Star Wars: the Old Republic will be giving away inactive characters names in December. If you want to protect Glup Shitto, you better log in now.

The venerable MMO Star Wars The Old Republic is getting a major update in December. It will include new weapons, armors, mounts, missions and visual updates. This update could be a great reason for lapsed gamers to return, but you may want to return before it goes live to avoid losing your character name.

Electronic Arts announced that it would release inactive character name when the 7.6 update is released. Paid subscribers will not be affected, but those with free-to-play accounts or "preferred" accounts who haven't logged into their account since January 1, 2024 may see their character names released to an "unreserved list," where other players can claim them. If you don't want your name to be taken by another player, you can rename your account for free next time you log on.

The announcement has not been well received by those who would be affected. The relatively short inactivity period has caused some annoyance, but I don't think it's unreasonable. As many people have stated in response to the announcement: It's not uncommon to take a year-long break from an MMO. It's one thing to have a multi-year inactivity period, but what about less than a year? This is a very tight window.

Some players, however, say that it is a name release and not a deletion. It's not a big problem to avoid it: just log in before the 7.6 Update goes live in early Dec (a specific date is not yet set) and everything will be fine. It's not guaranteed that players who miss the window will lose their name: If no one claims Dud Bolt or Elan Sleazebaggano or Babu Frik when you return, they'll still be there.