CharacterTransfer
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Free character transfers open from Outland-EU to select EU realms
If you're on the Outland (EU) realm, you're in luck! Blizzard's Vaneras has announced in a blue post today that free character transfers have been opened from Outland to Agamaggan, Burning Steppes, and Vashj. According to Warcraft Realms, all three destination realms are very lightly populated, which is likely the rationale behind this offer. Transfers will only be available until Oct. 18, so if you need a fresh start, now's your chance! Free Character Migration (FCM) The below FCM is available until October 18 2011. The migrations are open to both factions: From: Outland To: Agamaggan To: Burning Steppes To: Vashj source
Administrative notes for EU players
We've got a couple of notes from the CMs over on the European forums. First up: free character transfers! Transfers opened today allowing players on some of the highest population PvP realms to move to some of the lower population PvP realms. So if you play on the EU realms Grim Batol, Stonemaul, and Warsong -- you can transfer to EU realms Agamaggan, Daggerspine, and Spinebreaker. Transfers will be open until Sunday, July 22nd, so if you're interested in this, you've only got a week to take advantage of it.In less happy news, on July 17th, the EU web page will be offline for maintenance between 03:00 CEST and 09:00 CEST. While you'll be able to play, you won't be able to access the website.
Free transfers open for select EU realms
Today free transfers closed for several EU realms and opened for several more EU realms. Today's transfers are planned to remain open until next Wednesday, the 14th, but the transfer list can be changed at any time, so if you want to take advantage of this, better sooner than later. Currently, players on Grim Batol, Outland, and Warsong may transfer off to Spinebreaker. Want to get started? Read the transfer FAQ first (remember -- this is a one-way trip!) and then head over to the character transfer page.
Additional EU Character Transfers Opened
Today, Blizzard's European branch has opened an additional 25 realms to the paid character transfer service, bringing the total number of open realms to 61. So if you've been waiting to move to a new server, now you might have your chance. To move a character, you simply need to log on to account management, and then click the Paid Character Transfer button. However, it's probably worth reviewing the FAQ first (which has its differences from the US version) - you can only move a character once every 6 months, so it would be best to be certain first.
US Character Transfer Offline
No, it's not broken and there are no technical problems. However, the system apparently works on a queue basis - and when the queue is filled, it automatically stops accepting new transfer requests. CM Tseric informs us that the queue system is in place to ensure that the system remains stable. If you managed to sign up for a transfer before the queue stopped new transfers, you should still be in the queue to be transfered - but because the queue's been maxed out, there may be a bit of a wait. For the rest of us - if you have a character you'd like to transfer, you just need to check back to see if the queue has opened up.
More US Realms Open for Transfers
More realms opened up for paid character transfers yesterday, with even more planned for today and the rest of the week. Though it looks like most realms will be open for transfers by the end of the week, the rules for transfer availability remain the same. So we're still waiting to see whether players' complaints on the fairness of transfers to new servers will have any long-term impact on the transfer policy. In the meantime, Blizzard Europe's policy has a slight alteration - adding the opening of the gates of Ahn'Qiraj as a factor in opening transfers.
EU Launches Paid Character Transfer Service
It's no real surprise this service was heading to European shores, but it does surprise me that the rules are slightly different. While most of the US and EU FAQs are identical, there's a slight difference in when servers are allowed to be open for transfers. On US realms, transfers are available to realms that have been open longer than 90 days (assuming the realms aren't already high population, with login queues, etc). On EU realms, there's an additional qualification - if a realm doesn't yet have the gates of Ahn'Qiraj open at 90 days, transfers won't open until either the gates open, or the server has had another 90 days to work towards it. This means that transfers may not be opened for as long as 6 months. I wonder if this restriction would be enough to calm some of the complaints on US forums as Ahn'Qiraj geared players start to transfer on to realms where the gates have not yet opened.
The Results of Paid Realm Transfers
I've spent a long time looking forward to the idea of paid character transfers. I have two well-geared 60s on an old realm that I abandoned for various reasons, and I'm excited at the prospect of having them available for play on the realm I now call home. So I've always looked at the prospect of transferring as a way of regaining access to characters that I'd put a lot of time and effort into, but had to abandon in order to play with friends.However, one of my want-to-transfer characters is in full tier 2, with some Ahn'Qiraj gear. I'd be transferring to a server well Nefarian has not yet been slain nor the gates of Ahn'Qiraj opened. And I can't be the only one wanting to move such characters, for one reason or another. There are many impassioned cries by players on realms old and new - as characters far beyond the realm's progression transfer over and start changing the face of PvP and PvE. With the number of restrictions on the transfer service ($25 per transfer, can only transfer every 6 months, can't transfer to severs less than 3 months old) it's obvious they've thought about the potential problems. And it's equally obvious, with the effort put into rolling out this program, that it's not just going to vanish. So where's the happy medium between a free-for-all transfer and allowing players to rejoin friends on other servers without abandoning previous efforts? Blizzard seems to be listening to player concerns, but where it will go from here, and how open character transfers will continue to impact realm status, is still a mystery.[Fan art by Guillaume Bonnet]
Additional Realms Opened for Paid Transfers
Blizzard seems to be moving quickly to expand their paid transfer service, and has opened eight new realms to transfer from. So if you have characters you're interested in moving off one of these realms, you're in luck! Characters may now be transfered from Burning Blade, Durotan, Earthen Ring, Elune, Laughing Skull, Lothar, Medivh, and Shadow Moon. Realms also seem to be disappearing from the ineligible destination list, meaning there are more places you can transfer to as well. (I haven't found a specific list, but noticed a realm I have characters on - Duskwood - is no longer on the ineligible list, though it was yesterday.)
Character Transfer Affecting Add-Ons?
In the wake of the paid character transfer service going live recently, a few players have apparently been experiencing some issues with their custom interfaces & add-ons after transferring their characters. Reader Sean Bonner reports that after his characters' move to the Eitrigg realm yesterday, he has been having many add-on problems, and this post over at Metroblogging also reports similar issues."6 months worth of interface development and addon fine tuning is UP IN SMOKE. When I started up...on Eitrigg all my custom interface, addons and macro preferences got left behind on Stormrage, or at least in the Stormrage folder. I figured out how to move my macro files over and now all 60 of my macros are available. But, I can't figure out which addon .lua files to move to restore my add-on preferences. I've made copies and dropped them in all the folders I can think of with no luck." Have any of you who have also transferred your characters experienced any problems after the move? Blizzard, any news on why this might be occurring? Chime in if you have any info on this problem; hopefully this can be brought to Blizzard's attention & the issues addressed.
Character Transfer Controversy Continues
The announcement that Blizzard will now be offering paid character transfers for $25 has been met with more than a little controversy within the community. Many people, including many who have commented on it here, feel that Blizzard is milking customers out of more money for a service that they could easily provide for free. Others defend Blizzard's descision, claiming that the character transfer fee is nothing more than a way to discourage players from moving servers willy nilly in a never-ending game of musical realms, which I happen to agree with.If players were allowed to freely transfer between servers as often as they wished, then it could potentially open up a huge can of worms; one scenario I can imagine is players possibly griefing or otherwise causing problems on one server, only to move to another when they wind up on too many peoples 'ignore' lists. What about you readers? How many of you are planning to take advantage of the transfer service? Why have you chosen to move realms? population? Friends on other realms? Want to start anew with a fresh reputation? Let us know...
Paid Character Transfer Feature Opened!
Blizzard has officially opened their paid character transfer service today. The official FAQ on the service appears quite similar to the leaked information we saw last week, so if you read that, there should be no surprises. However, there is, of course, a catch - at present, only five realms are available to transfer from: Altar of Storms, Argent Dawn, Demon Soul, Illidan, and Warsong. If none of those are servers you've been wanting to transfer from, you're going to have to keep waiting. Blizzard plans to add more realms to this list, but they're starting small for now. Ready to transfer? Head over to the account management page and click on the "Paid Character Transfer" button.
Paid Character Transfer Confirmed
Looks like Elizabeth's earlier report on paid character transfers was right on the money, as today's report on UkGamespot confirms. They have an interview with Blizzard developer Shane Dabiri, who sheds some more light on the process, including official details for pricing & realm transfer rules.Dabiri also touches on some of the reasons for the transfer regulations, and addresses some other related questions, including the oft-mentioned cross-realm battlegrounds. So, if you're planning on switching realms when transfers become available, check it out & find out all you need to know!
Character Transfers for the Well Connected?
Blizzard has always held to the premise that global character transfers are not available due to technical limitations - which seems to be confirmed by the problems that plague their official realm transfers. But occasionally they do things that make you wonder. Around the time I started playing, an entire guild was transfered by Blizzard from Uther to Eldre'Thalas (where I was playing at the time) - much to the outrage of the player-base. And on Monday, a player from Uther noticed two new unknown characters on the server - and a quick lookup on Warcraft Realms showed them to have been, until recently, residents of Sargeras server. Since no official transfers are open between the two servers, this does make one wonder how they arrived on Uther. No official word yet, but I'll keep an eye out for more news.
Pay for Character Transfers Coming Soon?
Terra Nova reports the interesting tidbit that character transfer on-demand could soon be available - at a cost. While community managers on the official forums have, in the past, confirmed that Blizzard's plan has been to have realm-wide transfers available for a fee, no details or ETA has ever been provided. Terra Nova informs us that a customer service call resulted in an automated message about character transfers, which was then confirmed by a live customer service representative. I think I have a couple of characters that I'd jump on the opportunity to move, but I suppose this would depend on the fees involved - after all, such transfers in Everquest cost $75.
Character Transfers? Maybe Not.
While character transfers only opened up early this morning, they seem to already be closed due to technical difficulties that were causing players to transfer to the wrong realm. No estimate on when they might be back up, but here's to hoping that all is resolved promptly.Update: In a revised post, Eyonix informs us that the character transfer service will be restored during weekly maintenance and that characters who had been transfered to the wrong realm will be moved to the right one.
New US Realms and Transfers Opening Monday
Players from Kil'Jaden and Tichondrius will be able to transfer to Korgath, a new PvP realm, while players from Doomhammer, Icecrown, Proudemoore, and Uther will be able to transfer to Muradin, a new PvE realm. Transfers will be available from Monday, March 13th starting at 3AM PST and ending on Thursday, March 16th at 3PM PST, during which time normal character creation will not be open. Be sure to hit up the character copy page first thing Monday if you intend to make the switch!
