Blizzard reclaiming unused Warcraft character names

Blizzard is reclaiming dormant character names in World of Warcraft to provide a wider pool of options for the launch of upcoming expansion, Warlords of Draenor.

Any character that has not logged into the MMO since November 13 2008 will have their name returned to the public pool and will be available for any new character to use instead. The names will also be available to anyone using the paid character name change service.

To stop a name being reclaimed, players simply have to login and enter the game using the character whose name they wish to keep before patch 6.02 goes live. Patch 6.02 is the update that will prepare the game for the launch of Warlords of Draenor on November 13, but the patch is likely to hit before that.

’While it is possible no one will claim your recently released name and you might be able to snag it again, it is probably not worth the risk if you want to keep your names intact long-term,’ said a Blizzard spokesperson.

Warlords of Draenor will be World of Warcraft’s fifth expansion and is set before the orc invasion in the first Warcraft real-time-strategy title on the orc and draenei homeworld of Draenor.