new gamertag release wave on May 18

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Porcupine
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new gamertag release wave on May 18

Post by Porcupine »

https://majornelson.com/2016/05/16/recy ... -may-18th/

Maybe it's a good thing to restrict access to active Gold members with at least 1 year of tenure. That way sharks can't steal all the names with new accounts when they are released. My Gold is currently expired, though. And a trial might not work for this purpose, my guess is that you need a month of Gold minimum.
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MentholMoose
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Re: new gamertag release wave on May 18

Post by MentholMoose »

Thanks for the heads up.
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Re: new gamertag release wave on May 18

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I see that you renewed your Gold. Planning to take MentholMoose? I'm guessing it was yours long ago but you forgot the password to it.

Crud, it appears that even though Porcupine hasn't logged on in ten years, his account was created right when the 360 released, so I doubt the gamertag will be recycled. Guess I won't need to buy Gold after all. I figured out that one way to find out if an account could recycle is to check if they have achievements. If no achievements and no gamerpic, most likely it is an original Xbox account.

Looks like neoken is also going to open up. I'll let him know.
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Re: new gamertag release wave on May 18

Post by MentholMoose »

Yeah I will try to get it if it's actually released tomorrow. I created it during the original Xbox Live beta test in 2002, but I lost it when the associated Microsoft Passport expired due to inactivity. I tried a couple times to get it back, and even had a friend who was working at Microsoft look into it, with no success.
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Re: new gamertag release wave on May 18

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Neoken is interested to take his name back but his Gold is also expired. Since the method to steal a name is not the normal one, I don't think non-Gold users have any way to check whether or not a gamertag has become available for sure.

If you manage to take back MentholMoose, can you let us know the details of what the process was like?
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Re: new gamertag release wave on May 18

Post by MentholMoose »

I reclaimed MentholMoose! It was released overnight. I checked at 1 AM PDT and it was still unavailable, but the next time I checked at 9 AM it was available! The process is simple. On the Change gamertag page, if the Gamertag is available there will be a "Claim It" button. Clicking it will open a "BUY" window where you simply input and confirm the payment method.

I just checked and it says "neoken" is available. The Gold requirement only looks at cumulative time so he can probably renew with a 1-month subscription to change his Gamertag, as long as he's had Gold for a total of a year. My Gold lapsed earlier this year for a week or so before I renewed it, so it is definitely only a cumulative requirement. Since changing a Gamertag already requires a payment, I think adding a short term subscription is not too much of a stretch.
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Re: new gamertag release wave on May 18

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Strange, it appears to be simply the default method for changing your gamertag the normal way. I suspect that despite the news, you don't even need an active Gold subscription or 1-year of tenure to take these. They might have screwed up the implementation.

According to https://www.xboxgamertag.com/search/neo-ken/ the original user "NEO KEN" has been assigned the new name of BigKitten969109. I'll tell neoken as soon as I see him.

I say we have a MentholMoose name stealing party sometime soon! No rules, just a gathering for free play with as many people as we can round up. Maybe I can even get neoken to show up? My Gold is expired but there is currently a $1 a month offer on the dashboard, as there has been for the past half year, which I've been using repeatedly.
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Re: new gamertag release wave on May 18

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Neoken just changed his name. However, he forgot to put caps so his gamertag is now stuck as "neoken" when he wants neoKEN. He didn't need Gold.
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Re: new gamertag release wave on May 18

Post by MentholMoose »

Good to know. That is convenient, though it is kind of annoying how they gave out the wrong information.
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Re: new gamertag release wave on May 18

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This weekend might have a holiday, I'm not sure. Anyone want to have a MentholMoose party?
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Re: new gamertag release wave on May 18

Post by MentholMoose »

I have to travel for work this weekend so it is a no-go for me. Maybe June 11/12.
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Re: new gamertag release wave on May 18

Post by Porcupine »

https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/service ... oming.aspx

Microsoft is now clearing the way for inactive 360 era gamertags to be released! If you don't login to XBox Live for 5 years, your gamertag will be available for recycling. Porcupine should therefore be in the next release wave! However, there is a legal loophole. If you've never logged into Xbox Live, you've never had to accept these new Terms of Service...
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