The venerable MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic has a big update coming in December that will add a pile of new weapons, armor, mounts, overworld missions, and some big visual updates to boot. It looks like it could be a good reason for lapsed players to jump back in, but if you're part of that crowd you might want to make your return before the update goes live, or you could end up losing your character name.
Electronic Arts announced on Steam that it will release inactive character names when the 7.6 update goes live. Paid subscribers won't be impacted, but anyone with a free-to-play or "preferred" account who hasn't logged in since January 1, 2024 will have their character names released into an "unreserved pool," where they can be claimed by other players. If your name gets swiped by someone else as a result, you'll be able to rename your character for free the next time you log in.
There probably aren't too many players who are at risk of losing their names and would be bothered by it, but among those who are, the announcement hasn't gone over especially well. There's clear annoyance with the relatively small inactivity window, which I think is not entirely unreasonable: As a few people have said in response to the announcement, it's not unheard of to take a break from an MMO for a year or two. A multi-year inactivity window is one thing, but less than one year? That's pretty tight.
Others, though, point out that it's a name release, not a deletion, and it's really not a big deal to avoid the problem: Just log in before the 7.6 update goes live in early December (a specific date hasn't been set yet) and all will be well. There's also no guarantee that players who miss that window will lose their names: If no one claims your own personal Dud Bolt, Elan Sleazebaggano, Babu Frik, or Glup Shitto, it'll be waiting for you when you return.
