I understand Blizzard frees up names from characters that haven’t logged for the past two expansions. Anyone knows when this happens? Is it during pre-patch? Release date?
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Better log into those WoD alts. 
Pre-patch, I believe.
Another year, and likely waiting more for the non-specialized ‘Wiccan’. I wouldn’t be so sour if the name was actually in use and not just being held for the last five years…
/teardrop
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How much you think someone would be willing to pay for “Deadpool”?
whenever the patch number increments, like 6 to 7, I presume
I want to say it happened recently.
I wanted a name on MG months back. It was taken. So I made same name with alt 037 code (the funny i).
2 weeks ago I moved one of my cael alliance hunters over with the name I actually wanted. Same name just no 037 funky i. I logged into MG to see if fortune favored me. It did…the name was not taken anymore.
So I deleted that “test” char fast and hit the pay services site quick as hell for the the move.
It could also be a case of the original player deleting that character and the time limit passing by. That’s happened a few times over the years, like how my friend managed to get the name “Billy” in the middle of Legion.
Billy, the Blood Elf Demon Hunter extraordinaire.
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What is your name demon Hunter goes Illidan
Billy.
Illidan looks confused.
Billy goes guess you weren’t prepared for that one huh, Illidan.
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Hey so they don’t do batch releases anymore. Names are now automatically released when they hit the requirement of the account being inactive for X period of time.
The last big batch release was early BFA but they changed the system since then. If you want a name you really just need to try every day for it. I’ve gotten several that were unavailable (on big servers) that randomly are available one day.
Couldn’t find anything about that. You got the source?
Not sure, but for several days on Medivh I could get any name I wanted just about. Don’t remember when that was.
…
Don’t remember them ever doing a batch release for BFA lol. Last one they announced was WoD. That’s all I could find anyway.
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Good to know. Their KB is out of date.
I feel you here. I lost my main’s name of 15 years when I server transferred this expansion. On her new server, the name is on a character which hasn’t been played in years and doesn’t even have any gear equipped. 
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Having surnames would honestly be the better option. I moved from one server with a bunch of originals that I had to get alt codes for. Getting trolled in chat channels for having alt code names on a full server is ridiculous.
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Incorrect buddy
Character names on accounts that have been inactive for the past two expansions automatically become eligible to be used by other characters. We do not assist with releasing character names manually.
Inactive ACCOUNTS. Just put gametime on your account once a year and those names are yours forever.