Wagner James Au / New World Notes

I had a feeling this would happen soon after Linden Lab brought back last name options for Second Life avatars, but I didn't expect it happen so quickly: Less than 2 days after that feature was announced, some SLer looked at the first pool of available surnames, and did the inevitable: Became Freddy Mercury. I was hoping for an avatar profile pic with a handlebar mustache or at least a few lines from "Bohemian Rhapsody" in the bio, but the Second Life version of Freddie Mercury is pretty shy, at least so far.

Sad to say, however, still no sight of anyone named "NegativePress Covfefe", another now-available option, but I will keep checking for that awesome occasion.

Becoming Freddie Mercury in Second Life, by the way, is no small investment: It costs $39.99 to make the switch, plus an upgrade to Premium Second Life subscription (if not already upgraded). That's like $160 to be Freddie Mercury in Second Life for just a year! Update: According to the name change FAQ, Freddie Mercury can discontinue their Premium account and still keep on being Freddie Mercury (thanks, Mondy).

And it might even be more than that: As Canadian virtual world blogger Ryan Schultz points out, many global currencies have taken a beaten against the US dollar during the pandemic, so non-American Second Life players will likely pay way more: For instance, due to its recent devaluation, it would currently cost Ryan nearly 80 goddamn Canadian dollars to change his SL name.

As for Freddie Mercury of SL, I reached out to him to find out more, but so far no reply:

Who knows, it may be Brian May in quarantine, curious to try this virtual world his friends in Duran Duran were so into back in the day. I sure hope that's the case. After, only a few years ago, Freddie Mercury's official charity filed a copyright claim against another charity because of its giant fiberglass gorilla called Freddie Mercury. I'm not even fucking kidding.