March 12, 2008 by Ciaran Laval
Posted in
Robin Linden is back from vacation, she's injured her ankle and she's talking about intergrating your SL with your RL. More specifically she's talking about people using their RL names in SL (Stop cheering Nobody). She also told me to go to bed but I'll worry about that another time!
There are of course several issues with this but let me start by saying this was merely a discussion and not policy so don't go running for the hills. This isn't going to happen tomorrow.
However I think it's worth discussing. Now with the changing of names I believe there's a worry that it will break things you've created. However I also believe that Cory Linden's name is no longer Cory Linden, well I know it isn't because I've searched for it, but Cory Ondrejka exists and someone told me the other day that that is the name on his creations now. Can anyone confirm this?
As for RL links, more web intergration and utilising features like facebook for social networking I'm all for it. Largely because it means I don't have to keep moaning about not having enough groups, which some of you tell me off for moaning about!
There seems to be a belief that educators and corporations would rather use real names. I'm sure many business owners would like to use real names too. Personally I'd like to be able to use my real name or my avatar name depending upon the circumstance, which brings us to the issue of whether a World of Warcraft type login where you have one account and several avatars would work for a scenario whereby I'd want to be Ciaran Laval sometimes or my real self. I mean one day I could be the mild mannered Land owner and the next day I could be righting wrongs and fighting the forces of evil ... hold on that's what my Warlock does in World of Warcraft, not my real self.
However you get the point I hope. Do we go for a one to many type account or a many to one type scenario like we have now where one day I might decide that it would be advantageous to be the real me.
Does the idea of your real name being your avatar name scare or delight you? Do you think this idea has any legs? Certainly in terms of education, I know there are classes that I can take where it would be easier for me to use my real name. Second Life is of course supposed to be, well a second life. Yet there are times when I'd like to be me in a virtual world.
Thoughts anybody? Ideas? Suggestions? I'll take Robin's advice and head to bed now!
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Good comments all! As
Good comments all! As always, I'm impressed by the quality of the reporting and commentary here - it's a welcome change from a lot of other blogs.
I do know this is something a lot of people want, yet it will lead to further fragmentation of the community, as have several of Robin's statements and initiatives. On bad days, I have to wonder if she really does want all of those who *live* here gone, and SL turned into a pixellated FL office park.
@Talwyn: Come visit us in Extropia! We're a community founded on respect for individual choice and identity, and who and whatever you are, you'll be welcome among us!
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Sophrosyne Stenvaag
Director, Marketing and External Relations
Extropia in Second Life
http://extropiacore.net
Done properly...
It won't fragment the community. Voice hasn't really fragmented the community that much - its just a few earheads that use voice exclusively.
Names shouldn't cause a fracture like voice has. It would be really hard to deploy this in a way that would be harmful to the community, IMHO.
Second Life Consultant
I disagree
Nobody,
I think quite the contrary - it is very hard to make it in a way that would not hurt the community. As soon as the RL name is displayed inworld - it will change the dynamics a whole lot. It is a whole lot different than voice, imho.
Not to spam here with high-volume reply, I've written it up on my blog.
/d
Bah.
It won't really change the dynamics. Label the dynamics, perhaps. Not change.
Second Life Consultant
One named account, many avatars
Wouldn't it make more sense if we created a Second life account in our real names - with the option for that name to be your (main) avatar's name too. Then within that account we could have multiple avatar identities, if we chose. You would login to SL with your RL name account and then choose the identity you wanted to assume inworld.
It's always struck me as a major security issue for business owners in SL - their username is widely known and the only thing protecting their interests, sometimes worth $10,000's, is an eight letter password! It would be much more secure if you had a 'parent' account within which various avatars were grouped and which handled the admin side of your Second Life, including the financial stuff. This main account name need never be made public, unless you chose to do so and so would be that bit more secure.
I like
This my preferred scenario. I don't know if it's because I'm used to this from City of Heroes and WoW but it makes more sense to me to have one login and then a choice of avatars. The login name of course is never the name of any of your avatars, so I also agree with you on the security front.
Not a good idea..
First, in RL names are not unique, so how do you differentiate between those people in SL? An easy form of greifing would be to set up another account with the same name as someone else's...
Second, some of us come to SL to get away from RL for a while. Even in games that let you specify your full name, I don't use my real name anyway.
Third, if you allow it to be known that an AV's name is the real name of that person or not (for example via a profile flag) you immediately cast suspicion on those of us that won't want to use their real names (I have a, hopefully good, reputation as Talwyn Mills and I wouldn't want to lose that). AV's with no payment info on file are considered by some to probably be greifers or alts, female AV's that don't use voice (like myself) are automatically considered by some (individuals and communities) to be male in RL just because they wont use voice to prove they are not (why is no one bothered about the possibility of male AV's being female in RL?). People not using their real names will automatically be considered to be fake or hiding something.
A lot of us that don't want to use voice for one reason or another (lack of hardware, medical issues or just plain dislike of the whole idea) are already ostracized from certain communities in SL either actively due to requiring voice validation or passively because everyone else is talking on voice and ignoring those that are trying to type. (and hearing someone squeal in glee for finding a new pair of shoes from half a sim away isn't my idea of a good time). Adding another method of splitting the community is not a great idea.
If they do allow people to use their real names, it shouldn't be required and there should not be any way to tell, in or out of SL, if users real name is being used, other wise you risk splitting the community again and further alienating those Immersives amongst us (myself included) who considers their Real Life as having nothing to do with their Second Life.
...
Umm. Your credit card/ID information.
And as you point out, people don't always have unique names: Well, that would be where the avatar key becomes in as an ID number.
No one has said that use of real names should be required. But having it as an option makes sense.
Second Life Consultant
Wrong context..
My context here is in the case of using real names as AV names for every day actions of other AVs (and if they have my credit card details, someone at SL needs shot).
Lets assume your real name is Nobody Fugazi and someone else's real name is also Nobody Fugazi, So you would have two Nobody Fugazi's in SL. Lets say you agree with someone to pay you directly L$ for rent. They search for Nobody Fugazi and find two, how do they know which one is really you?
If they happen to be standing next to you or are already talking to you they can ask, but if they ask both Nobody Fugazi's if its them they are supposed to pay money to, I'd bet most of the time both would say yes.
You see what I mean? Avatar keys are fine for object etc interacting with you, but when someone wants to find you via search, its the name thats important.
Payment
Good point. But if they're paying me directly for rent, they shouldn't be searching for my name, should they? They should know who I am. There are many ways that they could do it right - there is only one way that they could do it wrong.
And people manage to screw that up, as I understand it, with different names anyway...
Second Life Consultant
Rent was simply an example,
Rent was simply an example, how do you find someone in SL when you know their name? Search by the name of course. For example you need to search to:
Invite someone to a group
Ban someone from your land (assuming their not near you right then)
Talk to someone who your not friends with
Refund money for a failed transaction
Find someones store when you know their name and not the store name
These are some of the things that I do, some on a regular basis some not, that all require me to search for a user by name. For some it doesn't really matter if I get the wrong person, for others it does.
And yes, people can screw up searching for you already, but if they do get it right they only have one result (assuming using the people search tab). Why make it more difficult for them to find the right person by having multiple people with the same name?
Well...
How do you do that all in the real world? Its done, though not as quickly.
See - that really doesn't seem like much of an issue to me. Problems like that are relatively easy to solve, and those that are not easy to solve probably shouldn't be easy to solve.
That's my opinion.
Second Life Consultant
Not cheering...
But for solution providers, such as myself, a RL connection makes sense. Still, even as Nobody Fugazi I cannot hide - so if I wanted to sneak around, I'd get an alt.
Some say that this has already happened. :-)
In my case, connecting my RL reputation and experience to SL works in my favor. So obviously I like that idea. On the flip side, not everyone needs that.
I do believe that businesses that are securing funds from investors should be run by people with RL names. That, however, doesn't mitigate risk - but it most certainly establishes reputation on the web. Some people don't care about reputation on the web. Smarter people do.
But does that mean that people need alts? Only if they want them. I think having an alt is kind of healthy in some ways. Some days, I literally don't want to be bogged down in IMs. Being able to escape that is nice. This gets into an ethics discussion, too.
My thinking on this is that if you don't have a RL name- your avatar is already an alt. You can get freaky on the poseballs, whatever floats your boat. You don't have to divulge ANYTHING. There is good in that.
Some like arguing augmentationist versus whatever. Doesn't matter to me. If you're happy so, be happy so. But if you want someone else's money - a RL name to associate with a RL rep really does build more faith.
Second Life Consultant
I like the idea that there
I like the idea that there are only 403 "Childs" other than me. The name is "heritage." 63 avatars named "Childs" have disappeared from people search since I started keeping track in June 2007. I like the idea that no one else can have that name, now that it has been retired. I understand the benefits of allowing free-form naming, but, above all other considerations, I hope that LL does not take away the "heritage" concept.
-Adz Childs
Confirm about cory
Go into Library and search Kart 1.0, Cory did the script for it. Also there is a
Tire by Cory Linden (unscripted)in my inventory that I got from the Library, now created by Cory Ondrejka.
If it is about
If it is about accountability of SL AV's against RL identities, that could be solved by matching them on LL level and requiring "proof" if the AV is to be used for business purposes. That way people can still work and play under their "fake" identity, yet be held totally accountable for their actions.
Some SL names are more than just a name, they are a brand. Do you see anyone forcing Coca-Cola to suddenly sell it's products under the name "E. Neville Isdell"?
So... real names, fine with me, but don't force it upon us. A lot of the creativity and drive in SL comes from being liberated of RL constraints and peer pressure. In SL no one cares (or knows?) who is behind the avatar in front of them. While appearance may play a part, everyone can shape or dress their AV as they see fit, change looks or even form (penguins anyone?).
ServMe Nakamura
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