paid character transfers
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Paid character transfers shut down
As someone who recently did a character transfer of my own, I have to admit I was nervous about the transfer considering some of the horror stories that I'd heard about long transfers, multiple charges despite cards being rejected, and more. However, it would appear that Blizzard has decided to take the entire process of Paid Character Transfers offline while they see what they can do about fixing it. Per Pavonum on the Customer Service Forums:As some of you have already noticed, the Paid Character Transfer service has been temporarily shut down so that further efforts may be made to ensure that its correct functionality is restored; our developers are currently working to repair the underlying coding issues that have contributed to the present complications for many players. While it is not known at this time when further updates shall become available, you may rest assured that we shall make you aware with all due haste at that time; for now, we are greatly appreciative of your continued patience. Thanks, folks. :) Obviously this isn't going to do much for those who have already had problems of getting multiple charges or characters caught in limbo between realms. But I am very glad to see that Blizzard is taking the system offline and checking to see what they can do to fix these problems moving forward from this point. Personally, I'd be willing to wait for however long they need to make sure the overcharge bug is 100% fixed. [via the Customer Service Forums]
Paid character transfer update (sort of)
Well, I have some difficulty calling this an update, since it was initially announced in August -- but since the initial announcement was rolled in with news about new realm openings, I imagine it didn't get the attention it deserved. So today, to much applause, Eyonix has informed everyone that paid character transfers will not be available to any realms not yet open for 6 months (as opposed to the previous 3 months). This will allow new realms some time to ramp up and approach other realms in content before potentially troubled by a flood of new (and better geared) players into the realm economy. Of course, there are still players complaining that 6 months is not enough -- but it's certainly a lot closer to what I would consider a reasonable ballpark.
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.
