• squiffy

http://www.atomicmpc.com.au/article.asp?CIID=39226

Most interesting.

 

Kytrarewn

Forgive me for doubting the source, but I figured Blizzard would sell the exclusive to MMORPG.com, PCGamer or any number of other more reputable/probably lucrative sources.

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ


Jesus don't want me in a sunbeam
Sunbeams are always made on me
Don't expect me to cry, for all the reasons I'm gonna die
Don't ever ask your kick of me.

 

Dozer

Just looks like they released their press release writeup a bit earlier than the NDA expiration time, which is probably midnight tonight.

Seems legit. I may be wrong though!

 

• frmorrison

Login Authentication Failed on the link.

Seems the article has been removed... interesting.

Edit:
We have been advised by Blizzard to remove the story that you have linked to.

The Australian Vivendi office had previously given us the OK to publish the information, we published the story on that basis in good faith.

Blizzard and Vivendi has since apologised for the incorrect embargo information given to us yesterday.

The story will return at a later date.

DK - Ashbane Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.

 

lagwagon

:(

Did anyone manage to get a copy of the article text? or be able to expand on what it said?

 

Skold

WoW Character Transfers!
By Rulke - Thu Jun 22, 2006 7:56am Title: World of Warcraft
Developer: Blizzard
Publisher: Vivendi Games
Site: http://www.worldofwarcraft.com

More news on World of Warcraft, and this time it's a beauty.

A warning to the WoW fans. You best sit down or risk falling over in shock. The one feature that everyone's been begging for since release has finally arrived, of course, with conditions attached to make any lawyer giggle with pleasure.:p It will be a paid service, so make sure you have a hard think about it before you transfer that uber char. All the questions you might have should be answered with the following Paid Character Transfer FAQ we have below.

Paid Character Transfer F.A.Q.

What is the Paid Character Transfer feature?

The Paid Character Transfer feature allows you to move characters to other realms and even from one account where you are the subscriber to another account where you are the subscriber, subject to certain restrictions. The cost of each paid character transfer is $25.00 USD.

It seems like many realms are missing from the list of eligible realms. Why is that?

Since this is a brand-new feature, we decided to take a staged approach for releasing paid character transfers to the public. The initial launch will only allow transfers between a limited set of realms, allowing us to closely monitor our system's performance, and then we’ll gradually expand the list. You can see an updated list of currently eligible realms here. [Links to character transfer realm list]

Why is the realm I want not listed?

We may remove a realm as an eligible destination for a variety of reasons, including:

• The realm is full or densely populated at this time.

• It has been fewer than 90 days since the realm was launched

• You are attempting to transfer from a PvE realm to a PvP realm. Characters currently located on PvE

realms are only eligible to move to other PvE realms.

• There might be an upcoming free character migration to this realm.

Please note that Blizzard reserves the right to disable paid character transfers to any realm at its own discretion.


Will the realm ever be available for transfers?

We are constantly evaluating realm populations, so check back regularly for new availability.

Some other realms seem to meet the criteria, but mine does not. Why?

Blizzard monitors numerous factors contributing to individual realm availability. While two realms may appear to be the same from a playability perspective, there may be some technical reasons why we are unable to implement transfers to certain realms at certain times.

Blizzard's goal is always to allow you the widest selection of destinations and to ultimately get you where you want to be. Part of this process means we must ensure the stability of all realms along the way.

Does this mean I can now transfer my characters to any realm I want?

While this new feature allows a much greater degree of freedom than past realm-to-realm migrations, there are still some restrictions for paid character transfers, which include the following:

Standard Restrictions:

• A character's mailbox and auctions must be completely clear before that character can be transferred.

• A character that is the leader of a guild may not be transferred as long as he/she remains the leader. If you wish to transfer a character that is currently a guild leader you must transfer leadership to another member or disband your guild.

Character restrictions:

• Every character to be transferred has to be at least level 10.

• Characters carrying too much gold are not eligible for transfer, as follows:

- Level 10-30: 300 gold limit

- Level 31-50: 1000 gold limit

- Level 51+: 5000 gold limit

• An individual character may only be transferred once every six months.

Realm restrictions:

• You may transfer characters from PvP to PvE realms, but transfers from PvE to PvP realms are not

allowed.

• Transfers from PvP to PvP realms are only possible if there is no faction violation. If you already have a

character on your desired destination PvP realm, then you will not be able to transfer any characters of

the opposing faction to this realm.

• You may only transfer characters to a realm as long as you will not exceed the maximum of ten

characters per realm at your destination once the transfer is complete.

• Realms that frequently have queues and/or regularly show a high concurrency may be taken off the list

of eligible destination realms to prevent overpopulating realms through character transfers.

How do I transfer one of my characters to another realm?

Simply log on to the account-management section, click the Paid Character Transfer button, and follow the on-screen instructions. You will need to answer your secret question to begin the transfer process. During the process you will be asked for your credit card information. Please note that this is for verification purposes only. Your credit card will not be billed until you have completed the paid character transfer process.

Once you have entered the necessary information and confirmed the transfers you will receive a confirmation email. Also, the characters you signed up for transfers will be unavailable until the process finishes, which should take no more than 10 days. When the transfer has finished, you will receive another email with instructions on how to complete the process. Follow these instructions, and your characters will be available and ready to play on the new realm.

I signed a character up for a realm transfer, but it’s still on the old realm and I can't play with this character anymore. What's going on?

Character transfers may take up to 10 days to process. You won't be able to play the characters you signed up for a transfer during that time, so you may want to spread out your transfers so that not all your characters are locked at the same time. Once you've completed the transfer process as described above, your characters will appear on the destination realm, ready to continue your adventure.

Why is it set up that way?

Blizzard takes the integrity of its game and its account ownership very seriously. For this reason, the sale of characters and accounts is expressly against the World of Warcraft Terms of Use, and the transfer of characters from one account owner to another is prohibited.

Can I give one of my characters to a friend or guild mate?

No. You are only allowed to transfer a character to an account where you are the subscriber.

Can I transfer characters from one region to another (i.e. moving North American characters to European realms or accounts)?

No. Characters can only be transferred between realms and accounts within the same region.

Is there any way to check the status of my character transfers?

Yes. Log on to the account-management section and click the Paid Character Transfer button. Answer your secret question, and you will then be able to access a page that lists the details of all your pending, completed, and ineligible transfers. You can also use this overview to cancel pending character transfers before they are completed.

How do I cancel a pending character transfer?

You can cancel pending character transfers on the character transfer status page. Check the section containing your pending transfers and follow the on-screen instructions if you wish to cancel a pending character transfer.

If I don't like the new realm or change my mind, can I transfer back?

Once you have chosen to complete your transfer, you cannot reverse it. We strongly recommend you research your destination realm ahead of time to ensure it is a desirable long-term environment for you, before you initiate the transfer. The only way to move the character off the realm again would be to wait six months for that character to become eligible for another transfer.

What happens to my honor ranking? Will I have to start over from scratch on the new realm or can I keep my current ranking?

Your ranking points will be transferred along with your character. However, your character will be inactive during the time it takes for the process to be completed, which can be up to 10 days. Therefore, there is a possibility you could lose your current rank in the Player-vs.-Player Honor System while your character is inactive. Also, please keep in mind that should your destination realm have a more active PvP community, you may find that keeping your rank will be more challenging.

Will all my stuff be transferred along with my character?

Your character will arrive on the destination realm with all the gold, equipment, pets, and all items in your characters' inventory and the bank. You will also keep all your bank slots, lifetime honor rank and ranking points. Quests will also be transferred, but please be aware that the progress for quests that require you to kill a certain number of monsters will be lost.

Will my guild status be transferred?

Your guild affiliation and tabard design will not be transferred. You will have to join or create a new guild on your destination realm.

Is there any discount if I am transferring more than one character?

We do not have a discount plan available at this time for multiple transfers. Should we offer any additional promotions or pricing options, they would be announced on our website.

Whom should I contact if I have questions about this service?

Please contact our billing department by phone or email. Billing representatives are on hand to take your call Monday through Friday between 9am and 6pm Pacific Time, at 1-800-59-BLIZZARD (800-592-5499). Customers in should call 1-800-041-378. Alternatively, you may e-mail billing@blizzard.com with any transfer related questions.

--------------------

Sorry if the formattign is a little screwy, it didnt post correctly on our guild forums and pasting it here appears to have made it worse.

 

• Fogbug

this still doesn't seem to take alliance/horde balance into account. I guess it won't be as much of a deal after 1.12 anyway

 

Axil

do you have the original link?

http://wow.theorderls.com
Haxil

 

• squiffy

Me?

I have a copy of what was originally posted at the link in my first post, but don't want to encounter the wrath of the banhammer by posting embargoed information here.

If not me, carry on and ignore what I just wrote.

 

Parappa

might as well quit wow right now, cause im sure paid transfers will be the death sentence for my server. why bother playing on some med-pop server thats doing so-so pve wise when you can play on one of the powerhouse servers....

 

Rane

Man, all this time we've been so set on leaving this dead rock we're stuck on, and now it can take up to 10 freaking days? Probably excluding weekends too.... count on not doing anything with your main character for two weeks. I knew they wanted to limit the amount of people who'd transfer, but this is ridiculous.

I hope this isn't the official announcement. I really don't see why I should wait 10 days when I can get a PTR or normal Realm transfer in 10 seconds, server stability notwithstanding. Waiting for payment should be a non-issue when my bankpayments (we have an automated bank transfer option in Europe for Dutchies like myself) come through without a hitch.

For the rest I have nothing to complain about tho, and I'll prolly end up doing it still. I just hope the European side has a faster system in mind. Can probably cook up a nice server with some other guilds and balance it out ourselves, since Blizzard seem to be incapable of that. LHC last night was a good comparison... I think the Night Elves alone outnumbered the Horde there.

 

Torael_7

Well gee if this goes through and my whole guild moves as there has been talk of doing should the opportunity come up, that might just drive me to quit. I dont really care to move, and I'm basically out of options guild-wise on Mal'ganis.

Whee.

 

james

The 6 month cap on transfers is T_T though - as is $25 per character (how many lvl 60s do you have?) - that's not cheap at all.

O/T - Am curious, are "Affliction/Denied" likely to head off to an OMGWTF uber server (hi2u Magheridon) or fancy heading 'back' to Outland to kick it with the old Bladefist crew?

 

Rane

Yea, bank mules bye bye. And we have to split the guildbank up because we're only allowed 5k gold pp :/

--
James, drop us a line at #originalsin @ Qnet. I'll get you up to date about everything (when I get home in an hour) :)

 

TheRealJon

The powerhouse servers are more than likely not going to be available to transfer to anyways.

If I read it correctly Blizzard is expanding the realm transfers that used to be free by charging $25 and you can only go to servers of their choice. Which means dying servers will more than likely be open to transfer from all realms as opposed to specific realms.

 

hamlet

compared to what some MMOs have charged for character transfers 25 dollars is incredibly cheap. I am sure EJ is really looking forward to this. Just think of all the new players that will want to join you.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3...mai_hime37.gif

 

Kytrarewn

I'd actually be more worried if I was Ascent. They're the only Horde über-guild on a PvE server that comes to mind. Just imagine how many people are going to try to jump to Medivh.

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ


Jesus don't want me in a sunbeam
Sunbeams are always made on me
Don't expect me to cry, for all the reasons I'm gonna die
Don't ever ask your kick of me.

 

jubelio

You honestly think that the server with the largest Horde: Alliance ratio is going to be open to transfers?

 

◊ Kalman

For your sake, hopefully it'll be open for alliance transfers only.

I hate to believe Blizzard would be so dumb as to ignore the possibility of factional transfers, *especially* in the case of PvP servers.

 

hamlet

I am assuming they are going to run transfers as they do now. Basically they have a limit on numbers but they dont restrict to either horde or alliance. I used EJ as an example but I am sure this is going to be a common issue with alot of the well known guilds out that that people get delusions of grandeur about.

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b3...mai_hime37.gif

 

Kytrarewn

PvE or PvP?

ΜΟΛΩΝ ΛΑΒΕ


Jesus don't want me in a sunbeam
Sunbeams are always made on me
Don't expect me to cry, for all the reasons I'm gonna die
Don't ever ask your kick of me.

 

Phanuel

I transfered my Horde pvp priest there with Baborc's pvp crew (Muradin). Suffice to say, I haven't logged in on that toon in over 2 months. That server ruined the Horde population on Proudmoore, and I'm sure whatever other servers transfered to it.

As far as Proudmoore goes, most of the Alliance I know would love to transfer off of it to a more Horde heavy server at the first available opportunity. Or maybe get an influx of Horde. The other problem is the good times from server instability caused Blizzard to remove the ability to create fresh characters on our server multiple times and has thus stunted any possible inflow of new blood to the server. The raiding guilds at this point just trade the same 40 retards around and around and around and watch geared, knowledgable players quit the game one by one. So in the eyes of many, the server itself is dying and we'd like to jump ship to a potentially healthier environment with new faces to recruit.

 

◊ chalon

That info appears to be legit:
http://www.gamespot.com/news/6153087.html

 

Taeme

VXIX isn't going anywhere, Min. People in VXIX talk about all sorts of dumb random shit. People can barely show up on time for raids, let alone pay money to change to another server.
We don't recruit. The only two recent additions to EJ are one player's wife, and another guy who was the roommate of two of our players.

The odds of getting into EJ, especially after moving, is so insanely low. We kinda like the community we have built up.

you're the one that decided to trust me

 

◊ Double-Neg

You have a better chance of getting Blown by Jenna Jameson while winning the lottery and getting hit by lightning, AT THE SAME TIME

Not on IRC?