It's true. The sentient being known as the avatar Botgirl Questi is now registered as Botgirl Linden. The screen name depicted in this image is authentic. But before you start selling off your land and assets in panic there is one important factor I haven't mentioned yet: Botgirl Linden is registered on the OpenLife grid, not Second Life.
Although this started out as a joke, I had two key realizations as I walked around with the coveted/dreaded last name. First, it struck me that being a Linden must make it hard to interact in Second Life as a typical resident. Although there is no royalty in Second Life, Lindens do have the power of kings and queens within the realm of their world. They can grant boons or banish, lower taxes or strip a community of its assets and livelihood. The imbalance of authority is through edict rather than democratic rule, so the power differential means a Linden can't just be "one of the guys."
My second realization was that it would be really, really cool if Second Life was run by some of the "civilians" I really respect instead of our legacy crop of leaders. Imagine what things might be like if Dusan Writer was the new CEO, Vint Falken President, Jacek Antonelli CTO, Mal Burns head of Public Information and Codebastard Redgrave and Gabby Panacek the joint chiefs of community affairs.
Anyway, it was great fun to play Linden for a few days, even in OpenLife. My one regret is that middle names aren't supported, so I couldn't register as Botgirl Che Linden. (Nice t-shirt, huh?)
Oh yeah. One more thing before I sign off. I also registered the name "M. Linden." Those who have ears...
And now begins the stampede to Openlife to register Linden names! I hope they are up for the onslaught. Every time I go there, I crash.
ReplyDeleteA little hint to those who want to secure their names in Legend City Online: the "last name" choice is limited to a list of names provided by Legend City. They do seem to turn over quickly, as the name I recently selected is already gone from the list. BUT, and here's the cool part, your FIRST name can be two separate words! So you could, for example make your first name be Botgirl Questi, and then choose a last name. Not an ideal solution, but one that allows you to keep as your first name the entire name you are known as in Second Life.
I wonder why some grids limit the last name choices, and others let you select whatever you want? Maybe the limits are to keep out obscenity, or the duplication of other people's names (like, say, M. Linden, for example?!) Hmm....who coud do that? Not anyone we know. :)
Wanna hear a funny? Two years and two months in SL, and I've still never once had a single in-world interaction with a Linden. Not a single word exchanged with even one of them. I did once SEE a Linden (ooooh!) when I was performing at SL5B, but she may not have actually been there. She certainly said nothing to me at the time. I can't imagine that my life would be any better with said interaction than without.
ReplyDeleteI'd settle for a post as Propaganda Linden, President does not seem to be a very thanking job and we need somebody older and especially wiser. :)
ReplyDeleteI wanted to nominate Crap Linden for Musical & Cultural Affairs, Pavig Lok as Immigration Linden, Ordinal Malaprop as Defence Linden, and I guess we need a new Finance Linden and an Ambassador Linden too? Then there's AnaLutetia as Fashion Linden, Paisley as TelevisionStation Linden and Smiley as Linden of Youth. I also suggest to keep Torley Linden and a few others on board as you throw over the ruling government! ;)
(And wonder if you have the investment capital needed for revolutions! :D)
haha, I wish Id thought of using Linden as a last name when I registered with OSGRID!
ReplyDeleteZak: I've never bumped into a Linden inadvertently inworld, but at least there are office hours and other scheduled interaction opportunities available.
ReplyDeletePrincess: Good idea on Legend City registration!
Vint: Good suggestions! It would be interesting to hold a vote on resident-appointed executive positions. Would need to limit it to premium account holders to keep it honest.
On the investment issue, I'm hoping that open source solutions will eventually be stable and full-featured enough to allow many of us to own our own iron (silicon?) and just hit shared services for things like authentication and assets.
HellSpawnD: Why not just register a new avatar? The price is right.
CeNedra Linden reporting for duty.
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