Anyone that’s played an MMOG knows just how crazy launch day can be as countless people all rush to the login servers to try and secure their name before someone else ninjas it. Luckily, for Guild Wars players, ArenaNet is putting something in place that will allow you to secure your Guild Wars character name for Guild Wars 2.

To put this system into place, ArenaNet is compiling a list of current Guild Wars player names. Guild Wars players that login to the game at least once between January 1st, 2012 and the day that the list is compiled (don’t worry, there will be a warning posted), will have their names temporarily reserved for Guild Wars 2. All you need to do to claim it is log in during the head start and create a Guild Wars 2 character with the same two-word name. Any one-word names being used in the current Guild Wars 2 beta will be open once head start begins with no reservations.

Following the official Guild Wars 2 launch, any unclaimed names will be opened up and be available to anyone that would like to claim them.

Source: Reserving Your Character Name for Guild Wars 2