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The Second Name Deprived

Dear All,

I got an email from the archivist asking me to append my character’s second name to my forum login here and wanted to raise the issue.

I`m not sure if everyone is aware, but new accounts dont get a second name. So, my account name and character name is “Chronometria”. Sometimes the game refers to it as “Chronometria Resident”, but that second titles isnt over my character and to my knowledge others just see my main name.

I`m sure that the rule of second names here to differentiate spammers from normal folk is a good one, but in light of this change to how names work, i would like that rule to be re-examined. I despise the idea of being called “Resident”, especially as any other new member will have the very same “second name” if they choose to use it here.

In good faith i used my login as my name here and hope that this will not cause further problems. Please could some consideration of this issue be put forward regarding how it affects new citizens to new babbage from this point forth.

Kind Regards

Chronometria.

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19 Comments

  1. Kristos Sonnerstein Kristos Sonnerstein May 13, 2011

    It’s not strict as to the name you use in world. It’s more of the name you go by. My son has a login here as “Booger Sonnerstein” (Booger thanks to Jed ::chuckles::), but his screen name in world is Satu Moreau, shared with two other characters he plays as.

    • Mr Underby Mr Underby May 13, 2011

      I saw a few people in-world this week with the surname of “Resident” and wondered why anyone would choose a name so bland.  Now it makes sense.  

      So yes, I can assure you that your name, to some people at least, ends with Resident.

       

      • Mr Underby Mr Underby May 13, 2011

        I have no idea who you are talking about.

      • Kristos Sonnerstein Kristos Sonnerstein May 14, 2011

        It is, though Jed calls him Booger due to his skin. She played an April Fool’s prank on him when he signed up for the website on April 1st and changed his login to Booger. He just hasn’t asked her to change it back.

  2. Sky Melnik Sky Melnik May 13, 2011

    I believe it was more of an opportunity than an oppression of a rule. One great thing is how one can change their name inworld to whatever they wish. Since you “have no surname” you have the chance to create your own should the thought strike you. Convenient, eh?

  3. Mr Tenk Mr Tenk May 13, 2011

    i never realized i’d miss the old naming process. it was a hassle, and, as phillip said, “charming at the time.”

    but i really miss it.

  4. Jedburgh30 Dagger Jedburgh30 Dagger May 13, 2011

    A good number of folks who are Last name ‘Resident’ use a screen name that has a proper surname, so if that was the case you could use it as well.

  5. Grendel Footman Grendel Footman May 13, 2011

    explains all the Resident’s lately.

    I know viewer 2 has a way to change yur name inworld, but aside from that, viewer 2 basically sucks.

    and no idea yet if or when that will work with other viewers

    • Sky Melnik Sky Melnik May 13, 2011

      Phoenix does it as well, it’s fairly simple.

  6. Mr Underby Mr Underby May 13, 2011

    I had to resort back to Viewer 1 recently because the newest version of SL is apparently too high-tech for my 4 year old Mac… I can’t say I miss Viewer 2…

    • Jedburgh30 Dagger Jedburgh30 Dagger May 13, 2011

      I’m running the new Phoenix on my 6 year old Dell, and it runs like a champ.

  7. Maddox Sinclaire Maddox Sinclaire May 13, 2011

    I was on Phoenix first, but every time I turned Maddi around near a building, all I could see was the inside of the walls. I switched to viewer 2 shortly after and from then on, I rarely have that problem. I just like being able to see. *chuckle*

  8. Chronometria Chronometria May 13, 2011

    Thankyou for the replies. I think this has been a useful topic to raise as some of the repilies above indicate that some of the longer term players were not aware of the state of new players and their names as well as all the “residents”. Now you know whats going on and why all these bland similar names are popping up.

    As to the babbage forum, i spoke to the group online and discussed the issue. It was suggested that a small text note could be added to the login process just to mention that new players should use the resident second name on the forums here, just to stop the automated anti spam thing hassling them. I am ok with that.

    As to the naming issue for newbies, it is possible for us to make a “screen name” once per week. My only concern with using that name as a forum handle is that i dont know if every viewer responds to that name and it may end up changing. If i went from being “Chronometria” to “Lady Cogshine”, people may wonder who the heck i was. You`ll probably find that many of us newbies have long or unusual first names purely so we dont have to be called Robert124 or some other numbered thing.

    So, a good thing that this issue is raised to the attention of the community i hope and my thanks for those who discussed it with me.

    • Grendel Footman Grendel Footman May 13, 2011

      could always use viewer 2’s name change feature, grab someone on another viewer, and ask them if they see the name you’ve chosen rather than Resident?

      then if they do, you should be fine to go with that as a forum handle

      • Avariel Falcon Avariel Falcon May 13, 2011

        At the time of writing not all third party viewers support display names. The Imprudence viewer that I use is one such viewer. All the new people are ‘Resident’ to me.

    • Archivist Archivist May 14, 2011

      You are correct, madam, that the intent of our naming rule here on the Reader is primarily to differentiate between legitimate users and spammers, but also to reliably match the identity of one’s inworld avatar with one’s Reader user account. Were there multiple “Chronometrias” inworld, it would be appropriate to distiguish here which of them you happen to be.

      We also use the convention to reinforce the Victorian/community nature of our fair City. It is customary in New Babbage to refer to one’s family name in formal correspondence and dialogue. We have few Chers or Princes here. Even those who go largely by a single name have a second (or a third or a fourth) at their disposal should it be necessary. A bit like carrying an extra handkerchief. We note that your inworld persona uses the eponym “Lady Chronometria Cogshine” in her profile, so for the purpose of  the Reader, I would suggest using some combination thereof.  

      Changing one’s screen name regularly, while a luxury, does create a bit of a difficulty within the Babbage milieu, where value is placed on consistent identity over time. While it is certainly your prerogative to do so, we suspect that you will find it quite to your advantage to dwell happily on your eponym for some time.

  9. Tesla Tripsa Tesla Tripsa May 13, 2011

    Not sure if this is still the case, but each new account here on the Reader had been manually confirmed by the moderators.  The reason we’ve been required to use our Second Life account name is so the moderator could look us up in search (if it was a name they didn’t recognize) to verify that we were an actual avatar, and not a spammer.  I’m not sure how search works with display names, if you can look someone up by display name.  My viewer doesn’t support display names, so there are a lot of people with the last name Resident, and I can only look people up with their account names, not display names.  But yes, what would be ideal is if you could use any name to sign up here, but indicate what your Second Life account name is so the moderators could confirm that you’re real.

  10. Lady Chronometria Cogshine Lady Chronometria Cogshine May 14, 2011

    Well i`ve gone for my full title for the forums. From what i can see there is no easy answer as some viewers see one name, some another.

    Luckily we are all part of the in game babbage steampunks group so i if anyone has problems messaging me or another newcomer, just let us know and we can work out what you will need to type in.

     

    Problem solved i think and awareness raised.

    This topic can now be locked and archived for posterity.

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