Gamers Beware, the Great World of Warcraft Name Purge Is Coming

Blizzard has announced that when the next World of Warcraft patch comes out, a whole bunch of old usernames will go the way of the dodo. Hey, as long as Everquest leaves the Half-Elf warrior I got to level three back in high school alone, I’m fine.

The “character name reclamation” will affect characters who have not logged in since November 13, 2008. If there are any WoW gamers feeling particularly nostalgic who want to rescue their old characters’ names from the jaws of death, you just have to log in before the pre-expansion patch 6.0.2 for “Warlords of Draenor” goes out. Warns Blizzard: “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. Our goal with this great name liberation is to make sure new and returning players have a large and varied pool of names available to choose from—so log in now if you wish to preserve your unused characters’ names for your journey intro Draenor.”

I’m still bummed about my old Neopets username having been purged and my pets put up for adoption. I’m sure I’d be more bummed if I could even remember my old name or those of my pets, but the point still stands.

Previously in World of Warcraft

• First Robin Williams In-Game World of Warcraft Memorial Spotted in “Warlords of Draenor” Beta
• Fan Petition to Memorialize Robin Williams With World of Warcraft NPC Succeeds
• Actor Ben Foster Reveals His Role In The Warcraft Movie

(via Elder Geek)

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