For the sake of completeness: this very same feature request used to be on the "old JIRA", filed under #MISC-2222, "Create Master Account Name, Linking to Avatar Names - Second Life Issues".

That's a good idea overall (similar to how some OpenSimulator-based grids work) and I fully endorse it.

It's likely that many don't even trust LL/Tilia with their real-life data and will "aggregate" alts — but your proposal does not go against that choice. You'd be free to link together whatever alts/bots you wished, and have completely separate accounts for the alts that you don't want — not even LL — to know who you are.

Your solution, therefore, works for me! I hope that Spidey Linden is keeping track of it :)

As for how many alts you can link... as said... you could always have multiple RL accounts, each with N linked alts/bots, so I don't see a problem there, either.

Also, this is the kind of thing that LL can differentiate between basic, Premium, and Premium Pro accounts: the more you pay, the more you can link under a single account :)

I can speak of myself only, and I'm the lousiest example possible. I have, the last time I checked, around 4 alts. I say "around" because I was quite sure I had a 4th — its name still pops up every once in a while in my old password lists :))) — but I can't seem to figure out how exactly its name is properly spelt and what password I used — or what email address I used. So, it's a "lost avatar", so to speak.

Of the other three, one I never use. It was an experiment in doing a "real me" avatar. The experiment failed :) I didn't the alt because, who knows, it might come in useful some time (it doesn't).

Another one is almost as old as my main account, which I created for the benefit of a specialised discussion community which also had a SL presence back then (2005...) and knew me with a different nickname. That group disbanded, in a sense, and I also lost interest (I've heard they have re-founded the group a few years ago, but I haven't re-joined); thus the last time I've updated avatar was perhaps 2012. Or 2015? I use it sometimes just to do a few experiments, but it's rare, because...

... my avatar is my twin :) Well, it used to be in the past. I created it because LL introduced two last names very close to mine, and I was afraid that they would be taken by someone else. And, indeed, one was (!). The other I grabbed for myself hehe. While I could afford it, I used to buy body, skin, and hair in pairs, so my alt looked like me, and it was extensively used for testing permissions on scripts, as well as to do some weird pictures, of course :)

But with the prices of high-quality content these days, I haven't updated that avatar, either, and use real humans to test permissions :)

So... four alts, and I just use my main, so if the limit is "five", I'm okay with it hehe

On the flip side of the coin... there are bots. Here, the thing is completely different. Many projects I'm involved in require tooling that is not possible to do with LSL (even using off-world servers), and that only "avatars" have access to. This means bots. I have lots of those. I can't say precisely how many — I remember a few have been discontinued — but my guess is that I have access to 25 or so. Of those, 13-14 are in continuous usage for a very specific, ongoing project, where the bots play a role in a narrative (part of an academic project in SL). These even have nice, modern meshed bodies & clothing and AOs and so forth :) The remaining are in "deep storage" — to be retrieved if and when they're needed. I suspect many are still Ruths :)

So... since we have to start with a number.... 5 alts and 25 bots? hehe

I originally joined SL in October 2004, then I created a new avatar in July 2005. Perhaps avatars should have the option of being listed by the in-world rezzday of the user rather than the avatar, as some users have several avatars. After all, if the user has been on SL that long, the creation date of the avatar is perhaps irrelevant.

Or listing the user rezzday AND avatar creation date might be best.