

cruelty delight

Join date: 4 Jun 2004

Posts: 2,786

07-11-2007 04:52

users giving input? are you kidding? it isn't at all in the company philosophy.

_____________________

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Adz Childs

Artificial Boy

Join date: 6 Apr 2006

Posts: 865

07-11-2007 04:57

You're exactly right... of the nearly 8 million accounts, nearly 3 million are using the same 315 last names that have been available since January. 142,762 residents have the last name "Allen". I can't do much to solve this problem except rant about it. However, I have a script that check the available name list once per hour. If any new names appear, it sends an email to a mailing list. Everyone who joins the list will have the best chance to get a good first name before someone beats them to it. It doesn't solve the problem, but at least you can be ready when the problem is finally solved. You can join the mailing list (and get great statistics about last name usage in SL) at http://slnamewatch.com

_____________________

http://slnamewatch.com — Second Life Last Name Tracking — Email Alerts — Famous People Lookup — http://adz.secondlifekid.com/ — Artificial Boy — Personal Blog

From: Tofu Linden

Hmm, there's nothing really helpful there, but thanks for pasting.

New surnames for new residents... PLEASE!
Kallisti Burns Discordant Designer Join date: 8 Dec 2006 Posts: 150	07-11-2007 03:29 A strange thing to raise admittedly, but having spend over an hour yesterday with a friend who wanted to sign up, searching for a name that wasn't a seemingly random chain of alphanumerics (because everything else is taken), can I ask that LL please do something about mothballing some or all of the current list of surnames available for new residents to choose from? Picking through the current list, Examples like DeCuir, Boa, Hax, Beck, Kidd, Singh and Watanabe have been sat on the select list for the best part of four months now... My own surname was only available for selection for a period of nine days, by contrast, back when there were a great deal fewer members overall and signup rates were around a quarter of what they are now... The result is that almost 40% of all residents, if the age of the names on the list is extrapolated fully, now have a surname that's one of the current options... and due to the need for each resident to have a unique name, the "real" options (those without training numbers etc.) are now very few and far between. C'mon guys... any chance of clearing things out a bit and allowing the latecomers to actually have a name that both they and other established residents have a chance to remember?
Aaron Edelweiss Registered User Join date: 16 Nov 2006 Posts: 115	07-11-2007 03:52 Hey, if everyone there in the office has gotten tired of thinking up names, how about letting users propose names.
Kyrah Abattoir cruelty delight Join date: 4 Jun 2004 Posts: 2,786	07-11-2007 04:52 users giving input? are you kidding? it isn't at all in the company philosophy. _____________________ tired of XStreetSL? try those! apez http://tinyurl.com/yfm9d5b metalife http://tinyurl.com/yzm3yvw metaverse exchange http://tinyurl.com/yzh7j4a slapt http://tinyurl.com/yfqah9u
Adz Childs Artificial Boy Join date: 6 Apr 2006 Posts: 865	07-11-2007 04:57 You're exactly right... of the nearly 8 million accounts, nearly 3 million are using the same 315 last names that have been available since January. 142,762 residents have the last name "Allen". I can't do much to solve this problem except rant about it. However, I have a script that check the available name list once per hour. If any new names appear, it sends an email to a mailing list. Everyone who joins the list will have the best chance to get a good first name before someone beats them to it. It doesn't solve the problem, but at least you can be ready when the problem is finally solved. You can join the mailing list (and get great statistics about last name usage in SL) at http://slnamewatch.com _____________________ http://slnamewatch.com — Second Life Last Name Tracking — Email Alerts — Famous People Lookup — http://adz.secondlifekid.com/ — Artificial Boy — Personal Blog From: Tofu Linden Hmm, there's nothing really helpful there, but thanks for pasting.

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New surnames for new residents... PLEASE!