How Do You Trade/Sell Names In A Secure Manner?

I agree. I think the only real issue here is the mechanics on which to transfer the name, which is like everyone has mentioned already, not safe, secure or foolproof w/o a middleman.

There are platforms like instagram that are full of bots created to take highly sought after names as they are made available. As someone said before in this thread it wouldn’t be hard for someone to program a bot to do exactly that especially with the names being auctioned on here publicly.

This is one of those things where there isn’t a right or wrong answer. If someone is that inclined to acquire a name then they should already understand the risks that things could go south even with a trade moderator.

And honestly even if names weren’t allowed to be sold on legacy you would still see advertisements in game from randoms. At least in this case we have some form of judgement of the sellers based on their profile here. Not that anything is guaranteed but I feel better if I know the seller is generally trusted from past transactions.

The mechanics of the trades aside (I really don't care), I think trying to capitalize monetarily (in-game arms or actual cash, doesn't matter) on the account-level change in naming conventions is scumbaggery of the highest order. The fact that it's allowed in The Xunlai Market associates Legacy with the practice, no matter how much mental gymnastics you attempt in order to justify it's inclusion.

In my opinion, allowing those threads has only downsides for Legacy - I can think of any number of bad outcomes, and nothing positive.

Mostly I'm just disappointed that you'd allow (and therefore essentially endorse) such despicable practices. And who gives a flying eff if they end up "somewhere shadier"? That's where they should be.

If I had eyerolled any harder at that post I might've seriously hurt myself.

C'mon now, pretty sure everyone in this thread is aware that they won't be forced into anything against their will. And if you guys have made up your minds and can't be convinced otherwise, you can just say so. Pretty sure we're mostly adults in here - there probably won't be temper tantrums.

However, as I said, it's disappointing. Although it was fabulous that you validated our feelings.

I decided that since i had an unused character slot i'd grab "Looney" in game just in case.

I don't really do lots of trading, but those who do and have one word names on Legacy hopefully grabbed their Legacy names in game, because i wonder about impersonation problems in game of Legacy users being possible.

Allowing names to be bought and sold on these forums was a poor choice.

Quote from Aeronwen

Allowing people to sell names creates the incentive for people grab and hoard names. This removes any attractive names from the pool available to normal players.

This is a bad take, and just simply not true. Let's say hypothetically anyone who sold a name was account banned immediately instantly and everyone was aware (ignore logistics for the purpose of my point). All of the most sought after names would have still been taken or "hoarded" within the first 10 minutes of the update regardless. The "attractive" names would still not be available. The ability to sell the names didnt create the value. The implementation of the single word names from Anet is what created the value.

That being said the opinions on this thread are really interesting and its been a good read!

When the update came, i knew i had to get some names cus theyre so cool so "hoarded" that ~10 of them i could, just cus its cool and one day i might find use for it. And yeah few of them for sure i will, others might just sit as storage

Didndt think about the selling aspect nor about receiving my own nick/ someone elses at all, just to get some gw related stuff that would be cool! Didnt even try to get "Pleikki" cus yeah to me thats not gw related lol (hi to whoever got it lol), until tried that someone took it when read about that here in legacy hah.

I understand the cooliness of 1 word names and the market in them, nothing wrong with buying/selling them imo, when it comes to gw related names

Quote from Aeronwen

What is the incentive for a player to hoard more names than they can possibly use other than selling them?

(genuine question, none of it makes any sense to me)

I think for the same reason players hoard more prenerf items than they could ever possibly use and I’m not saying that to throw shade at anyone. Just how I’m seeing it from my side.

For the first time I was at the right place at the right time to reserve all the names I wanted. I’ll admit I have more names than I could use as well. I don’t plan on selling any of them but if I ever quit the game I’d be more than happy to give some away to the friends I’ve made.

Someone else took Wqa and I think that’s more questionable than just reserving names.

Quote from Aeronwen

Quote from wqa

Someone else took Wqa and I think that’s more questionable than just reserving names.

Ye, it doesn't seem likely that anyone else would want it for themselves.

I didn’t even want it 😂

Naga was taken and guy asked 1500a for it, good thing Nag was free. So now i can only Nag about it

Quote from Gregory

I knew most of mine were not going to be on for a while since they were in some late time zones, so I figured I would try. I did manage to get a lot for some of them.

I have no intention of selling any names either. I did try to get names for friends, specifically ones that have unique or legacy names. I reserved 'Krompdown' for him and a few others from legacy I did the same. Wish I could have gotten some more that I was too late to get but it is what it is 🤷

I appreciate the feedback and thoughts people have shared here. There are things I have not considered that others have presented, and it is helpful to me as I try and navigate the moderation of such trades.

As the mods have pointed out, there is an inherent risk with name trading. I do consider these to be riskier trades versus guilds/trims/pre post. As mentioned in the thread, there is no way to steal a guild through moderation that has one party walk away with both goods and funds. I screenshot all my trades with confirmation from both parties once the trade is complete.

The two major concerns with name trading:

Some random coincidentally brute force spamming character creation for the specific name which results in a “steal”.

The buyer or seller coordinating with a 4th party to steal while pretending to trade in good faith.

I have some ideas that will help minimize these threats, though, not perfect security. It never will be unless ArenaNet introduces a tradable naming token.

The thought that a trade mod would take advantage of this situation and steal a name… that defeats the entire intent of the position. And ultimately, you must not be using very trustable trade mods if you have concerns someone would do this. Use mods with an extensive history of trust.

Open to discuss further of course!

Quote from Motoko

It never will be unless ArenaNet introduces a tradable naming token.

wtb "blind"

offer : 2 hekets legs

I'm including a link to it here; it might help some players better coordinate character name transfers (for me, for free ):

Post

Transfer a character name in 30 minutes by having free character slots on your account (or not)

Hello,

The information on the wiki is unclear:

[…]



Then I checked Reddit and GW Legacy. But even there, the information varies. 30 minutes? 1 hour? 2 hours? Some people are adamant it’s 1 hour (like they’re name trading pros). I ran some tests until I consistently got the same result after 30 minutes. This was with free character slots on the account (and not with all slots filled, as noted on the wiki and forums).



First, I followed the standard procedure. Accounts 1 and 2:

• Account 1 has the name I

…

Neutral_CH

May 6, 2026 at 6:19 PM

Quote from Motoko

I appreciate the feedback and thoughts people have shared here. There are things I have not considered that others have presented, and it is helpful to me as I try and navigate the moderation of such trades.

As the mods have pointed out, there is an inherent risk with name trading. I do consider these to be riskier trades versus guilds/trims/pre post. As mentioned in the thread, there is no way to steal a guild through moderation that has one party walk away with both goods and funds. I screenshot all my trades with confirmation from both parties once the trade is complete.

The two major concerns with name trading:

Some random coincidentally brute force spamming character creation for the specific name which results in a “steal”.

The buyer or seller coordinating with a 4th party to steal while pretending to trade in good faith.

I have some ideas that will help minimize these threats, though, not perfect security. It never will be unless ArenaNet introduces a tradable naming token.

The thought that a trade mod would take advantage of this situation and steal a name… that defeats the entire intent of the position. And ultimately, you must not be using very trustable trade mods if you have concerns someone would do this. Use mods with an extensive history of trust.

Open to discuss further of course!

Display More

Okay since you started the name selling craze on legacy and you're also the only active "trusted trade mod" left (as far as I know) may we know why your wts thread was suddenly closed? While still a lot of bids ongoing. Obviously this has an impact on the other name sales.

Quote from gdyb

Quote from Motoko

I appreciate the feedback and thoughts people have shared here. There are things I have not considered that others have presented, and it is helpful to me as I try and navigate the moderation of such trades.

As the mods have pointed out, there is an inherent risk with name trading. I do consider these to be riskier trades versus guilds/trims/pre post. As mentioned in the thread, there is no way to steal a guild through moderation that has one party walk away with both goods and funds. I screenshot all my trades with confirmation from both parties once the trade is complete.

The two major concerns with name trading:

Some random coincidentally brute force spamming character creation for the specific name which results in a “steal”.

The buyer or seller coordinating with a 4th party to steal while pretending to trade in good faith.

I have some ideas that will help minimize these threats, though, not perfect security. It never will be unless ArenaNet introduces a tradable naming token.

The thought that a trade mod would take advantage of this situation and steal a name… that defeats the entire intent of the position. And ultimately, you must not be using very trustable trade mods if you have concerns someone would do this. Use mods with an extensive history of trust.

Open to discuss further of course!

Display More

Okay since you started the name selling craze on legacy and you're also the only active "trusted trade mod" left (as far as I know) may we know why your wts thread was suddenly closed? While still a lot of bids ongoing. Obviously this has an impact on the other name sales.

Display More

Some of the names reached prices far higher than I expected. Any indication of when names were going to be sold based on R/Bs or B/Os and even windows of time for the bidding to close would have given other nefarious parties incentive to try and steal as many names as possible by brute force character name creation and luck (window between deletion and creation). My actions and intentions were in the name of security. Unfortunately, as pointed out previously, there is no 100% failsafe method - only methods that can decrease risk significantly.

The sales and transfers I wanted to make have been made.

If you have a name you were truly interested in and did not receive, feel free to discuss via PMs.

Quote from Motoko

Quote from gdyb

Okay since you started the name selling craze on legacy and you're also the only active "trusted trade mod" left (as far as I know) may we know why your wts thread was suddenly closed? While still a lot of bids ongoing. Obviously this has an impact on the other name sales.

Some of the names reached prices far higher than I expected. Any indication of when names were going to be sold based on R/Bs or B/Os and even windows of time for the bidding to close would have given other nefarious parties incentive to try and steal as many names as possible by brute force character name creation and luck (window between deletion and creation). My actions and intentions were in the name of security. Unfortunately, as pointed out previously, there is no 100% failsafe method - only methods that can decrease risk significantly.

The sales and transfers I wanted to make have been made.

If you have a name you were truly interested in and did not receive, feel free to discuss via PMs.

So what's the best practice to safely transfer names that other sellers can follow. Did all your transactions go successfully.

Quote from gdyb

Quote from Motoko

Some of the names reached prices far higher than I expected. Any indication of when names were going to be sold based on R/Bs or B/Os and even windows of time for the bidding to close would have given other nefarious parties incentive to try and steal as many names as possible by brute force character name creation and luck (window between deletion and creation). My actions and intentions were in the name of security. Unfortunately, as pointed out previously, there is no 100% failsafe method - only methods that can decrease risk significantly.

The sales and transfers I wanted to make have been made.

If you have a name you were truly interested in and did not receive, feel free to discuss via PMs.

So what's the best practice to safely transfer names that other sellers can follow. Did all your transactions go successfully.

The safer methods can't and won't be discussed on this site as it is against the EULA.

The safest method is not worth using on names trading for under 100a. I would consider this a trade secret, sorry.

Unfortunately no, I cannot tout a flawless name transferring record. There are too many variables as mentioned in this thread that took place. This experience is why I have removed name transfers from my list of trade mod services thread.

I don’t really care to buy or sell any names of my own. But after reading all that I feel even less confident that names can be exchanged safely for the buyer or seller.

The only way I can see it potentially working out is if the seller lists names for sale with a r/b listed and buyers can send private offers to the seller and further negotiate from there. Will probably get messy but will have less eyes following the status of the sale.

Either that or maybe they should really revisit allowing the sale of names on legacy. I am pretty tired of seeing names for sale in general 😂

Failing to transfer names that had XXXXa bids on them after being super confident that you have secure methods in place and then gatekeeping the "safe method" as a trade secret is certainly a choice

Quote from gdyb

Failing to transfer names that had XXXXa bids on them after being super confident that you have secure methods in place and then gatekeeping the "safe method" as a trade secret is certainly a choice

Thanks for your input.

Feel free to bid on names at your own risk or not at all. This is not new information and not a new stance to take.

The sales of character name threads are becoming horribly annoying as well as disgusting, and I'm pretty sure many are uncertain as to where this is all leading to due to a 'trusted trade mod' shutting shop, so let's have a poll.

Quote from Marcus Ferret

The sales of character name threads are becoming horribly annoying as well as disgusting, and I'm pretty sure many are uncertain as to where this is all leading to due to a 'trusted trade mod' shutting shop, so let's have a poll.

Legacy isn't encouraging. I think you should rephrase to "allow" instead of "encourage".

Quote from Motoko

Quote from Marcus Ferret

The sales of character name threads are becoming horribly annoying as well as disgusting, and I'm pretty sure many are uncertain as to where this is all leading to due to a 'trusted trade mod' shutting shop, so let's have a poll.

Legacy isn't encouraging. I think you should rephrase to "allow" instead of "encourage".

My previous post wasn't 'encouraging' either... It was meant to trigger 'thought'... Personally, I dislike the entire idea of the sales of in-game character names and wish all related threads would be deleted immediately, but that will be up to the moderators.

Thus, I will stick with the poll question as my own personal opinion, but the moderators have the power to change the title of the poll if they believe it wrong.