Breakfast Topic: Your cleverest character names

What's in a name? Only your character's identity from here onward! Without a doubt, finding the perfect name for a character is the toughest part of character creation. More than once I've created a character, carefully customized the face and looks just how I liked them, and was then stymied by the blinking cursor in the name box. (And, occasionally, I've timed out while trying to think of a perfect name that's untaken after my first choice wasn't available, meaning I had to go back and start again with customization.)

But my trouble figuring out names just means I've all the more respect for those characters with particularly clever names -- those of you who not only managed to think up a clever name but also claim it before anyone else did. So, dish, fellow Azerothians: what's your cleverest character name? Tags: character-creation, character-name, character-names, featured, game-discussion, gamer-discussion, name, names, world-of-warcraft-discussion, world-of-warcraft-topics, wow-character-creation, wow-character-name, wow-character-names, wow-discussion, wow-hot-topics, wow-issues, wow-topics

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Breakfast Topics

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50% off character services in the EU this week

Several people have tweeted WoW Insider this morning to alert us to the fact that there is a fairly hefty discount on character services this week, and Blizzard has since confirmed it with a blog. A short look through the EU battle.net shop shows that server transfers, faction transfers, race changes, appearance changes and name changes are all 50% off. WoW Insider will keep this post updated with the sale's emergence in the US, which is fairly likely to occur later today.

So if you're looking to try out a new home, a new race, a new look, a new name, or a new enemy, now's the time to get involved. It's really easy to do, just head over to battle.net, log in, and you'll be presented with your accounts, head through to the right one, select the service you require and you will see if your character is eligible. From personal, and very recent (darn it) experience, if you're looking to realm transfer you'll also need to empty your mailbox and make sure you're not in charge of any arena teams. Either that, or log in and out an awful lot!

What's more, it messes with your addons quite a bit, as the profile your character's using will reflect its new home. The same will happen with name changes, so ensure that you have addons with profiles wherever possible to avoid yourself a lot of reconfiguration. Enjoy your new perspective!

Tags: appearance-change, breaking, character-services, character-transfer, discount, faction-change, name-change, sale

Filed under: Blizzard

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Breakfast Topic: Where will your character rest for the last time?

Back in the era when playing an MMO was an all-or-nothing proposition, choosing a final logout location could be an emotionally overwrought event. Today, however, players drop in and out of games with regularity. We may skip patches or even expansions that don't particularly appeal to us. We may temporarily step out of Azeroth to focus on real-world goals. We may fall out of love with a character and pick up an alt, only to return months or even years down the line.

Even so, I confess to remaining sentimental about where I log out before an extended (or final) absence. I can still tell you exactly where each of my EverQuest characters is camped out, and I've bookmarked a couple of YouTube videos that run past those areas so that I can occasionally recapture their spirit even without access to the game. I'm a little less attached to logout spots for my WoW characters simply because I use nearly all of them at one point or another for screenshots or in-game contacts for WoW Insider. After this many screenshots, they've ended up scattered across some fairly odd spots.

Where will your main character log out for the very last time? Is it someplace you've grown comfortable with over the years? Somewhere representative of that character's adventures or character? A familiar spot behind the counter of a favorite vendor or banker? Or perhaps, like the screenshot above, somewhere holding a tinge of tragedy? Tags: featured, game-discussion, gamer-discussion, quitting, quitting-wow, retirement, unsubscribing, world-of-warcraft-discussion, world-of-warcraft-topics, wow-discussion, wow-hot-topics, wow-issues, wow-topics

Filed under: Breakfast Topics

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Breakfast Topic: How do you start a new character?

When you've decided to create a new character in WoW, you'd think the actual creation part would be the easiest part of the process. After all the hard part ought to be leveling, advancing, and collecting gear. But for some players (myself included), character creation itself poses a challenge. If you've picked a class, there's still the question of which race to choose -- or if you've picked a race, the question of which class. And, while WoW's character creation mini-game is far from elaborate, there's still the matter of just what your character looks like. But most difficult of all tends to be picking the right name: WoW's been around long enough that many of the names you might usually use in a game have likely been taken.

So tell us, early morning readers: what's your character creation challenge? Does name selection cause you to stumble? Do you have to get your character's look just right? Or is character creation something you fly through, eager to get to the real game? Tags: character-creation, character-customization, featured, game-discussion, gamer-discussion, world-of-warcraft-discussion, world-of-warcraft-topics, wow-character-creation, wow-character-customization, wow-discussion, wow-hot-topics, wow-issues, wow-topics

Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Breakfast Topics

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Free Character Moves Available – March 14

New Free Character Moves are now available. If you're on one of the source realms listed below, you can move your characters to one of the designated destination realms and avoid the queues -- for free!

By initiating one of these transfers, you will be moving your character to a new realm and home. This is a one-time, one-way move. If you wish to move your character elsewhere, you will need to use the paid transfer service.

Tichondrius-> Blackrock
Illidan -> Mannoroth
Stormrage -> Trollbane

Please be aware that, due to the unpredictable nature of free transfers, we may close down any Free Character Moves at any time and without warning if the target realm becomes full. If you plan to move with friends or your guild, we suggest that you coordinate the effort to reduce the chance of any stragglers being left behind.

Early closures aside, this set of Free Character Moves will end on Thursday, March 21.

 Begin a Free Character Move now! We recommend reviewing the FAQ, as it details what is or isn't allowed for transferred characters.

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Patch 5.2 PTR now live; character copies available

When Blizzard said that the PTR for patch 5.2 would be available early January, they really meant early January! The PTR is now available, with character copies and level 90 premades ready to go. Patch 5.2 will bring the Thunder King raid and a number of other additions, including:
A new daily quest hub: The Isle of the Thunder King -- the Kirin-Tor Offensive and the Sunreaver Onslaught face off to lay claim to Emperor Lei Shen's island stronghold and the treasures contained therein.Two new world bosses, Nalak the Storm Lord and OondastaAn option to purchase Sunsong Ranch to make it a resting point like an inn. Work orders will come in from various factions, and completing the work orders will grant you reputation with the issuing faction.All world bosses are now Tap to Faction. This new system offers every eligible player of the same faction that engages a boss the chance to earn loot.And more!Check out all of our patch 5.2 coverage right here. Tags: 5.2, patch-5-2, patch-5.2, patch-52, ptr-patch-5.2, ptr-patch-52, thunder-king, thunder-king-raid, thunderking-raid, wow-patch-5.2, wow-patch-52, wow-ptr-5.2

Filed under: Mists of Pandaria

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