There was a time in World of Warcraft when your character's name meant rather more than the collection of letters floating above your head. It was how people recognised you outside Ironforge, how guildmates found you after a successful dungeon run, and how that particularly irritating Rogue remembered you after an unfortunate encounter in Stranglethorn Vale. On smaller servers, a good name could become surprisingly well known. A bad one could follow you for years.
And then there were the names everybody wanted. The obvious fantasy heroes, the clever jokes and the single-word identities that somebody had inevitably claimed three minutes after the servers opened. If you arrived too late, your magnificent warrior might have to spend the next several years introducing himself as Arthazz, Legolasss or some other unfortunate spelling experiment.
World of Warcraft: Forever is preparing to bring back the great character-name scramble on October 27. But this time, Blizzard has introduced a rather modern complication: players who want to reserve their names before launch will need to purchase one of the game's optional upgrade packages.
Apparently, even the right to introduce yourself in Azeroth has become part of the premium experience.
October 27 Is the Date to Remember
According to Blizzard's official pre-purchase announcement, Early Name Reservation opens on October 27 and continues through November 3, ahead of Forever's worldwide launch on November 4.
During this period, eligible players can create and customize up to three characters, reserving their names before the servers officially open. Reservations operate on a first-come, first-served basis, meaning purchasing an upgrade does not guarantee that your preferred name will still be available.
Blizzard has not yet announced a specific opening hour for the reservation window, so players should keep an eye on the official announcements rather than assume it will begin at midnight in their region.
The reservation benefit is tied to the particular World of Warcraft account that purchased the upgrade. Players with multiple WoW accounts should therefore pay attention to where the purchase is applied.
We have already covered Forever's final public stress test, which takes place on October 21. Characters and names created during that test will be deleted afterward. So anyone hoping to secure a permanent identity by rushing into the free test is unfortunately going to discover that Blizzard has thought of that particular shortcut.
How Much Does It Cost to Reserve a Name?
Here is where the arrangement becomes interesting.
WoW Forever itself does not require a separate game purchase. The enormous Classic-inspired project, with its redesigned classes, new dungeons, additional quests and expanded version of Azeroth, will be included with an ordinary World of Warcraft subscription or Game Time.
Early Name Reservation, however, is included only with a qualifying paid upgrade.
The cheapest option is the Skyborne Heroic Pack, priced at $29.99 in the United States. More expensive options include the Skyborne Epic Pack and Warcraft Forever Collection. All three include the reservation benefit, although their additional rewards differ.
As we explained in our earlier look at the $29.99 Skyborne upgrade, the purchase provides more than early access to character names. It also unlocks the new playable Skyborne race, its Zephras Isle starting experience and several cosmetic rewards.
That distinction matters. Blizzard is not charging $30 solely to reserve a name, and nobody needs to buy one of these packages to play the regular game at launch.
Still, the practical result is difficult to ignore. Players willing to purchase an upgrade receive the opportunity to claim their preferred names before everyone else.
For some, that will be a relatively unimportant convenience. For others, particularly players hoping to recreate characters they have used for twenty years, it may be surprisingly tempting.
Forever's Two-Part Names Change the Competition
There is one rather important difference between this name reservation event and the traditional launch-day scramble.
Forever is abandoning conventional realm-based identities in favour of a new two-part naming system. Instead of choosing a single character name that must be unique on a particular server, players select a primary name and a secondary name. The complete combination must be unique across the region.
We explained the system in detail when Blizzard announced Forever's realmless architecture and two-part character names, one of the more fundamental changes to how players will identify themselves in Azeroth.
It means two characters could share the same first name as long as their complete names differ. An aspiring Arthas doesn't necessarily lose everything because somebody else arrived first. They might simply need to become Arthas Somethingelse.
Which admittedly loses a little of the original menace.
Blizzard also allows players to hide their secondary name from the world display through the Nameplates settings, although the full name remains visible in chat. That offers something resembling the traditional single-name appearance without abandoning the new identification system.
The change should create far more naming possibilities than a conventional realm launch. But it also means particularly desirable combinations could disappear quickly during the reservation period.
Blizzard Is Already Taking Character Names Seriously
There is another reason players should think carefully before committing to their new identities.
Forever's expanded naming system has already produced some wonderfully predictable behaviour during beta testing. Give Warcraft players two name fields instead of one, and somebody will immediately attempt to discover exactly how many questionable jokes can fit inside them.
Blizzard has been considerably less amused than the players responsible.
In September, we reported that 0.18 percent of reviewed names resulted in players being removed from the Forever beta for serious violations of the naming rules. Less severe offences generally resulted in forced name changes.
The developers have also clarified that naming restrictions apply to the complete combination, not merely the individual words. Splitting an inappropriate expression between the two fields is therefore unlikely to impress Blizzard's moderation team.
Players should also avoid names that impersonate Blizzard employees or violate the existing World of Warcraft naming policies.
So while Forever may provide greater freedom to create memorable character identities, it is probably unwise to treat the new surname field as an invitation to test the entire dictionary of forbidden expressions.
Should You Pay to Reserve Your Character Name?
That depends on how much the name matters to you, and whether you actually want the other benefits included with the upgrade.
Someone planning to play a Skyborne character already has a reason to consider the Heroic Pack. In that situation, early name reservation is an additional benefit rather than the sole motivation for purchasing it.
For players who only want to recreate their old Human Warrior or Undead Mage, however, the calculation becomes considerably less attractive. Paying $29.99 primarily to gain a week's advantage in the naming queue is a substantial expense for something that does not make your character stronger, faster or better equipped.
There is also the question of whether the advantage is as important as it initially appears. The two-part naming system provides vastly more combinations, reducing some of the pressure that traditionally accompanied launch-day character creation.
Our WoW Forever beginner's guide already covers the decisions that will matter far more once players enter the game: choosing the right ruleset, understanding the redesigned classes and preparing for the slower journey to level 60.
And Blizzard's decision to launch without plans for WoW Tokens or Character Boosts makes the paid naming advantage a particularly curious contrast. The developers want players to earn their progress through gameplay, but they're perfectly comfortable selling an earlier place in the character creation queue.
It is not the same thing as selling power, of course. A reserved name won't help you defeat Ragnaros, and the most brilliantly named Rogue in Azeroth can still lose a duel to somebody called Bob.
But it does say something about where Blizzard is drawing the line between preserving the Classic experience and offering modern premium conveniences.
Azeroth's Next Generation Gets Its Names on November 4
In the end, the reservation period is another small reminder that Forever's launch is rapidly approaching. After years of speculation about a genuine Classic+ experience, Blizzard is now preparing to open a permanent new version of Azeroth where players will create characters they could potentially keep for many years.
That makes names more meaningful than they might be in a short-lived seasonal experiment. A character created in November could eventually become part of a guild's history, a familiar figure in a particular community or the person everybody remembers for accidentally pulling half of Blackrock Depths.
Those little identities have always been part of what made World of Warcraft feel like a world rather than simply another multiplayer game.
Whether they should come with an early-access price tag is another matter.
For players purchasing one of the upgrades, October 27 will be the first opportunity to make their mark. Everyone else can begin creating characters when Forever launches on November 4.
And if your favourite name has already been taken by then, there is at least some consolation.
Twenty-two years after the original World of Warcraft launched, Blizzard has finally given us surnames.
So perhaps Legolasss can finally become a respectable member of society.
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