Blizzard has announced that it will be enacting a “character name reclamation” alongside the upcoming 6.0.2 patch and Warlords of Draenor release for World of Warcraft.

The reclamation will remove names from any characters that have not been logged in since November 13th, 2008, making the names available for any new characters.

“You will need to log in to World of Warcraft and enter the game using each character whose name you wish to retain before patch 6.0.2 goes live,” Blizzard wrote, in part. “While it is possible no one will claim your recently released name and you might be able to snag it again, it is probably not worth the risk if you want to keep your names intact long-term.”

“Our goal with this great name liberation is to make sure new and returning players have a large and varied pool of names available to choose from—so log in now if you wish to preserve your unused characters’ names for your journey intro Draenor.”

The World of Warcraft: Warlords of Draenor expansion is currently set to release on November 13th. The fifth expansion explores the franchise’s history across the continent of Draenor, which was formerly presented as the Outland in The Burning Crusade. The expansion will raise the level cap from 90 to 100 and also upgrade the character models.

(via CVG)