Forever name reservation: October 27 start time and three-character limit

If an old character name is part of your WoW identity, you can now put an exact time in your calendar. Forever Early Name Reservation begins in Europe on Tuesday, October 27 at 18:00 CET, or 19:00 in Finland. Blizzard’s new instructions confirm the opening time and clarify that the allowance is three characters in total across all rulesets. Official reservation instructions.

Our September coverage explained two-part names and the reservation dates. There is now enough detail to plan the actual evening: agree on a ruleset with friends, pick your three priority characters and prepare a few complete name combinations.

Europe will already be on standard time

The European opening is October 27 at 18:00 CET, equivalent to 19:00 EET in Finland. The clocks change before that date, so these are standard-time labels rather than the summer-time labels used for this week’s stress test.

The announced reservation period is October 27 through November 3. This notice specifies an exact opening time but does not provide a separate closing hour. For a highly sought-after name, the opening is the practical priority anyway: names are assigned first come, first served, and the name you want is not guaranteed.

Our practical advice is to create a calendar entry for your own game region. Blizzard lists separate regional opening times for North America and Asia; a countdown based on one of those regions is not a substitute for the European schedule.

Three characters means three across every ruleset

You can create up to three characters in total across all rulesets during Early Name Reservation. Two PvP characters, for example, leave only one slot for a Normal or Roleplay character. Selecting another ruleset does not start a fresh three-character allowance.

These examples show how the allowance is counted; they are not advice to split your friends across different rulesets. Blizzard explicitly limits this three-character restriction to Early Name Reservation. It is not presented as the game’s permanent character limit.

Who can reserve a name early?

An active WoW subscription alone is not the stated qualification for this benefit. Early reservation requires an eligible Forever Digital Upgrade or Collector’s Edition purchase. The announcement names the Skyborne Heroic Pack, Skyborne Epic Pack and the limited-time Warcraft Forever Collection.

The benefit applies to the specific WoW account for which the purchase was made. If your Battle.net account contains several WoW accounts, identify the right one before reservation opens. That is much easier to sort out calmly than during the opening rush.

Do not treat an eligible purchase as a guarantee that a particular name will be yours. First-come allocation still applies among eligible players. Check the contents of your own purchase and the WoW account attached to it in Battle.net.

Prepare the full name, not just its first half

Forever characters use two-part names. Blizzard’s naming guide says the complete combination must be unique within the region. A familiar first name can therefore still work when another character uses it with a different second name.

Our suggestion is to make a short list of complete combinations in preference order. If friends want a shared surname-style element, agree on its spelling too. Say the names aloud: a useful name is one your group can recognise in chat and comfortably call out.

Having two parts does not remove the naming rules. Consider the full combination as one name. Our earlier character-name guide explains the system and the secondary-name display option in more detail.

Have the right game version ready

For name reservation, Blizzard instructs players to select World of Warcraft: Forever in Battle.net’s Game Version menu. After installation, choose a ruleset and create up to three characters with the names you want.

Wednesday’s stress test is a separate event with its own test version. Its characters and names are deleted afterwards, so creating a character there does not complete your early reservation. Our stress-test schedule and beta-extension report explains that distinction.

With names, account and ruleset decided beforehand, there is less to improvise when reservation opens. For European players, the next entry in the naming calendar is Tuesday, October 27 at 18:00 CET.