Early name reservation: Blizzard's announced times, eligibility, three-character limit and an Oceanic ruleset-order bug

Blizzard set out the terms on 20 October in its name reservation article. Early Name Reservation runs from 27 October to 3 November. Names go first come, first served, and Blizzard says desired names cannot be guaranteed.

This checklist follows those announced terms and Blizzard’s own updates. We have not tested the reservation window ourselves.

Update, 27 October: Oceanic players on Australian servers. In a forum notice posted at 20:02 UTC on 27 October, Blizzard’s Kaivax warned of a bug. Oceanic players connecting to Australian servers must create any characters on Roleplay or Roleplay-PvP rulesets before creating characters on Normal or PvP rulesets. If they create a Normal or PvP character first, the Roleplay and Roleplay-PvP rulesets will no longer be available for their later characters. Blizzard says the issue should only affect Oceanic players connecting to Australian servers, and that it is working on a fix urgently. When we read it at 22:59 UTC that day, the notice gave no time for a fix and did not say one had been made. This is Blizzard’s guidance; we have not reproduced the bug.

Update, 27 October: RP-PvP not showing at login. In a post on Bluesky at 19:59 UTC on 27 October, Blizzard’s customer support account, BlizzardCS, said that if the RP-PvP ruleset isn’t visible when you log in, you should select a different ruleset first, then click Rulesets in the top navigation bar, and that RP-PvP should then appear. This is Blizzard’s support guidance about the ruleset menu; we have not tried it. The post does not mention the Oceanic creation-order bug above, and does not say this step restores Roleplay or Roleplay-PvP for players already affected by it.

Update, 27 October: Name Reservation downtime. In a later BlizzardCS post at 22:25 UTC on 27 October, Blizzard said Name Reservation would be brought offline temporarily from 4:00 p.m. PDT that day (23:00 UTC), and that it expected the service to be available again at approximately 5:00 p.m. PDT (00:00 UTC on 28 October). That return time was Blizzard’s estimate. We have not checked whether the service came back at that time.

Announced start times

• Europe: 27 October, 18:00 CET
• North America: 27 October, 1:00 p.m. PDT
• Korea: 28 October, 07:00 KST
• Taiwan: 28 October, 07:00 CST

Who the written terms cover

The article ties early reservation to pre-purchases of the Skyborne Heroic Pack, the Skyborne Epic Pack or the limited-time Warcraft Forever Collection. Its footnote describes the requirement as a purchase of the World of Warcraft: Forever Digital Upgrade or Collector’s Edition.

The same footnote says the benefit applies only to the specific WoW account it was purchased for. If you have more than one WoW account, check which one the purchase was made for before the window opens.

The eligibility terms are about purchases. The article does not mention a subscription, and we are not reading a requirement in or out.

A later post is worded more broadly. On 23 October, in a forum post marking the end of the beta, Blizzard’s Kaivax wrote that character creation would open on Tuesday 27 October, “allowing everyone plenty of time to select the ruleset” and a name. That post does not mention the purchase requirement in the reservation article or say that it has changed. Until the window can be seen working, plan around the written reservation terms. If you have not bought one of the listed upgrades, check on the day rather than assume either way.

Get the client ready

Blizzard’s announced steps:

1. Update your graphics drivers.
2. Download and install the Battle.net desktop app, then open it and let it update if needed.
3. Select World of Warcraft from the list of games.
4. In the Game Version menu above the Play button, select World of Warcraft: Forever, then Install.
5. Once it has installed, select Play, choose your ruleset and create up to three characters.

These are Blizzard’s instructions. We have not run through them in the live window.

Three characters, shared across every ruleset

During early reservation you can create up to three characters in total, across all rulesets. Blizzard’s example: two characters on a PvP ruleset leave room for only one more, on a Normal or Role-Play ruleset. The article says the limit applies only to Early Name Reservation.

Three slots go quickly, so it is worth deciding ahead:

• Which ruleset each character is for. The limit is shared, so a spare slot on one ruleset is a slot you can’t use on another.
• Whether you are counting on RP-PvP. On 22 October, Aggrend announced a Roleplay-PvP ruleset for launch on 4 November, and said the team was working hard to let players select it and reserve names there when reservation begins on 27 October. That is a stated aim, not something we have seen available. Blizzard’s 27 October Oceanic notice above refers to Roleplay-PvP rulesets at character creation, and sets the order for players it affects. Have a plan for your slots if it isn’t there when your window opens.
• Fallback names. Blizzard’s 21 September article on Forever names says each character has two names, and it is the full combination that must be unique within a region. A first name someone else has taken is not necessarily unavailable. The same article says names still follow the naming code of conduct, and that both parts can be evaluated together, so splitting a restricted word across them won’t necessarily work. Prepare a few complete two-part combinations, not just a list of first names.