Can I hold on to a name on the server I transfer to with a level 1, until after the transfer is done, then delete the holding character, and rename my transfered character this name?
The name of the character I was thinking of transfering, is already taken by someone else on the destination realm, so I know I’ll be getting a forced name change.
im very confused
In theory yes it should work because the placeholder will be deleted. Just like when we reserve names for upcoming new allied races.
I want to transfer a character
My character’s name is already taken on the destination realm
I want to know if my level 1 can hold on to a new/different name for my character, until I get my 120 over, then delete the level 1 and give my 120 my level 1’s name…
Was that more tidy? 
Just transfer a character and you wont have to hold the name 
We’re talking Draenor here. I’m not leaving a name unguarded for 1 minute even 
.
Yes you can have a level 1 alt hold the name then delete it when your xfer is complete.
It’s how I got my name on AD after spying when it became available for a while 
Oh come on, now you’re making me wait even longer to transfer . It’s a level 100 holding the name. I’m hoping it will be freed up with Shadowlands, but I have no guarantee, since I can’t see activity on the account it belongs to…
If it’s a 100 alt and assuming the account has been inactive since WoD you can expect to wait another 4 years give or take, I believe it was every 3 expacs they release inactive names, so if it was inactive since MoP it would now be released and so forth.
I would have to dig to find the blue post on it though, but there is also the drawback the whole account has to be inactive.
And I had to wait since Cata for my name to be released on AD, which happended around the end of Legion so that was fun.
It’s every second expansion, as far as I know, though I know I have had 3 characters on my own account that had their names freed up for others to take(forgotten characters). This must have happened while my account was active, but I had not logged them for years.
That was a different time. They have changed the system since and now the whole account has to be inactive for the names to be released.
It happened in Legion, or early BFA though.
Maybe you realized it then but the names were freed up long before? I mean, you said you haven’t logged them for ages. 
In the past we could request names but it’s been this two expansion system for sometime now. All automated.
Yeah that is the one I was referring to.
I tried to request this one, but got directed to the section that said they no longer free up individually, moo. I guess it takes some work off their shoulders at this point. I mean, I could think of something else, I just wish I could continue to use the name I have had on that character since either TBC or WotLK when I made her. It’s even held on Draenor by a character of the same race and class as mine, moo.
Edit: Oh, sounds like I am turning cow…
On the one hand automation is good because we can self service a load of stuff. On the other hand it means they need less staff.
I am not 100% sure, but I think we’re talking a 2 year period, because I know I had logged the characters at some point(possibly MoP or WoD), then realized I could take over the guild they were in, checked the guild roster, and realized many of the characters(not mine) had been offline for a period of 5-7 years…
In fact, if I still have those characters I guess I might as well be nice and go delete them now(I reclaimed their names), because I still haven’t played them since.
I think names are reserved for 30 days, so noone can steal it. Test it by making a characte with a random name. Then delete it and have a friend make it with the same name on the same realm.
Yes, I’ve done this several times.
Create a level 1 with the name you want. (If the name you have is not in use, make another level 1 with that too!)
Transfer. The trasferred character will be flagged for rename.
Delete the level 1, rename the transfer.
when was the last time you did this?
I’ve got blizzard credit that I can use on a transfer and it would be good to reserve a name for my Vulpera.