Anyone unsatisfied or unhappy with their name on Blizzard's Battle.net can now rest easy, as users can now pay Blizzard to change their name, or "Battle Tag." But it won't come cheap, at $10 per change. Blizzard made the announcement Thursday, ,and the link to change your name can be found here. The $10 will cover a single name change, and is non-transferable. The first change is free however, and as long as it fits Blizzard's naming standards, any name is fine. Choosing to change your name will not affect your friends list or anything associated with your account. The only effect will be how others see your name.
The announcement may come as a relief to those who bit the bullet on choosing a name because they just wanted to start the game, and on reflection may have thought of a better choice. The reason for the $10 price tag is unknown, as many other services allow free name changes. However, Xbox Live has been offering this name change for a couple of years now, and at the same $10 price tag, so it's possible Blizzard used this as the base for their price.
Those on the PlayStation console may wonder once more why Sony cannot implement a name change feature on the Playstation Network, even if consumers are willing to pay.
Though the change may bring an end to the beloved @ReaperNames Twitter account as we know it, being able to select an identity that better represents yourself is a good thing. Why it costs $10, Blizzard doesn't say. But having the option to do so, even at that price is better than not having the option at all.
Quick take
Blizzard should really expand on why the price tag is what it is, even if they only say so in a press release, something along the lines of "it's industry standard." Many services get around the problem by assigning your character a random string of numbers that is your "real" ID, while the name you give yourself is more cosmetic than anything, allowing for no fuss name swapping.
What do you think of the news? Does $10 seem like a fair price to you? Let us know in the comments below!
