"A character with that name already exists"

#0 - April 15, 2009, 4:02 p.m.

BUG: Been DCed while alt-tabbing out of WoW while a loading screen is up and then clicking back into WoW if the loading screen is still there causes the game to completely crash out (no bug report window either) and having to relog back in. Logging back in onto the same character returns "A character with that name already exists", logging onto another character shows that the original character is still online

Reproduce: I do this with dual-monitor:
All done in Windowed mode
Use a portal from Dalaran to another location
Click out of WoW (into say Firefox or something)
Game will show a black screen
Clicking into the black screen again will force the crash
No longer able to log onto character.

To fix - wait 5-10 minutes for character to DC.

Posting in Customer Support and Bug Report forum.

Does anyone know if this is a known problem or if it's something that I might need to alter myself (such as changing Windowed to Fullscreen and then back to Windowed again) thanks!

Reythur

#3 - April 19, 2009, 12:48 a.m.

I'm not sure what would be causing you to exit the World of Warcraft after you've alt-tabbed, but the "A Character With That Name Already Exists" error message is what you'll see if the game thinks that character is still online.

This can happen if you are disconnected, but the server does not receive that message; the character can remain online for some time (up to the auto-afk logout; approximately 10 minutes or so). The easiest way to resolve this is by logging into a different character on the same realm to "boot" the other character offline.