Forever name reservations: Blizzard fixes an overly strict filter

Forever name reservations have opened, but a rejected name does not necessarily mean somebody got there first. Blizzard has confirmed a bug making its restricted-name checks overly strict. Names containing “con”, for example, have been rejected incorrectly. Kaivax published the announcement at 01:28 UTC on October 28. Official announcement.

The affected list blocks names such as major Warcraft characters or names restricted for technical reasons, even when they contain no profanity. The bug has extended that restriction to names that should be accepted.

What does “That name is restricted” mean here?

Blizzard says the fix will arrive with the next realm restarts in each region. If you received that message for a name you believe should qualify, the developer advises trying again after the fix. The post gives no precise restart time and does not confirm completion across every region. Announced fix timing.

This differs from a name somebody has already reserved. The correction does not promise to release another player’s name or remove every naming restriction. It helps to separate the message displayed from your interpretation of its cause: a restricted name and an occupied name are different situations.

Oceanic has a separate character-order issue

A second announcement concerns Oceanic players connecting to Australian-based servers. Because of a bug, they must create Roleplay or Roleplay-PvP characters before Normal or PvP characters. Starting with the latter can make the roleplay choices unavailable for subsequent characters. Blizzard said it was working urgently on a fix. Oceanic announcement.

Do not generalise that instruction to European servers. The post also provides no remedy based on deleting an existing character, so we would not recommend risking a reserved name as an experiment.

Three checks before trying again

• Read the actual error. The name-filter correction addresses an incorrect restriction, not every login or access problem.
• Check your region. A fix promised for the next restart does not imply one simultaneous time everywhere.
• Prepare alternatives. Reservation is a qualifying pre-purchase benefit, with three characters total across all rulesets. A particular name is not guaranteed. Eligibility and limits.

There are also fresh racial details: Skyborne’s Attuned and Charged states are removed on entering a raid. We have added the clarifications to our racial abilities report. Character planning is a good moment to review both your name and the latest description of your race’s abilities.