The more I think about it, number 2 is the best balanced. It's professional and edgy, but also looks very trustworthy, cutting edge, and lightweight.
I couldn't agree more. #6 just looks cool, but in my opinion, #2 or some variant of it is exactly what we should be looking for the exact reasons you said.
If that is truly there case, then we need to change the name. It is earlier enough we still could. If being a dark coin is going to be such a challenge to get mass adoption, what is the point of calling it darkcoin?
Well, I argued for a name change some time ago, but the idea didn't have enough support -- basically the official line is that the name will not change. The Darkcoin brand actually does a decent job of filling the "underground" niche, but I have always felt it will prevent the coin from gaining widespread adoption. Of course, that's just an opinion, and time will tell. IMO the best that can be achieved given the circumstances is to mitigate the effects of the stigma by carefully thought out branding & marketing.
While I don't agree with changing names or that it will prevent widespread adoption, I do agree about everything else.
Though I am curious what your definition of widespread adoption is. I think it is important that we are realistic about what widespread adoption means in cryptocurrency, especially an altcoin in the current market. I can see a world where my mother uses bitcoin. I cannot see a world my she would use any altcoin, unless a major feature/change/disruption is released of a magnitude 100x what we have already seen from all alts combined, I don't see that changing. I do think there is a very important market for altcoins, much greater than day trading and currency speculation. And it is a market I am invested in, with a very significant amount of my time, and to a lesser extent, money (more if I could afford it). And it is that market I look to when I am considering the widespread adoption of the coin, because realistically widespread adoption in terms of the general public is at the moment still questionable for bitcoin, let alone an altcoin.
Damnit LimLims don't support that. Domain names are expensive. (and ssl certificates too!)
While I don't like the idea, domain names are not expensive, nor are ssl certificates. I realize in terms of money, everything is relative, however a domain an SSL can be had for under $20. Which is lower enough to not even consider in the cost of changing names.