But if these alts wind up keeping their names in the merge ... I can delete the alts after the merge, and give their names to whichever of my mains have lost their names."

...wait. Is that how that works?

Okay... and what if said alt is level 30-something, with the same name as a level 70 (level 70 has much more play-time and achievements to its legacy, etc.) on a different server that'll get merged? I wonder which character would keep their name? Does it matter?

...wait. Is that how that works?

Okay... and what if said alt is level 30-something, with the same name as a level 70 (level 70 has much more play-time and achievements to its legacy, etc.) on a different server that'll get merged? I wonder which character would keep their name? Does it matter?

Honestly, I should just direct you towards the FAQ, but in this specific case assuming you are both subscribers and you are getting merged to the same server, the person with the most playtime will get to keep the name while yours will be something random that you will be able to change.

I ask you to read the FAQ, Bioware was aware that there would be multiple questions about this and it's all outlined in simple English in the FAQ with examples as well as the rules.

what if said alt is level 30-something, with the same name as a level 70 (level 70 has much more play-time and achievements to its legacy, etc.) on a different server that'll get merged?

The alt would lose the name to the Level 70 character.

And if that's the case, then the player will just rename and delete the alt after the merge. In practical terms, this is really no different from deleting the alt now.

But suppose that the alt is Level 30, and there's a Level 20 character, with the same name, but less play time, on the servers being merged.

The player was planning to delete this alt, no matter what happens. But the difference is this :

If the player deletes the alt now, then that Level 20 character will get to keep the name permanently.

But if the player waits until after the merge to delete the alt, then he/she can keep the name, and then give the name to a main who has lost his/her name.

That's how the players are reasoning it, anyway.

ETA :

There is a caveat to these players' plan. When you delete the alt, you have to IMMEDIATELY rename one of your main characters with that alt's name.

Otherwise ... If you delete the alt, and then another player happens to create or rename a character with that alt's name before you rename one of your mains with it, then the opportunity will be lost.

what if said alt is level 30-something, with the same name as a level 70 (level 70 has much more play-time and achievements to its legacy, etc.) on a different server that'll get merged? I wonder which character would keep their name?

I imagine that the character with the most play-time would keep the name, on the basis of the criteria the devs have given us.

Honestly, I should just direct you towards the FAQ, but in this specific case assuming you are both subscribers and you are getting merged to the same server, the person with the most playtime will get to keep the name while yours will be something random that you will be able to change.

 

I ask you to read the FAQ, Bioware was aware that there would be multiple questions about this and it's all outlined in simple English in the FAQ with examples as well as the rules.

They're both my characters. I didn't like the playstyle of one, so I started a new character with the opposite advanced class, and the same name and appearance, on another server. This new character is the level 70 with much more play-time logged to it. I'm just worried about losing that one's name; I have a list of alternate names in hand in case my other characters are forced to change their names, but for that lone character, there are no alternate names that I'd feel okay with changing it to.

I have read the FAQ. I was concerned that I misread or missed something altogether (that happens a lot...I tend to read way too fast, form opinions based on incomplete knowledge, and then get horribly confused when the correct information is pointed out to me. In short, I'm a dunce. XD). Thanks for answering the question, though! I feel a bit better about keeping my character's name.

So, in short - once the servers merge, my higher-level alt keeps his name while my lower-level alt with the same name loses his? Sounds perfect to me.

Do you know what, that isn't a bad idea.

 

While I understand the intent to both free up names / make the transfer process quicker, the part where we can exceed the cap makes this an interesting proposition.

That was my thought, plus them merging my characters together was going to put me OVER the limit on one server, rendering me unable to make new characters at that point -- figured the best solution there was to make them now while I can -- so they are ready for me to play when I am ready to play them.

I am not going to delete the alts I have on my off server, but I am not going to log them in either... this way they should be offline for more than 90 days and the names free.

It's kinda pointless to delete a character to you haven't used recently, as long as you don't log them in and thus keep the name open.

Short answer - no.

 

Long answer - **** no!

There's only one of my 19 characters that I would consider voluntarily deleting. (One of the two characters I made for the DvL event last year.)

I had the same exact reaction to this post. The OP can feel free to delete their toons but I've created every one of mine for a specific reason even if I haven't played them in a long time.