At the moment, thousands of players are logging into the MMO New World (Steam) to create a character and, most importantly, secure a name. However, the chance of snagging the desired name is extremely low. This is due to a decision made by Amazon. Players were even advised to secure a name and then delete the character.
Why are all the names in New World already taken? This is due to a decision made by Amazon, which was announced a few days ago on Reddit (via reddit):
“Names in New World are currently global, meaning: whoever secures a name first reserves it for their account, even for a short time after the character is deleted.”
NW_Musgsymania, New World developer
Amazon even stated: People could secure a name even if their servers are not online yet. One could secure the name on any server, and it would then count for their home server. Therefore, it’s also okay to delete the character that was created.
Players skip character creation just for the name
What does this mean in practice? In practice, this means that almost all known names from fantasy games or science fiction series, as well as somewhat “normal” player tags, will likely be taken within minutes.
Because players from the USA or South America can secure a name like “Darklegolas,” and that name will then be unavailable to anyone worldwide:
- This “name reserving” contributes to the queues in Europe being extremely long even in the early morning hours.
- It also leads to people creating characters racing through character creation at a ridiculous pace, just to secure the name.
- The idea is: “First secure the name,” then delete the character, and then create the “real character” in peace. This strategy was also suggested by Amazon.
Here, a streamer skips the details of character creation and is thrilled because he gets his name:
Will it stay that way? Not necessarily. Amazon has indicated that they will later bring options to address the issue that players missed their “exact name” at launch.
At the moment, however, there are no concrete commitments or ideas, only a vague statement of intent.
Why are names so important to players? For many players in MMOs, their names in games are a part of their identity. They associate character names with memories from previous games and are often addressed by their friends and guild members by that name.
What can you do if the name is already taken? The usual approach is to use “misspellings” and “absurd special characters” to make the name still somewhat resemble the original name.
This can take on absurd forms, as anyone who has encountered someone named “Fâceméltòr” or “Darkhleeeeegohlas” in MMORPGs knows.
We at MeinMMO wish you good luck in securing your desired name. You’ll need it.
If you need help finding a name:
8 tips on how to create the perfect character name in online games
