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One Million Dormant Xbox Live Gamertags Can Be Yours Starting Wednesday (arstechnica.com)

Posted by msmash on from the 'opposable-thumbs' dept.

An anonymous reader shares an Ars Technica report: Are you the type to dash madly toward any new online service's sign-up page even if you think you'll never touch it again, just to lock down your username of choice? As any good geek knows, handles are a precious commodity, especially for free services that don't have explicitly advertised nickname-recycling policies. One online ecosystem, Xbox Live, may have a respite in store for users who want to remove extraneous numbers or characters from their Gamertag of choice. A Monday announcement from Xbox Live PR chief Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb confirmed that a slew of "nearly one million" dormant Gamertags will be made available for qualified Xbox Live Gold members starting on Wednesday, May 18, at 2pm EDT.

22 comments

  1. I built a house out of gomertags by For+a+Free+Internet · · Score: -1

    Gomertags make a structural paste that can be mixed with masonry and hammered into a wood or steel frame and Microsoft is the BEST and it is my freind! :)

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  2. Boaty McBoatface by Macdude · · Score: 3, Funny

    Is Boaty McBoatface available?

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    "Grab them by the pussy" -- President of the United States of America
    1. Re:Boaty McBoatface by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Given how new the whole "X McXFace" phenomenon is, if it is already taken, I expect it will not be among the list of tags freed up on Wednesday.

    2. Re:Boaty McBoatface by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In other news, there are one million new PS4 subscribers.

  3. Woohoo! Can't wait! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    "Cowboy Neal" rides again!!!!

  4. what costs a name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Do they still charge $8 to change your name?

    1. Re:what costs a name by Anubis+IV · · Score: 2

      Do they still charge $8 to change your name?

      They don't charge for the first one, but subsequent name changes apparently do incur a charge.

    2. Re: what costs a name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So Microsoft is really releasing one million opportunities to make $8.

    3. Re: what costs a name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      assuming my favorite name is available I will be finally using my one free change. Most people really don't care enough about their Xbox name to actually pay for a change so I doubt they make much money from it, even if all 1 million were purchased it is barely pocket change for the Xbox Live team.

  5. Funny way to spell... by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 1

    >> Xbox Live PR chief Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb

    I think I saw how he got his nickname...in Spaceballs.

    1. Re:Funny way to spell... by bobbomo · · Score: 1

      He's mentioned on his podcast that he created his gamertag as "Major Nelson" after his TiVo at the time recommended that episode of "I Dream of Jeannie".

  6. what is a Gamertag? by Gravis+Zero · · Score: 0

    a "Gamertag" is a username for Xbox Live.

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    Anons need not reply. Questions end with a question mark.
    1. Re:what is a Gamertag? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Thanks. So next question... why would anyone care? I mean, I've got nothing against Xbox Live, or anything for it for that matter, but won't it let you put 123 or whatever on the end of a name if your first choice is taken? In fact whatever method is used won't anyone who wants a username already have one? I don't get it.

    2. Re:what is a Gamertag? by mythosaz · · Score: 2

      Because your gamertag is how you appear in most online cooperative/competitive games, and how you communicate with others on the platform.

      Some of us prefer a nice, clean tag, and don't want to be XxlDankM33ms42069lxX.

      Obviously the "good" gamertags went early, and a lot of them have been sitting stale for a while.

    3. Re:what is a Gamertag? by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      More obviously, stop paying and you will lose your tag, pretty lame stuff by M$, manipulating minors with a sense of loss of identity to keep them paying.

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      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    4. Re:what is a Gamertag? by SQLGuru · · Score: 2

      Not true at all.....your Gamertag is tied to your Xbox Live account whether Gold (paid) or Silver (free). You can switch to Silver and as long as you stay active, keep your tag.

  7. What would I do with them? by wardrich86 · · Score: 1

    "One Million Dormant Xbox Live Gamertags Can Be Yours Starting Wednesday"

    I guess it'd be cool having a million gamertags, but what would I do with them all? Oh wait, I think you mean that one million dormant Tags are being released on Wednesday, and I could grab one (or two) for myself.

  8. There's only one name worth anything by damn_registrars · · Score: 3, Funny

    XBox Reboot

    But I would expect that person still has it.

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    Damn_registrars has no butt-hole. Damn_registrars has no use for a butt-hole.
    1. Re:There's only one name worth anything by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It would probably work better if you chose a gamertag that's actually recognized by Kinect. https://support.xbox.com/en-US/xbox-one/accessories/turn-on-turn-off-with-voice-commands

  9. You can have mine... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Fiznu" is available. Go ahead and grab it...I will never be back. See ya MS!

    1. Re:You can have mine... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sweet, that's the one I wanted!

  10. Hoping to finally get the number out of my name by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Unlike my account at Slashdot, where I just never bothered registering, even though I've been visiting the site since the 90s!