New Last Names In Second Life!

On 1st March 2022 Linden Lab released more new Last Names in Second Life which are now available. The lab have removed many older Last Names apparently this week. It’s important to note that changing your name includes having a Premium account to do so. See Changing your username FAQ for more information. It costs $39.99 to change a username and Basic account holders are not eligible for a username change. All new accounts are created with the last name of Resident by default.

The lab will continue to add more new Last Names in the months ahead and there is a suggestion form to suggest new last names. Please note that the lab will not be reusing previous legacy last names shown here.

Here are the new Last Names that are available now.

• Foxpaws
• Captain
• Starchild
• Blep
• Grumpypants
• Jackman
• Kiko
• Norbert
• Ayashi
• Corvinus
• McGregor
• Marques
• Rizzo

Here is the full list of available last names as of Wednesday 2nd March 2022.

Stay tuned for more updates soon on my blog.

Linden Lab Looks Back At 2021 & Looks Forward To 2022

On Thursday 23rd December Linden Lab released it’s 2021 – Second Life Year In Review blog post mentioning some of the main highlights of the year. The lab reflects on the key accomplishments for 2021 from the succesful migration to the cloud, performance improvements, new features, new user experience improvements, the release of two different Linden Home themes and more.

2021 Key Highlights

• Improved speed and cadence of updates in performance. Overhauling the new user experience (welcome islands/new user guidebook), various UI and search improvements
• The infrastructure in the Cloud improved throughout 2021
• Chalet and Fantasy Linden Home themes were released. Newbrooke will be available very soon
• Receiving group notices in email
• More time limited themed last names became available through 2021
• Support for multi-factor authentication was introduced this year
• New 360 Snapshot Tool enables 360-degree snapshots
• Over 140 Second Life Marketplace updates and fixes. Like these highlights like “tying Marketplace into the overall single sign-on (SSO) system, adding a “Save For Later” feature in the shopping cart, adding bulk redelivery for merchants, as well as fixing several issues and improving speed and stability”. 
• And more!

There was mentions of Ebbe Altberg who sadly passed away earlier this year and Oz Linden who retired earlier this year. Brad Oberwager (Oberwolf Linden) stepped in as the Executive Chairman following the succesful acquisition of Linden Lab by an investment group run by Randy Waterfield.

Linden Lab mentions the 2022 roadmap in the blog post which sounds pretty interesting. Stay tuned for more Lab Gab episodes and weekly user group office hours which are planned. The annual shopping and larger popular events will be happening next year.

• Avatar “expressiveness” that brings camera-based gestures and movement to your avatar for a whole new level of interaction and connectedness
• Premium Plus – a new upgrade option with added features and extras
• A new mobile viewer to enhance and improve your Second Life experience
• Improved group chat reliability
• Viewer and script performance improvements 
• New user avatar customization and improvements
• Updated mesh optimizer
• Search engine improvements
• Improved materials and terrain
• Adding web marketplace variants
• …and much more!

I think Avatar “expressiveness” sounds like it’s going to be pretty big and i’m sure going to be awesome. Premium Plus is a big one to watch as many have wanted this for some time. The new mobile viewer is still happening so that’s great to hear. The other improvements listed under that will make Second Life sound pretty good during 2022.

Linden Lab mentions the metaverse relating to the big name change announcement from Facebook to Meta recently. From the sounds of things there is “genuine concern about Facebook’s plans in this space”. Let’s see what happens in 2022 and 2023. It’s still early days yet.

Marketing the “Metaverse”
So, perhaps you have heard of this new thing called the metaverse?   Unless you’ve been living under a rock (virtual or otherwise), you probably already know that Facebook recently changed its corporate name to Meta as they work on their own vision and version of a “metaverse.” While we appreciate that this development has super-charged interest in virtual worlds, we also know that there is genuine concern about Facebook’s plans in this space given its spotty reputation on many issues including consumer data privacy and protections.

At Second Life, we’re proud that we don’t monetize, sell, or share consumer data – and we’ve been heartened to see the mainstream media reevaluate our own virtual world amidst the heightened interest in all-things-metaverse including a renewed recognition and celebration of our pioneering contributions to the concepts of virtual economies, cultures, and communities.

What have been your highlights of 2021 in Second Life ? Feel free to share in comments below. Have a great Christmas everyone.

Linden Lab Adds Two Limited Edition Last Names

New Last Names Added

On 1st April 2021 Linden Lab announced two new limited edition last names which are only available until Thursday 8th April 2021. The reason for these new limited edition last names is “in appreciation of our Anthro/Furry community in Second Life”. Woooot! 🙂

• UwU
• OwO

For anyone that wants to change their last name in Second Life you must have a premium account. For the annual membership it’s USD 99.00 per year or for the quarterly membership it’s USD 39.56 per quarter or a monthly membership it’s USD 14.39 per month. For more details about upgrading click here.

Linden Lab mentioned in the blog post that they will continue to make additional updates to the available last names pool soon. I have highlighted the new ones in yellow above and hopefully the next lot of last names will stay in the available last names pool for longer.

I wonder what other new last names the lab will come up with next.

The SL17B Exhibits Are Still Open

Bugs Bunny at the bar drinking lime

Last weekend marked the end of the major events and live performances at SL17B. The only big event still going now is the SL17B Shop & Hop shopping event which ends Sunday 12th July 2020. The exhibits and birthday regions are still open for another two weeks roughly. There is a useful list of SL17B community experiences worth checking out. 

SL17B core regions open until 12th July 2020

SL17B Shop & Hop Shopping Event still open

For those that are visiting this week and next week the lag should now be at normal levels. It should be easier now to explore the regions sightseeing and hanging out with family/friends. It’s best to visit during non-peak hours to enjoy it more.  

Ebbe Linden & Saffia live at SL17B last week (22nd June)

The SL17B Meet the Linden sessions were a huge success again this year with a large audience every day participating inworld and on the live online stream. Well done to everyone that made it work this year. It was good to hear good progress being made with the uplift work, the mobile app, premium plus, Linden Homes and much more. I think before the end of the year there will be some interesting announcements on Second Life.

The new Stilt Linden Home theme

SL17B Enchant from the air

The new Stilt Linden Homes can still be viewed in the SL17B Enchant region. The LH Demo region will remain open for the next few weeks. After that the Stilt Linden Homes won’t be released until later in 2020 when residents will be able to start moving in. I will post more on this when new updates becomes available.

What do you think of SL17B so far ?

 

 

New Last Names Options Now Available

Today Linden Lab have announced 7 new Last Name options for purchasing with another three new last name options in honor of Second Life 17th birthday theme.

There will be further updates to the last name options pool in the near future. Last week ten last names were officially retired and they are no longer available for purchase.

• You can change your last name here. You must have a Premium account to do this change. 

Here is the newly updated list of available last names as of 25th June 2020. 

Here is the full blog announcement below…

As we announced last week, ten last names have officially been retired and are no longer available for purchase. 

Today, we are pleased to announce the names replacing them, available as an option for purchase now:

Vortex
Fluffpaw
Sassypants
Amethyst
Bloodrose
Aurelia
Starlight

Additionally, three names are being made available for purchase in honor of Second Life’s 17th Birthday theme: 

Wayfarer
Rover
Wanderer

These three names will be retired in the next round of updates, so if you’re interested, be sure to grab them while they’re available!

We will continue to make additional updates to the available last name pool, so if these options aren’t for you, stay tuned for future updates. 

What do you think of these last name options ?

Lab Gab Episode 19 Summary – LL staff say “stay safe, stay virtual”

On Friday 27th March Lab Gab episode 19 was broadcasted live with Ebbe Altberg CEO of Linden Lab and Brett Linden Senior Director of Marketing. There was discussion about the coronavirus outbreak, Second Life and Sansar. It was a pretty interesting show.

Here is a brief summary on the latest new updates.

Coronavirus Outbreak

• All Linden Lab offices are closed. The co-lo data centre is open for access.
• It is not anticipated that Second Life should experience any significant service interruptions going forward.
• The lab have been saying “stay safe, stay virtual” during meetings and calls.
• The lab have concerns about the virus and its impact it may have on family/friends.
• Linden Lab formation is to work remotely from home (its been like that for years).

Second Life 

• Second Life is a very established & profitable company.
• Name Changes just a very few weeks away from launching.
• New registrations for Second Life are up by 60% with a rise in concurrency around 10% overall due to cities around the world being locked down.
• Returning users are up in Second Life – increase in those that have not logged into Second Life for some time.
• IOS Mobile Companion (IMs & group messaging) is now very close to Alpha status. Work has started on the Android version.
• Linden Lab is committed to the cloud uplift to AWS / Google until the end of 2020.
• New Second Life Book Club will launch on 8th April 2020 along with a monthly event. Showcase streams will be a series of “drop in” video streams that will showcase music and art events in Second Life.

Sansar

• Around 30 staff at Sansar have been offered to join the new Sansar under Wookey Project Corp.
• Sansar new focus will be on virtual events in the music and entertainment sectors.
• Tilia will continue to be used for Sansar Dollar transactions

Here is the full episode below…

Last Names Launching In A Matter Of Weeks

Ebbe Altberg CEO of Linden Lab has said this week on Twitter that we can expect to see last names launch in a matter of weeks. Not months. It’s very close apparently.

The lab could be launching this around the Easter period at best estimates. Probably more likely before the end of April 2020. Anything later than that is not good enough.

I know it’s close. Very close. Weeks. Not months.

— Ebbe Altberg (@ebbealtberg) March 20, 2020

 

More updates soon.

Linden Lab moves to Plan B for Sansar

https://youtu.be/Av1D3UCsr0o

Ebbe Altberg confirmed on Friday 21st February on Lab Gab episode 14 that Linden Lab is no longer continuing to sponsor Sansar financially. The lab are now looking for a plan B for Sansar going forward.

No deal has been done yet.

Ebbe said the following below…

So as you might have heard, sadly we have decided that we, as Linden Lab, couldn’t continue to sponsor the project financially, so we’re looking for a plan B for Sansar to continue. I can’t say much, but we’re having very interesting conversations with several parties to help that project move forward, which I’m really excited about. But no deal is done yet, so people will just have to be patient and see what happens with it, but yes  it is true that Linden Lab going forward will focus entirely on Second Life and Tilia. I’m still busy making sure that Sansar finds a great home and that the great work that that team has started can continue.

Linden Lab will now focus entirely on Second Life and Tilia going forward which is good news indeed. They remain in a strong financial position at this time. More investments are coming now for Second Life.

Other Important Updates

• Linden Lab is still developing a companion app for Second Life. There is still no ETA. Testing could start soon like in the next few months for IOS first followed with a Androud version.
• No confirmed date for deployment for Name Changes but Name Changes will be around US $20 cheaper for Premium Plus members
• No ETA for launch date for Premium Plus
• 8 names confirmed for the first list of last names > Conundrum, Dismantled, Huntsman, Littlepaws, Nova, Ravenhurst, Wumpkins & Yeatley + Winners will be informed via e-mail
• The cloud uplift project due to be completed before the end of 2020
• Transfer costs for buy-down / grandfathered regions is to be reduced from US $600 to US $300
• There are roughly 5,000 new accounts logging-in to Second Life every day
• There are plans to introduce 2FA

Linden Lab updates about Second Life future & latest news on Sansar

On 13th February Linden Lab a blog post about an update to Second Life which is rather interesting to read through. Apparently Linden Lab have made some personnel and operational changes recently. A few employees have officially left the lab but the good news is that the team has strengthened more.

Linden Lab is continuing to invest heavily in Second Life going forward with many exciting developments happening pretty soon including new Linden Home themes, a new mobile companion app, the launch of last names which will be available in the next few weeks. There will be more new features, improved performance and usability updates soon.

The full blog post reads this…

There’ve been quite a few rumors about changes at the Lab and their possible effects on Second Life and Tilia. The truth is that we have made a few operational and personnel changes to ensure that we continue to stay strong for the next decade and beyond. This means that we had to say goodbye to a few employees, but at the same time we also strengthened our team by bringing back some heavy hitters who will help make Second Life better than ever.

So, Second Life is still here and still strong. We’re continuing to invest in its future and you’ll see the results of our commitment this year as we roll out a new mobile companion app, new Linden Home themes, performance and usability improvements, and a number of other new features and enhancements. The ability to change names will be available in the next few weeks, too.

These changes reflect our commitment to making SL strong for many years to come. To infinity and beyond!

Sansar Update – (13th Feb) 

Ebbe Altberg posted a update on the official Sansar Discord channel saying that there have been layoffs. Ebbe confirmed that Sansar is up and running. The future is unclear at the moment.

The lab are still in discussion about the next steps for Sansar. The problem is there will be many that will be speculating about these latest changes. Just have to wait and see now what will happen in the days and weeks ahead.

So, I’m only going to say this tonight as it’s late. We can pick up the conversation in the following days. Yes, there were layoffs today. A truly wonderful group of people. But as you can see Sansar is up and running. We are still in discussion about next steps. Including with the wonderful group of people. More to come. Don’t give up yet. Go create and have fun. Not much point in speculating until we can tell you more.

More updates soon.

Last Names could be available by the end of January 2020

On Thursday 21st November Linden Lab posted a blog post on the return of last names. Last Names is now the most requested feature apparently on the lab to do list. The lab are now “furiously” going to make Last Names available by the end of January 2020. Last Names will be picked from a list and users can help Linden Lab curate the list.

Name Changes will be exclusively for Premium members at an additional fee (to be confirmed). Changing either First or Last Name will be available as a single transaction (US dollars TBC). For anyone signing up to Second Life in 2020 they will continue to have “resident” attached to their name unless they opt to Premium.

Linden Lab are holding a Last Names competition starting 16th December 2019 for all Second Life users (Basic and Premium users) to suggest suitable last names to the pool of last name options. The lab will pick five lucky residents will be able to change their names free of charge. The contest ends on 15th January 2020.

• Participation details will be announced shortly!

There is now a big demand for Last Names in Second Life and it’s good to see the lab finally pushing ahead with a possible release sometime in the first few months or so of 2020. It’s more likely to happen in 2020 from the sounds of things.

Other announcement updates this week…

• The Marketplace product listing enhancement fees will be reduced by 10% – effective 2nd December 2019
• Improvements to the Events pages are now going ahead for 2020
• A new membership level Premium Plus will be introduced in 2020
• New exclusive first peek at the newest Linden Homes – follow the SL Christmas Expo 2019 (5th-25th)