Name is unavailable but not taken?

[Nalam the Venom]

http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/search?f...=1&dir=a&q=mao 231 people named mao, over 50% is below lvl 10, people who say below lvl 10 dosen't show up.. is just talking nonsense

[MoanaLisa]

Actually Moana, as somebody above stated, if your account remains active, GMs will not touch the name of an unplayed alt, no matter how long you don't play. (I mean, how would you explain to a paying a customer they've lost the right to a fairly named character when their fees are up to date? Even then, for them top consider freeing up a name, I'm pretty sure there account needs to have been in-active for a long time.

That's comforting I suppose but nonetheless a little embarrassing that I haven't logged her on in something like four years. She was one of my very first characters and although I regularly clean out alts, I don't quite have the heart to type =DELETE= in the box for her.

[Evil Inside]

So, I tried to make a new toon & it says Name is unavailable but when I try to armory search it, no one on my server has a toon named that?

Is there another reason why the name would not be taken and says unavailable? Its not a bad name or nothing, other people from other servers have it.

Put in a ticket and ask if you can get the name freed, they should be able to do it if the toon hasnt been used for months or longer.

[lakhesis]

Aside from the stuff everyone has mentioned, I believe there are certain names which are just on a flat out ban list too & I believe that ban list has changed over time.

For example, do a search for Thrall.

Armory searches list even sub level 10 characters now, you just can't look at those characters directly. So you should be able to see if a name is genuinely available on any server now.

There are 14 characters called Thrall on the US/oceanic/s.american servers, yet when I try to create a character called Thrall on a server that should permit it - "Name Unavailable". My understanding is that at some point they tightened up the naming scheme, but old character names were mostly grandfathered in.

It also doesn't like titles (e.g. Mistertoad), a quirk you'll see for (battle) pet naming as well. Yet again, despite it not allowing me to make a character called 'Sirrobin', there are still 38 Sirrobins in the US region.

In a similar style, if you try to create a character called "Fuck", you'll get a message "That name contains mature language"

[FuxieDK]

Some names are disallowed... E.g. I can't use FuxieDK, Fuxie or even Fux... No idea why..

[glowpipe]

I had a lvl 1 with a reserved name once. That got changed and stolen by a Gm. The player who stole my name was lvl 90. I made a decent ticket to the gms and said what had been done. The lvl 90 do not have the namy anymore. Its not mine again. Gms have no rights to change names from lvl 1 alts. Even if the account is inactive. Just so you know. If the player you steal the name from contact the gms. You might lose it again. Unless the dude is a total wad and do not know how to talk to gms

[Detheavn]

It's not really stealing since Blizzard owns everything stored on their servers

[Glaziola]

It's not really stealing since Blizzard owns everything stored on their servers

But names are your intelectual property in some way
On a serious note, they can do whatever the hell they want when you accept the Terms of Use, but it still seems unfair to the paying customer.

[melzas]

I had a lvl 1 with a reserved name once. That got changed and stolen by a Gm. The player who stole my name was lvl 90. I made a decent ticket to the gms and said what had been done. The lvl 90 do not have the namy anymore. Its not mine again. Gms have no rights to change names from lvl 1 alts. Even if the account is inactive. Just so you know. If the player you steal the name from contact the gms. You might lose it again. Unless the dude is a total wad and do not know how to talk to gms

It's more likely that the guy got bored of name and changed it again or changed server/deleted toon. GMs won't force name change because it was 'stolen', as a matter of a fact they are allowed to do whatever they want with your name because they are the owners of your account and characters, you are just paying for using it (read ToS if you don't believe that). And I highly doubt that dudes name was changed because of your ticket, if so, why you didn't get it back? Where is logic in taking name from two players and making them both unsatisfied? I don't think Blizzard would do that just to spite the 'stealer', if so, they wouldn't grant him your name in the first place.

As for OP, don't listen to people saying character must be under level 10, because you can't watch them on armory, but they are still listed on search so you can always see if there is a guy with the name you want to use on your server. The name you tried to use is probably prohibited by naming policy (swearing words, connection to drugs, alcohol, sex, real people, lore characters, characters from different fantasy universe, titles etc.) The list is actually long, you can't even have titles as a name like Queen, Lord, President. Of course not everything might be filtered by the game itself and you can sometimes see someone using the name that shouldn't be allowed, but as soon as that person gets forced name change, the name can't be used on the server anymore by any other character, so there is that.

[Lochton]

The character is either below lvl 10
Or the name has within 90 days been changed to another, adding a cooldown the the name itself (Securily measures to avoid people stealing your name during a name change).

[Tehterokkar]

Should always contact a GM if you want a specific name, chances are the GM might free up the name if the character/account isn't active. I got my DK's name that way(Shinigami) on 1 of the biggest realms in EU(Draenor)

[Detheavn]

But names are your intelectual property in some way
On a serious note, they can do whatever the hell they want when you accept the Terms of Use, but it still seems unfair to the paying customer.

A name is a name and can't be your intellectual property unless it is a registered trademark

And yes, the terms of use basically tell you that they can do everything they want, even ban someone for no reason

[Nalam the Venom]

Some names are disallowed... E.g. I can't use FuxieDK, Fuxie or even Fux... No idea why..

i coulden't use checking (because it said it contained mature language)but checkin worked xD
it's rly weird sometimes

[Ilir]

It reminds me of the time you were not able to write "gold koweit" in the same sentence... it would just not appear in game... like you did not write anything.

[Roshar]

http://eu.battle.net/wow/en/search?f...=1&dir=a&q=mao 231 people named mao, over 50% is below lvl 10, people who say below lvl 10 dosen't show up.. is just talking nonsense

Congratulations on not reading the thread fully before replying. Here's what you missed:

Type the name into the search, should show low levels.

[lunchbox2042]

It doesn't show if they haven't logged into the character yet.

[Nalam the Venom]

Congratulations on not reading the thread fully before replying. Here's what you missed:

i read enough too see that people went QQ i can't see lvl 1's in armory so i replied

[ACES]

i coulden't use checking (because it said it contained mature language)but checkin worked xD
it's rly weird sometimes

You couldn't use 'Checking' because the last four letters are 'king' and you can't use titles like 'King', 'Sir', or even 'Mr' (yet for some reason Ms is allowed).

[A Wild Raccoon]

Happened to me before too. Make a ticket!

[Deleted]

If it's a lvl1 toon, the only chance you'll get the name is if the account itself has been inactive for a while, otherwise forget it. Happened the same to me a few months ago, I contascted a GM but got no luck.