In the Marketplace, when a merchant wants to pull out names of people who've bought their products, if a resident is actually named "Resident"--it just lists the first name.
Now, it took me a bit to figure this out--once I did, I realized any line that just listed one single first name would always end in Resident, it made things somewhat easier. But that's still a terrifying glitch.
But really, that's just the tip of the iceberg...
[06:18 PM] Aevalle Galicia: Good goddess, the sealife in the Sound has taken to flight
[06:19 PM] Emilly Orr: It happens when scripts are disabled. The poor dears get confused.
So, it's been a merry few hours of mayhem in Caledon this evening. Someone--actually, several someones, we're still tracking down who and why, but Lagala Galaga, and possibly alexgee2 Resident may have been involved--gave something to someone (who really should have known better) in Caledon Oxbridge, who then wore said item--and the fun began.
It locked this gentle sir in place and started sending out spam. And that's when things go haywire, because these scripted-object shouters manifested in almost all the Caledon sims. I have no idea, script-wise, how that could be done just from a worn object. Frightening and intriguing at the same time.
This isn't really about the griefing attack, though. This is about the last name of Resident. Along the way, Miss Aldrich and the honored Mr. Volare mentioned that 'Resident' is not a 'real' last name--at least, not as we've come to know it:
[05:47 PM] Rachel Aldrich: As I understand it, Resident isn't actually their last name, it is just added by viewers other than 2
[05:48 PM] Emilly Orr: I thought Resident was an official last name. I know these are not temporary accounts, because they have profiles that come up.
[05:48 PM] Emilly Orr: If you see [strandofnumbers] Guest, THOSE are temporary accounts.
[05:48 PM] Jayleden Miles: Resident only appears as the last name on the 1.23 viewer
[05:48 PM] Vivito Volare: Really? I don't see it in the list
[05:49 PM] Aevalle Galicia: Aren't the Guest ones from the new web viewer beta?[05:49 PM] Emilly Orr: That's very odd, then. Who ARE these people when they're not being Residents, then? How are their profiles coming up on 2.0?
So I looked into it. There's a fascinating passage on slnamewatch:
Latest News:This sounds like utter and complete frustration with the project...and potentially Second Life, as well.
The only last name available to new residents of Second Life is Resident. All other last names have been retired. (Dwell On It describes the situation clearly.) Every new sign up, thousands per day, will get this name. The current design of the census bot has a practical limit of about 100,000 accounts under a single last name. I don't plan to redesign it. I will hit that limit in less than a week. This means soon my Total Residents figure will grow inaccurate as well. — 2010-11-20
[05:51 PM] Emilly Orr: http://dwellonit.taterunino.net/2010/11/19/display-names-phase-2/
[05:52 PM] Emilly Orr: According to slnamewatch--from whence Miss Nino's post came--the ONLY option new residents are now given is...Resident
[05:52 PM] Emilly Orr: With the expectation that they will soon change to a 'Display Name'
Now, this puts a whole new wrinkle into things, because--as I understood it--last names were still being handed out. So, though we can--should we choose--change our "displayed names"--f'rinstance, on viewer 2, I'm likely coming in as 'emilly.orr' instead of Emilly Orr--this still leaves us with a huge problem.
Namely...distinct names.
Before now, if Jane Telluride wanted to come into SL, she could get Jane Telsmith and be fine, unless there was a Jane Telsmith. Then, she could just scroll through the available names and find one she liked--and be Jane Omegume, or Jane Gearbox, or Jane Steamwaffle, or whatever. (No, as far as I know--saving Gearbox--these are not real last names.)
But say she comes in this month, for example. She makes an avatar. She wants it to have her name. But 'Jane Resident' is already taken. With no other last names available, she has no other choice. Sure, she can change her name after to "Jane Resident", if that's what she really wants--but she has to decide whether she's going to be xxJanexx Resident, or Jane11482 Resident, or o0Jane0o Resident, or...whatever goofy thing people come up with--in the meantime.
It is a vicious blow to creativity and innovation that we can lay directly at the feet of Linden Labs.
What I'm most afraid of, though? Is this:
[06:48 PM] Martini Discovolante: word to the wise-- if they have a douchebucket name...expect less than amenable behaviour.
For me, sure, "stupidfacebookthing Resident", "Dumbass Resident" and "babygirls814814 Resident" (actual names, all of them) are pretty obvious examples of People I Desire To Avoid in SL. But what about people who really, honestly, can't think of anything else than to tag numbers on their names--like AOL, Yahoo, and Hotmail have patiently shown them--but are otherwise good people? At this point, I see a number string behind--or in front of--a name, and my first conclusion is "knuckle-dragging Visigoth who's going to speak exclusively in lowercase textchat and bug me for sex". And this may not be the case at all.
It makes me very wary around anyone with the "Resident" name. And thanks to the Lab's bonehead decision-making processes...that's now everyone.
4 comments:
The whole "Resident" thing seems absurd - particularly to those, like me, who just can't get comfortable with Viewer 2. I have no Display Name, nor can I see those of others, so all the newcomers look like "Jane1234 Resident."
Sigh.
Yeah. As Imprudence advances--because I can live with the glitches, and the rest of it is comfortable for me--I'll likely update as it goes. But if it ever comes down to 'Use viewer 2.0 or don't play', I know that's finally it for me. I cannot cope with the extreme changes. I feel it's quite likely a flaw in how fast I adapt to new technology, and it may in fact be a sign of getting old and crotchety (I already have the cane I can wave at people, after all). But all that is to the side of "I can't use 2.0 and stay sane".
To me? I'm never going to see Display Names as intended, until and unless Imprudence cobbles together code that lets me. And who knows if that will happen? Frankly, Imprudence--and, as far as I know, every other third-party viewer that has honorable coders--is concentrating on the real things that are broken, not ephemera like Display Names.
Teaching a class at Oxbridge now, you just stand and watch all the new Mr and Miss Residents wander by. I suspect the answer will ultimately be that people who are making new accounts (probably not actual raw noobs) will know to name their avvies FogwomanGray Resident, rather like our Beloved Baron demonstrated. What annoys me is the fact that the lab has trotted out yet another clusterf**k non-answer to a minor issue while ignoring the damned HERD of elephants in the parlor.
After having chronic issues with Imprudence being unstable on my machine I bit the bullet and am using Phoenix...but feeling really twitchy about the stability of the coders if not the actual code.
Phoenix tends to work for many people. Instead of the former sea of green, now it's a sea of red (red being the tone Imprudence picked to cover Phoenix and Ascent). I believe half of that is Emerald loyalty transferring over, and half of it is the browser works.
Still don't trust 'em, so I'm with Imprudence, but I thoroughly agree--for three years now, the Labs have happily and enthusiastically solved the issues we don't need to have solved, while completely refusing to look at the problems which interfere with grid stability, group chat, and gaining new customers.
It's almost like they want everyone to leave, and SL to fail. It's bizarre.
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