It becomes available when it becomes available.
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I donât think there is any reason to think the releases happen only on drop day. It didnât work that way even when they were mass released. Probably the best youâre going to get is theyâre released more or less on a rolling basis after about 2 expansions.
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They do tend to not release right at the start of an expansion, to allow players who may chose to return a chance to keep their name They also donât overtly advertise when it happens, to allow players a free chance at names, rather then the lucky few who happened to be online when the process starts.
If a name is released, you can use it. If it is not release, then you canât.
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Looks to me like this works in a way similar to the guild dethrone system.
Except that it doesnât. The guild dethrone is exactly 90days to the second from the old guild masterâs last login. As such, one could determine exactly when to log in and await the dethrone button to light up.
Actually, what you are suggesting would do quite the opposite. Whoever just got lucky and happened to be online at just the right time would get the name, as opposed to someone who really wanted it and was interested enough to determine the moment of the name release and prepare for it.
What is the big secret regarding when the names are released?
All very good questions, for the general discussion forum. This forum can only clarify how it works, and not change that.
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I feel like Kal covered it pretty thoroughly. If you think that there should be some sort of tracking or notice system in place, by all means, youâre welcome to make the suggestion in the proper forums. Though with how the system works now, Iâm not too sure a ânotice systemâ would actually work.
Try to keep in mind too PĂ», that not all Blizz systems are fully explained as a way to ensure that players donât try and take advantage of them. I know that when the first big name release happened, there were plenty of posts and players upset that they found out after the fact and that players were attempting to hold the names âhostageâ or sell them for gold.
My guess is that by leaving out some of the details, they help to prevent that sort of negative game-play 
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I bet its the same reason they dont announce ban waves so people dont immediately uninstall the bot program or log into the game quickly to weasle there way outa ban or losing the name.
But I donât think itâs clear how it works. When a player has gone inactive, exactly when do his names become available for other players to use? Is it some point after the drop of the 2nd expansion? Maybe 6 weeks or 8 weeks or 12 weeks. If it is some number of days following the drop that they want to keep somewhat secret (perhaps so entrepreneurs donât gobble up good names to âsellâ), thatâs fine. At least people who are interested can put in the effort to log in and check every day. Are all names even released in a single wave? Or does each name have itâs own âtimerâ attached (i.e. Johnny last logged in 114 days into the Legion expansion so his names get released 114 days into the Shadowlands expansion)?
These are not suggestions for how it should work, but rather questions about how it does work.
Hereâs the Support Article:
https://us.battle.net/support/en/article/10958
If you feel it needs to be more specific, youâre welcome to click NO on the âWas this article helpful?â option.
But as I mentioned, and Iâm sure youâre already aware, there are certain policies that have never been made fully public to help stem abuse of the system. This would seem to be one of those policies. While itâs clear youâd like a black and white answer, itâs not likely to happen. And therein lies the suggestion. If youâd like it to be more specific, youâll need to make that request either in the Support Article, or in the General forums.
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And they can continue to do that regardless of whether or not they are made aware of a specific date for release.
Then that type of question is best posed to the people making the decisions and policies.
You can try contacting the Devs via their Twitter account: @WarcraftDevs to see if they are willing to offer more insight into the inner workings of that system.
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Iâve done that. The article offers one sentence. That one sentence says that if Johnny did not play at all in Legion nor in BfA, his names will all be available immediately upon launch of Shadowlands, since his account âremained inactive for the past two expansions.â Is that correct?
I believe part of the purpose of this forum is to clarify what the policy is.
What is the issue here? Why has this become a thing in a thread that was resolved more than a year ago?
Itâs pretty clear that Blizzard does not want one specific point in time where names get freed up. Not only does it encourage people to squat on names for financial gain, but it also encourages people to keep their names with no intention of ever playing them again.
Itâs two expansions, down to the minute and second. If Johnny stops playing a month into Legion, his names will be available a month into Shadowlands. Other players will not know the exact time, by design. Johnny can come back and keep his name more than two expansions later (if no one has claimed them), by design.
You know where to leave suggestions/feedback, and you know itâs not here.
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That is exactly the clarification I was looking to find from the CS Forum. Itâs exactly the question I asked here:
Nobody confirmed that anywhere in the thread until you said it. Thanks Melasia. That is the confirmation I was looking for. This answers my question:
In fact, Iâm going to suggest over on the support article that Melasiaâs information be added for further clarification.
Hmm⊠I guess thereâs no option anymore for suggestions on improving the support articles. There used to be a little comment box. Now itâs just check a box for why it wasnât helpful. Oh well.
Which is pretty much what Breakbeat was talking about in their reply 10 hours ago:
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Yes, I saw that. I wasnât entirely sure what he meant, so I asked questions to follow up. Melasia clarified it. I think itâs very clear now that itâs however many days into the 2nd to last expansion was the last login. I think thatâs a pretty fair and consistent way to do it. Thanks again, Melasia.
Where we can, we arenât always able to provide all details involved. The timeframe for name release that we are able to provide at this moment is âfor 2 expansionsâ.
As the others have stated, if you wish for more detail, youâll want to reach out to our Devs.
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