Names....

[Soulwind]

I checked and literally all those names are being used including Brox and Broxigar.

That list of names wasn't made in one go, some were added at different stages of the game, and Blizzard didn't immediately force a name change to those who already had them. Supposedly they would, if enough people reported each character individually, but nobody cares enough to do that.

[klogaroth]

If a name is on a character that has been inactive for two expansions it automatically becomes available for use again.

[Calfredd]

That list of names wasn't made in one go, some were added at different stages of the game, and Blizzard didn't immediately force a name change to those who already had them. Supposedly they would, if enough people reported each character individually, but nobody cares enough to do that.

Except there are a few of those names are on demon hunters as well.

[Sansnom]

I think they actually do that. If someone's inactive for a long time, Blizzard makes the name available again. I don't know the specifics, but I think it's something like unsubbed and gone for months, if not years.

They do. I managed to acquire a name that was taken once. I did not asked for it to be unlock. It was just a random attempt and it was available.

I think months are too short for inactivity for a name to be released. Blizzard should know there are players that return regularly at the start of each expansion for a few months and then stop until the next one. It would be unfair to release their names given that expansion are generally on a two year lift span. I think the two expansions no login guideline sounds about right.

[Darsithis]

Or just find inspiration from something else.

Most of my toons are named after gemstones and minerals related to the class color, like my hunter is Prasiolite, my paladin Orthoclase, my shaman is Dumortierite...

After all, naming your toons after famous characters of the same class is really just imitation and not imagination.

[Echeyakee]

I genuinely agreed with OP, until they said what names were unavailable... At that point might as well create a dh named illidanlol number five hundred.

But I do think that a surname system is better, cause people will just use accented letters for names they want, making everyone's life harder. We already have b.net tags, they can be used instead of surname with little extra work.

[Sparklelord]

They also lock out names with specific words in them. King/Queen/Lord/God/Anything not appropriate, intentional or otherwise.

Achilles was the name I wanted for my rogue but it was taken and I refused to use alt codes or misspelling, so I rolled undead and went with Necrachilles (Necro-Achilles, or dead Achilles). Funny enough there wasn't enough room for 'Necroachilles' so I had to drop a letter and chose to drop the O as it looked better and as it turns out, when dealing with Latin prefixes ending with a vowel that precede a word beginning vowel, you always drop the vowel of the prefix so this version of the name/word would be grammatically correct. Ended up with a cool, unique name that no one else has. I've only met maybe 5 people that understood it right away, including another undead rogue named Patchroclus, who I bumped into in a FFA n STV arena and funny enough as soon as we saw each other, at the same time proclaimed "Cousin!" before we killed everyone else lol.

For a long time I've tried to get Achilles though but it was always locked and I submitted many tickets to recover that name over the years expansions. I did finally get it unlocked in Cata I believe. Saw the emails a couple hours after the fact and went to snag it and it was already gone. Randomly, a Tauren Paladin that used the name Achilles with a bunch of alt codes transferred to the server and on a whim tried the name. So sad for many reasons...currently it belongs to a Worgen Warlock, which is even more of a tragedy.

[chubbybunny]

think back to the beginning when you had all those night elf hunters with names based on legolas and it's many forms of spelling

[Xilurm]

https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/

You're welcome.

[Lord Pebbleton]

I checked and literally all those names are being used including Brox and Broxigar.

"All those names" which ones? Maiev and Darion? Lilith is not a lore name so it has all the rights in the world to be taken.

I know for a fact that big names like Arthas and Terenas cannot be chosen by any players. One can always resort to Dkdkarrthasdk and Terrenass though.

[Calfredd]

"All those names" which ones? Maiev and Darion? Lilith is not a lore name so it has all the rights in the world to be taken.

I know for a fact that big names like Arthas and Terenas cannot be chosen by any players. One can always resort to Dkdkarrthasdk and Terrenass though.

The WoW Armory literally has all those names as level 120 characters, including Brox and Broxigar.

[Yorimar]

Usually blizzard does a name wipe of toons that haven’t logged in for a year or two and they give a warning that whoever wants to preserve a name must log in.

They usually do this before an expansion launch or something so keep an eye on blue posts. Obviously this does not guarantee you will get the name you want but you can only hope. Otherwise just add a special character or something and get the name you want.

thats weird. i have multiple characters i havent touched in 5 years and they are still there with their names intact

[Extrakt]

I recently made a warlock named Mistmantle. On a high pop server. Just look at lore characters and loads are available.

Dont use badly spelled ones. Looks ugly.

[Omedon]

Hearing "add a letter" from the devs just got me so disproportionately salty. It's 2020, and an MMO has no place campaigning for new blood (as they must always do) if they're going to include a statement that's tantamount to "game's 15+ years old, you might not get your name." That statement, if they're going to mention names at all, needs to come with a systemic change like surnames or "unique per account" names where the "community reputation" factor realistically moves to Bnet tags or streamer names or whatever.

Add a letter... FUCK YOU. (not you people reading this, I'm just mad at that statement.) How about you add a system that eliminates that whole problem?

[Marrilaife]

thats weird. i have multiple characters i havent touched in 5 years and they are still there with their names intact

The name's only stripped if someone else takes it. Guess your chars don't have some high in demand names like Illidank or Dkarthasdk?

- - - Updated - - -

"game's 15+ years old, you might not get your name."

Yet they let you take names of people who were inactive for over an expansion?

[Omedon]

Yet they let you take names of people who were inactive for over an expansion?

And that shouldn't happen either, I don't disagree here.

[AwkwardSquirtle]

"I want names with meaning, like calling my character the name of a different character who already exists."

[agentsi]

I do think they need to purge/force renames on characters that have not logged into the game after let's just say, 3-5 years? I imagine if you've been away that long, chances are you might not come back. I really hate that we have to use ASCII characters in names anymore because so many names are taken on popular servers. On US, Thrall, Sargares(when I play alliance), literally, NONE of the names I use in other games, are able to be used there.

[Trend]

I do think they need to purge/force renames on characters that have not logged into the game after let's just say, 3-5 years?

They already do. Not sure they have ever been super-specific, but if you do not log into your account in roughly 2 expansions you will lose your character names so they are available for others. A name I was waiting for that was used by a lower level rogue became available about 3 months ago, so the purge (assuming that is what freed the name) would not necessarily be right at the end or beginning of an expansion.

[agentsi]

They already do. Not sure they have ever been super-specific, but if you do not log into your account in roughly 2 expansions you will lose your character names so they are available for others. A name I was waiting for that was used by a lower level rogue became available about 3 months ago, so the purge (assuming that is what freed the name) would not necessarily be right at the end or beginning of an expansion.

Interesting, I did not know this. But very good to know.

thank you,