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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!
