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GW2 Name Game

OldManFunkOldManFunk Member Posts: 894
in Guild Wars 2

The Name Game

 

I'm going to spend some time this weekend finalizing my character choices and thought I'd share some things that I am going to do in hope of having the best possible start on GW2's launch day.

 

1) Know your GW2 release date and times!

 

https://www.guildwars2.com/en/news/the-final-countdown-guild-wars-2-launch-times/

  • Pre-Purchase with 3-Day Headstart: Everyone who pre-purchased Guild Wars 2 will enjoy three full days of Headstart Access. The three-day Headstart Access will officially begin at 0:00 AM Pacific time (GMT -7:00) on August 25th. However, please note that in order to ensure that we’re fully prepared for that fateful hour we may bring servers online up to 3 hours prior. If you’re a player committed to getting in first to grab that character name of your dreams you’ll want to be keeping an eye on things during that time period.
  • Pre-Order with 1-Day Headstart: Those who pre-ordered Guild Wars 2 will be able to participate in one day of Headstart Access. The one-day Headstart Access will begin at 0:00 AM Pacific time (GMT -7:00) on August 27th. NOTE – Pre-Order code registration is now enabled.
  • For those players who have not pre-purchased or pre-ordered the game, Guild Wars 2 will officially launch at 0:00 AM Pacific time (GMT -7:00) on August 28th.

 

2) Prepare a list of names as well as alternatives should yours be taken!

 

I find it frustrating to be staring at a character creation screen trying to think up new names when all of the names that I really wanted have already been taken. This usually leads to me becoming frustrated and using the first random object that the game will accept. ( Duck Tape, Coke Bottle, Do Rag, Birth Control, etc )

 

It's a good idea to come up with a list of acceptable names and write them down now so that you don't spend valuable launch time staring at the character creation screen.

 

( Don't forget to follow the naming rules! )

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Character_creation#Name

Names must be composed entirely of letters and (optional) spaces; names always use title case (i.e. the first letter of each word is capitalized) and must begin with a letter. For non-space characters, the English versions of the game only allow the standard 26 letters of the alphabet.

 

 

3) Think of race and class combinations to match your names!

 

Sometimes my creative juices overflow and I come up with names that do not match my original vision. I may have originally wanted an Asura Ranger named Elmer Fudd but upon further brainstorming decided that a Sylvari Ranger named Bark or Bark Bark would be even better!

 

At this point my name list would look something like this:

 Name 
 Race 
 Class 
Bark
Sylvari
Ranger
Bark Bark
Sylvari
Ranger
Elmer Fudd
Asura
Ranger
 
 
Keep in mind that all Guild Wars 2 character names are unique so popular names will run out fast!
 
Be prepared with as many name alternatives as you can possibly think up! Three super awesome names like the ones I've shown may not be enough to ensure that I'm not sitting at the character creation screen clinching my fist in frustration because I'm losing precoius game time due to my name choices being taken! A little extra preparation now will save you a ton of frustration on launch day.
 
 
Further note that MANY names that contain spaces may already be reserved by Guild Wars 1 players!
 
All single word names (no spaces) are up for grabs as well as any multiple word name that has not been reserved, so don't skip over multiple word names just because they *might* be reserved! Just be prepared with alternatives in case the name you want has already been taken.
 
 
4) Skip character customization until AFTER you have your names reserved!
 
 
 
Character names will be reserved for reuse for 24 hours after deleting a character!
Character names will be reserved for reuse for 24 hours after deleting a character!
Character names will be reserved for reuse for 24 hours after deleting a character!
 
 In order to have the best possible chance of reserving your character name 
        DO NOT CUSTOMIZE YOUR CHARACTERS*        
*until after you have your characters' names reserved
 
Because deleted character names are reserved for one day, you will want to skip ALL customization and go straight to the naming step in order to have the best chance of reserving your character name.
 
Click an empty slot, click create, click the button in the lower right hand corner of the creation process that says "Skip To End", enter your character name and then click the Next button at the bottom center to create it!
 
Do not worry about any of the rest of the process including race or profession because you'll be deleting this character and recreating it with the race, class and features that you really wanted later.
 
AFTER ALL OF YOUR NAMES HAVE BEEN RESERVED, delete ONE of your characters so that you can recreate it with the race, class and features that you want to go along with the name that you have reserved. (It may help to jot down the name of the character you delete so that you don't forget which name you are working on... and don't forget you only get one day to finish customizing your character and save it before someone else can use that name!)
 
 
5) BEWARE: Guild names are created in game and cost one silver!
 
 
If you are a guild master and you've got an idea for a guild name then this step is going to be especially important to you, perhaps even more important than reserving more than one character name (you need at least one character to get into the game so you'll have to deal with getting a character name before trying for your guild name anyway).
 

To create a guild, open the guild panel and click on the "Create Guild" button. You will be asked to enter a guild name (up to 31 characters) and a tag of up to four characters.

The cost of creating a guild is 1 Silver coin (SILVER).

 
One silver is not a lot of money but it does mean that you're going to have to do some work before being allowed to create your guild!
 
5) Patch early!
 
 
Do not wait until the night of the launch to patch your client! Those valuable seconds could mean the difference between getting your favorite character name or being forced to use an alternative!

Comments

  • clumsytoes44clumsytoes44 Member UncommonPosts: 463
    Nice post, and a really good check list. Luckily for me i canned one of my gw1 chr's to save the name for my charr ranger. :)
  • Lord.BachusLord.Bachus Member RarePosts: 9,686
    Originally posted by Epic1oots

    4) Skip character customization until AFTER you have your names reserved!
     
     
     
    Character names will be reserved for reuse for 24 hours after deleting a character!
    Character names will be reserved for reuse for 24 hours after deleting a character!
    Character names will be reserved for reuse for 24 hours after deleting a character!
     
     In order to have the best possible chance of reserving your character name 
            DO NOT CUSTOMIZE YOUR CHARACTERS*        
    *until after you have your characters' names reserved
     
    Because deleted character names are reserved for one day, you will want to skip ALL customization and go straight to the naming step in order to have the best chance of reserving your character name.
     
    Click an empty slot, click create, click the button in the lower right hand corner of the creation process that says "Skip To End", enter your character name and then click the Next button at the bottom center to create it!
     
    Do not worry about any of the rest of the process including race or profession because you'll be deleting this character and recreating it with the race, class and features that you really wanted later.
     
    AFTER ALL OF YOUR NAMES HAVE BEEN RESERVED, delete ONE of your characters so that you can recreate it with the race, class and features that you want to go along with the name that you have reserved. (It may help to jot down the name of the character you delete so that you don't forget which name you are working on... and don't forget you only get one day to finish customizing your character and save it before someone else can use that name!)
     

    Did not know this! NICE! guess ill doing this to get all 5 names first.

    If you want more names then 5, you need to go to the gemshop, smart people planning for 8 characters have allready done this in BWE, so they can get all character names they want/need.  

     

    Chances are likely that the gemshop will be online later then the game.

    Best MMO experiences : EQ(PvE), DAoC(PvP), WoW(total package) LOTRO (worldfeel) GW2 (Artstyle and animations and worlddesign) SWTOR (Story immersion) TSW (story) ESO (character advancement)

  • SimplefoxSimplefox Member Posts: 11
    Thanks for posting this!  I had missed that they might bring up the servers early (I hope so, beats waiting until 3am here...), and Point #4 is *very* good to know.

    "Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo." - H. G. Wells

  • Unknown
    Originally posted by Epic1oots

    4) Skip character customization until AFTER you have your names reserved!
     
     
     
    Character names will be reserved for reuse for 24 hours after deleting a character!
    Character names will be reserved for reuse for 24 hours after deleting a character!
    Character names will be reserved for reuse for 24 hours after deleting a character!
     
     In order to have the best possible chance of reserving your character name 
            DO NOT CUSTOMIZE YOUR CHARACTERS*        
    *until after you have your characters' names reserved
     
    Because deleted character names are reserved for one day, you will want to skip ALL customization and go straight to the naming step in order to have the best chance of reserving your character name.
     
    Click an empty slot, click create, click the button in the lower right hand corner of the creation process that says "Skip To End", enter your character name and then click the Next button at the bottom center to create it!
     
    Do not worry about any of the rest of the process including race or profession because you'll be deleting this character and recreating it with the race, class and features that you really wanted later.
     
    AFTER ALL OF YOUR NAMES HAVE BEEN RESERVED, delete ONE of your characters so that you can recreate it with the race, class and features that you want to go along with the name that you have reserved. (It may help to jot down the name of the character you delete so that you don't forget which name you are working on... and don't forget you only get one day to finish customizing your character and save it before someone else can use that name!)
     

    Did not know this! NICE! guess ill doing this to get all 5 names first.

    Curse the OP for giving this info out.  That was my ace-in-the-hole for getting my char names. :(

  • OldManFunkOldManFunk Member Posts: 894
    Originally posted by Sixpax

    Curse the OP for giving this info out.  That was my ace-in-the-hole for getting my char names. :(

    I thought about quietly using this to my advantage but then felt bad when I thought about the people who are going to spend an hour customizing their character only to find their name has been taken. Sometimes I'll change the way my character looks based on the name that I come up with. It's much easier for me to visualize my character if I know what its name is going to be.

     

    I wish ANet had put the character name selection and reservation at the beginning instead of the end, but since they didn't... skipping customization and deleting is the best way to make sure that you're going to end up with the name you want to use since this will let you know if the name has been taken.

  • ariboersmaariboersma Member Posts: 1,802
    TYVM for the post, very informative!

    image

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