For a price, Blizzard offers Horde and Alliance characters the option to jump to certain other game realms.
Feeling packed in like sardines while perusing the fields of Azeroth? Blizzard Entertainment may have an answer. The company has announced that World of Warcraft players currently living on 12 select realms can now transfer their characters to other, less-crowded pastures--for $25 a pop.
As the game's world becomes more and more populated--more than 6 million people call themselves World of Warcraft subscribers--developer Blizzard is taking measures to balance the gameplay and free up room for its ever-expanding user base.
Only a select number of realms are eligible for Horde and Alliance player transfers. They include Altar of Storms, Argent Dawn, Arthas, Dalaran, Demon Soul, Illidan, Magtheridon, Stormrage, Spirestone, Turalyon, Warsong, and Zul'jin.
"Since this is a brand-new feature, we decided to take a staged approach for releasing paid character transfers to the public," says Blizzard's character-transfer FAQ.
But, Blizzard indicated, as populations shift other realms may become part of the new service. "The initial launch will only allow transfers between a limited set of realms, allowing us to closely monitor our system's performance, and then we'll gradually expand the list," it says.
For the technical details, restrictions, and other fine print, visit Blizzard's list of frequently asked questions.
How can you people hear with your heads so far up your arses? 25$ isnt that much, its a one time shot, quit your whining and leave already if you hate WoW so much, please, go play guild wars, FFXI, EQ II or [insert latest wanabee WoW killer here]. In short QQ nubs kthxbye.
When i first heard about this feature a few months back I was thinking, this is neat, I like this feature. Of course I didnt expect the 25$ price tag... 5$ was more what I was assuming, 25$ is waay to much as far as I'm concerned. Also for some who have asked, Realm transfers can go from PvP to PvE, but NOT PvE to PvP. (Something I do agree with, PvE players should not be allowed to join a PvP realm after leveling up the whole game on a PvE realm).
So, if you hate WoW to start with, why are you even commenting here? This issue doesn't even affect you.... Anyways, I currently play WoW and I think this is a positive thing. If you want to switch to a server that has someone you know of vice-versa, you can, and if you want to stay where you are, you don't have to pay anything extra. Also, I agree with destroyer and a few others so far as that PvP should only be able to transfer to PvE, even though I've only played on a PvP server myself....
My response to all the Blizzard haters (especially the ones that say they've changed from the old Starcraft/Diablo, ect.) : LOL, go away crybabies. Also, can normal transfer to PVP? I don't think its really right going from PVE to PVP, but people should be allowed that coice. I do think there should be a giant "WARNING: THIS IS WHAT YOUR GETTING INTO" sign when they do that, but it should be available.
Wait, we're doing them a favor by helping to even out server burden while paying for it? Can we just throw money at them?
Back when I played FFXI, they did it for FREE!! Yes you had to sign up and wait and you couldn't pick the server, but you knew what server you were headed to. This was to level out the population wisely. If everyone thats playing WOW gets to pick what server there going to, its going to be mass chaos in which servers are over and under populated...
Just in case anyone was wondering, you can't transfer to a new server until 90 days after it's created, in which time many people will already have Tier 1 gear.
Trust me, a griefing guild that camps bosses that's REALLY dedicated to their ways will have no problem invading a realm, even for $25...
MONEY MACHINE! Get people to pay you for your game. Get them to keep paying you until they overload your server. Then get them to pay you to move them to another server so those people will need to pay you to move. Now that is a Business model! I love Blizzard so much!
Guys, guys. They're not charging $25 to transfer for no reason. It's to prevent people from terrorizing a server, and being an all around bad player, and then being able to transfer to a different server with no barriers.
$25 is a lot of money when you consider the fact it's basically a file copy from location A to B. Granted it might have to be across a VPN of sorts to a physically different server but really...that's all they do. Problem I have is what happens when my nicely balanced server gets overloaded from others joining it ?!?!?!?! I also wonder if some power guilds might not swap to new servers for some hassle free boss hunting...perhpas that's more the reason for the $25.
Aren't they like making millions of profits monthly already? I know it's expensive to maintain such an infrastructure, but puh-leaze....
Hmm..well I dont think 25 bucks is too much. Everquest charges more than the double of that. And ppl do not compare FF XI or The Matrix Online with WoW. Stopped playing WoW for like 3 months now..sold my account for 300 bucks. Tried Guild Wars...lvled 'til 13..but heck it becomes boring after a while. But its a great game. If I ever go back to WoW..not playing like I used to do before..raiding and stuff like that. Blizzard says that there's casual gamers' content in the game..dude thats a filthy lie I tell ya..
Complaining about $25 transfer fee? Was $75 in EQ, and, you didnt get to bring any gear or money.. ONLY $25.......
lol 25$ for changing servers.... maybe they could make an option, you can go in-game and pay 50$ as a donnation to blizzard. It doesnt do anything, you just pay, but people swear it helps in-game.. thats the future! hum, I'll stay with FFXI.
first of all. 25 bucks is way too much. second of all, ive made so many friends it would be kinda dumb to leave.
Hey, it's me again. I'd like to take some time to respond to/clarify on a few things. VegetaMaelstrom, I promise you I am in no way affiliated with Blizzard, much less am on their payroll as you less than kindly suggested. Heck, I'm not even a hardcore WoW player in the slightest sense. I let my subscription run out months ago. What I am is just a guy who sees things a certain way. My opinion is just that. Feel free to disagree and respond in a clear, thought out manner, but let's not start suggesting dubious character of one another. AncientDozer, when I say (in your words) "don't use it if you don't like it" or "if you don't like it, don't play it", it is definitely not to dismiss you or anyone else with a complaint. But then again, isn't it that simple? I understand there are those that are not happy with the way things are. I am not asking anyone to accept the status quo. You want change. I understand that. But you should know that I never once labeled anyone as a "whiner." And I'd surely prefer not to be "beaten," especially over this. Thanks. So you think matters concerning buses and equality are of a different "ballgame" than MMOs. Rest assured, I wholeheartedly agree. Those things actually matter in real life. Let's not forget that the matter we are discussing here is a form of entertainment and nothing more. We aren't discussing abortion, current immigration laws, or who should be the next American Idol.* Do I think we, as gamers, are replaceable? Pawns, even, in a business scheme to make a profit? Absolutely. Did you ever think we weren't? A business is there to do one thing and one thing only: $$$. Should we chastise them for this? Of course not. It's what a business does. It's what services are for. Skylighter9 is dead on with his/her sarcasm. (At least, I hope it was sarcasm.) However, I'm willing to go out on a limb and say Blizzard is a company that cares about its gamers a lot more than other companies do. I hope for all our sakes that I am not mistaken. If the majority of the WoW populace are "complacent" as you say, then Blizzard must be doing something right to turn a profit. I can only conclude that WoW must not be the game for you. (Again, I do not mean to dismiss you or belittle your qualms when I say this.) It sounds to me you think one person cannot possibly hope to make a difference. What are you proposing to do? I'm not challenging you. I'm curious. I would appreciate it if you elaborated on how to "challenge conformity... by loud presentation and explanation." Forgive me if I seem a bit skeptical toward the notion of perpetually paying Blizzard for their services as a form of protest. Is $25 too much? Perhaps. But when you signed up for a WoW subscription all those months ago, I'm assuming you were well aware that user controlled character transfers was not a service gamers were provided with. What has changed since then? We have gained a optional service that was not previously available to us. We have gained something and lost nothing. I'd prefer something over nothing any day. I see some of you guys have suggested alternative methods for Blizzard to go about character transfers. That's great! I encourage you to keep doing so. The logical next step would be to find a way for the WoW community to convince Blizzard there are better ways to benefit all (without resorting to "Blizzard iZ teh sux0rz FTL!!1"). How do we do this? That would be the million dollar question. (Or in this case, $25.) I agree that WoW has issues that need to be addressed, but everyone should keep their perspective realistic and their discussions civil. Thanks again for reading. P.S. Zeraquor, thank you for the support. Much appreciated. =) *Just in case anyone thought I was serious, I was kidding about the American Idol bit.
It does seem a bit tight on their behalf to charge players when the only person who really benefits from it is blizzard
How dare a company try to make money?! I am outraged! Whatever happened to non-profit charity?! Blizzard, you suck.
oh well, even if it costs 25 ppl will pay for it, probably not something to do regularly though lol
If they allowed gamers to do it before for free it should be no cost to them to allow this to continue FREE! If they wanted to limit the number of characters moving from differnet servers why not make it an option every 3 to 6 months for gamers to move there characters. Give gamers an option and a month period to move to a list of servers that are not congested at that time. But giving the transfer a price means it has to be about money. If they want more money they should make a Diablo 3 or a Starcraft 2 and then I'll pay.
At first I said $25 was a lot for a character transfer that's free for them, especially considering the rules you had to abide by. The rules already meant you couldn't transfer characters over and over again so $25 isn't that great of a deterent. Then they decided that you could only transfer from servers they selected which sounds very familiar to what they did before to aleviate server stress. Players might benefit but Blizz wants us to move too. Considering this is basically the same idea as before and that now it's far more automated and probably costs them even less now to do than it did before, that $25 price tag seems even that much more out of line. Any server you want? juuuuuuust maybe but to pick and choose servers? bleh. I can understand their normal rules but this is far from something worth getting excited over. I feel bad for WoWers
WoW corrupts everything it touches, raise your fists in anger my brethren and strike it down. Free Blizzard from the shackles of this evil game.
Anybody expecting to transfer a PvE character to a PvP server and not understanding why that is bad/unfair is a complete moron. While you leveled up to 60 in your "safe" world, we had to deal with getting ganked over and over. It's pretty easy to see why PvE to PvP is not allowed. DURRRRRRRRR If you want PvP roll up on a PvP server for god sakes like the rest of us.
wow lot of people playing world of warcraft, it was really a huge success, (need to buy a pc)
While I do not play WOW due to the monthly fee's and wishing to play more than a single game, I believe this fee might be less about making money and more about fighting item/gold farming. If there wasn't a 25 dollar cost, the factories of gold farmers in China (search for it if you don't believe me) would gather gold on realms they dominate and then request transfers to other realms. I realize a realm transfer can only occur once every six months for a character, but none the less I could see this as profitable for them if there was no fee. My guess Blizzard is just trying to discourage this. I could be wrong though, and they could just be trying to run with their players' wallets.
I dont know about you but I think this is officially STEALing from gamers. Blizzard, I HATE you. What happend to good old blizzard that made StarCraft!!!? or WC3???!????
Rip off nothing else to say,.and there is no justification so those they try to come up with with one are fools.
what the hell I gotta pay to switch realms, even though bllizard has not made my realm available for transfer, I'd rather use my $25 to upgrade my pc, so I dont get dissconnected
"If their server traffic is unbalanced and laggy on some servers and not others then Blizzard should offer some customers the option to transfer to less populated servers to enhance the game experience for EVERYONE, including those who stay put. Just my take. " Has anyone considered that when you buy the game and pay for subscription to join and play World of Warcraft, or any other MMO the service offered to you is a "promise" for a good quality experience? If the servers become "unbalanced and laggy" it means it is the companies duty to seekanother avenue to continue the service. The long and short of it is if Blizzard are experiencing problems with their server it is their job to insure transfers to another realm. The clients of the WOW server pay for a service that promises a great gaming experience and if Blizzard can't maintain this service no one should have to pay. If a magazine doesn't release it's issues on time or misses an issue, I the subscriber am not liable for the magazine companies problems. Since gamers pay enough just to play this game Blizzard doesn't deserve any more money. If they want more they should increase the subscription fee instead and let the gamers decide if they really want to play WOW. But I agree with the pvp to pve thing, maybe they should only charge this one.
That's it, I've had enough of this foolishness. Blizzard Entertainment........ I used to play Warcraft II from as young as 7 years old. I was totally engrossed in Starcraft and Diablo in the past years. You used to be cool. Now..... I just don't know you anymore. You used to be cool, but you changed, man. You CHANGED. Why you would want to take advantage of a fluke such as World of Warcraft with all of that prestige under your belt from all these years, I don't know. Have fun with all of your money and all of your new "friends" you made. Diablo II: LoD is going to be the last time I buy a Blizzard made product.
Yep Blizzard is greedy. I don't think I'll ever see Starcraft 2, Diablo 3, or Warcraft 4 in my lifetime the way Blizzard keeps milking WoW.
mkeopong, just a quick question. How much does Blizzard pay you, seeing as you are obviously on their payroll? AncientDozer, your message is right on. If their server traffic is unbalanced and laggy on some servers and not others then Blizzard should offer some customers the option to transfer to less populated servers to enhance the game experience for EVERYONE, including those who stay put. Just my take.
What are these other games that cost a hundred to move characters? I don't recall any. Some of you might be content. Some of you say "don't use it if you don't like it". Some of you use the time tested response of "if you don't like it, don't play it". You should be beaten. There is no room for kowtowers, isolationists, and defeatists. It is these attitudes that get gamers trampled over by THE MAN. Sure, you can try and protest by not playing. Unfortunately, while this strategy may work for buses and equality, MMO and video games in general are a whole other ballgame. As much as we want to think we mean something to big game developers, we're just pawns. Replaceable. Where we might leave, there are dozens of gullible saps and blind sheep (not the game spot definition) that jump in our place. Change will not come because the brave few to question the "infallable" Blizzard are small in number compared to the complacent many who deceive themselves. The only effective way to reach the developers and those afraid to challenge conformity is by loud presentation and explanation. Put a foot down, dammit! And some of you think we "whiners" should leave. I think you owe it to the world that you not talk anymore. We have one or two complaints about an otherwise good game and now we got to go because we raise our voices while others are content to wallow in handouts? Foolery! And it's foolery that they charge twenty-five dollars for this "new content". Ridiculous. The servers are congested and in order to spare people of lag they have to pay? Highway robbery! This is a real example of milking. Not that silly Gamespot definition that people like tossing around.
The reason PvE to PvP transfers won't nappen is because it isn't fair plain and simple. People who level to 60 on a pvp server have it a heck of alot harder than on pve. You have to constantly deal with getting ganked, griefed, corpse camped etc. On a pve server you don't have these issues unless your a moron and flag yourself pvp by being an idiot. If they allowed pve to pvp transfers noone would even bother to level on pvp servers cuz you could just level to 60 carebear style and then transfer to a pvp server after hitting 60 and go gank noobs till your hearts content. Not fair. At least the 60s who gank level 20s on pvp server had to go through the same thing when they were that level, for many i think thats why they do it. To allow the transfers would be a slap in the face to people on pvp realms.
They should be offering this for free just to spread out characters. That, and I can't think of a good reason why you can't transfer from PvE to PvP servers.
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