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PassTheTorch

Guild name vote

“PassTheTorch” is a working title. The real name is being chosen now, in the launch-plan channel, by everyone with the WoW Forever role. The goal is a name the guild is still proud of in 2028. The failure modes are known: a joke that wins on a laugh, a name nobody hates but nobody loves, a process that feels rigged, and a name that turns out to be taken on launch night. The process below is built against all four.

How the vote works

Section titled “How the vote works”

The vote runs on the guild’s own bot. The board is a single message in the launch-plan channel with buttons; everything you do on it is private (only you see the bot’s replies). Everyone with the WoW Forever role can take part. One nomination and one ballot per Discord account.

Phase 1: nominate (5 days)

Section titled “Phase 1: nominate (5 days)”
  • Hit Submit or change my name on the board. A form opens. Type one name.
  • One name per person. You can change it any time until nominations close by hitting the same button again, or pull it with Withdraw my name.
  • Names must be 2 to 24 characters, letters and spaces only, no leading or trailing spaces, no double spaces. That is WoW’s rule. vanilla baseline
  • If someone already nominated your name, the bot tells you and your nomination stays unchanged. You can vote for it in phase 2.
  • The board lists nominated names in random order. Nominators are hidden.
  • Officers can remove a name that breaks Blizzard’s naming rules, is a current meme, or puns on the game’s own terms. They post the removal and the reason in the channel. They do not remove names for taste.

Phase 2: vote (4 days)

Section titled “Phase 2: vote (4 days)”
  • When nominations close, the board switches to voting automatically and the bot announces it.
  • Hit Vote. Pick up to 3 names you would be happy with. That is approval voting: no ranking, just “which of these could you live with.” Each menu saves when you click away.
  • My picks shows your current picks. Change picks and Clear my picks do what they say. Change them as often as you like until the close.
  • Counts stay hidden until the close. Even officers cannot see live counts outside officer channels.
  • If only one name was nominated, it wins by default.

Close, ties, and the runoff

Section titled “Close, ties, and the runoff”
  • At the close, the bot posts and pins the results with full counts. Transparency is the anti-rigging measure.
  • A tie at the top goes to a runoff: officers open one among the top N names. Anyone tied with the Nth place is included, so nobody is cut by a coin flip. Runoff ballots are one pick each, default 48 hours.
  • The runner-up is recorded as the backup name for launch night in case the winner is taken or blocked. No re-vote if that happens.

Why approval voting

Section titled “Why approval voting”

Approval voting surfaces consensus candidates rather than polarizing ones: voters tick every name they would be happy with, and joke names that half the guild loves and half hates lose to names most people can live with. verified Its known weakness is bullet voting, where people tick only their favorite; in one seven-candidate approval election about 60 percent of voters picked just one. verified The mitigation is in the framing: “which could you live with,” not “which do you love.” Use all three picks.

The rules against joke-name regret

Section titled “The rules against joke-name regret”

Guild names that stick are short, rhythmic, say the group’s character before anyone meets them, and are not tied to a moment. verified The checklist before you nominate:

  1. Two to three words, under 20 characters if you can. It has to read in a tabard tooltip and in “Name is recruiting.”
  2. Says the vibe. Someone reading only the name should guess “friends, semi-serious, not sweaty.”
  3. Not a current meme. A 2026 joke is a 2028 embarrassment. The two-year test: will the 40-year-old version of you wear it?
  4. Not a pun on the game’s own terms (Forever, Classic Plus, Torch). Those date instantly and Blizzard’s filter may flag them.
  5. Pronounceable in voice. People will say it out loud a thousand times.
  6. Searchable. Not a common English word, not something that collides with a big streamer guild.
  7. Works as a ritual word. “For the [Name]” and “[Name] night” should not sound stupid.

And the process rules:

  • The joke energy has a home. Tabard, motto, pod names, and titles can all be funny. The guild name is the one thing that has to survive being said in a job interview.
  • The GM has one veto, usable only against a name that would embarrass members outside the game, and it must be stated publicly with the reason. One, not many.
  • The name is locked for at least two seasons after it is chosen. Guilds that rename throw away the identity investment they just built. verified
  • Before you nominate, ask yourself the serious one-liner: why this name? Joke names usually cannot produce one.

Timeline

Section titled “Timeline”
When Step
Now Round 1 nominations open, 5 days. Check the board or type !guildname status for the exact close time in your timezone
Close of nominations Voting opens automatically, 4 days, up to 3 picks
Close of voting Results pinned. Tie: runoff, 48 hours, one pick each
After the winner Motto vote (same board, compressed), then the tabard design contest. See Contests and events
Oct 27 to Nov 3 Name reservation window. Reserve your character names; guild-name reservation has not been announced, so the backup name matters unverified
Nov 4, 23:00 UTC Launch. Form the guild with the winner; if blocked, the runner-up, no re-vote. See Road to launch

Officer commands

Section titled “Officer commands”

Officers run the vote with !guildname (alias !names) in a WoW wing channel. Members only need the buttons; !guildname status works for everyone.

Command What it does
!guildname status Current phase, close time, how many nominated and voted, link to the board. Anyone can run this
!guildname open [nomHours] [voteHours] [maxPicks] Opens a new round. Bot defaults are 72 hours, 72 hours, 3 picks; round 1 was opened with 120 and 96 hours (5 and 4 days) and 3 picks. Phases auto-advance
!guildname vote [hours] [maxPicks] Ends nominations early and opens voting now
!guildname close Ends the current phase. During nominations it moves to voting; during voting it closes the round and pins the results
!guildname extend <hours> Pushes the current phase’s deadline back
!guildname remove <name> Removes a nomination that breaks the rules. Any votes on it are dropped. Post the reason in the channel
!guildname results Shows the tally. During voting it only works inside officer channels; the board stays blind
!guildname runoff <N> [hours] After a closed round: opens a runoff among the top N (plus anyone tied at Nth), one pick each, default 48 hours

What the bot enforces on its own: one nomination and one ballot per account, the 2 to 24 letter rule, duplicate merging, hidden counts, and auto-advancing phases on the clock. What it does not enforce: the two-year test. That one is on you.

Unknown as of 2026-09-24

Section titled “Unknown as of 2026-09-24”
  • Whether Forever supports guild-name reservation during the Oct 27 window. Nothing announced; plan on the backup name.
  • Whether Forever’s guild-name limit is the vanilla 24 characters, letters and spaces. The bot enforces that rule.
  • Forever’s charter cost and signature count at launch, which decides who needs to be online when the name is used. See Guild charter.

Sources

Section titled “Sources”