Why I won't transfer servers - Character Attachment

Well, it was pretty original when I came up with it in 1981.

But no matter what, when you are forced from 15 servers to one with no control whatsoever, the chances are low.

I can see your viewpoint, but you get out of a game what you put into it. I'm defined ingame by my identity ingame, it has been consistent over 10 different MMOs, and it was a very important part of my part of my community.

It's the only thing of value I have in this game. Every other bauble and trinket can be bought/sold/looted.

A big part of it is my investment in the story. I watched Shayde's story unfold and take shape depending on what choices I made. It was my epic journey, creating an unrivaled criminal empire. Granted, there's a couple thousand others out there, but not quite like me. I guess that's the fault of the developers, in making a story so damn engaging.

Funny thing, both my kids transferred without a problem. They didn't care because it was insignificant to them.

This just illustrates why so many developers don't understand player retention. It is the attachment I feel that keeps players playing the game. Hell, there's thousands of ex-SWG players who would jump at the chance to play that game again because of what they invested into their characters in that game. There's people who wouldn't quit that thing even after sony screwed the game up beyond recognition because of their personal investment in the lives of their toons.

That's devotion, that's loyalty.

But I digress.

Either way, I guess my toons will die when they shut Space Slug down. Honestly, I can't see how they expect people to come back and play TOR if they come back to having to transfer their toons and meet new people or reguild.

Well, it was pretty original when I came up with it in 1981.

But no matter what, when you are forced from 15 servers to one with no control whatsoever, the chances are low.

I don't know about that - my Thief was named Shayde and my Illustionist MysticSyne when I started D&Ding in the late 70's. I used both of those names when Wizardry came out in '80 or '81, so I think I can call dibs.

But anyway, I do agree with you in part. I was originally on Krayt Dragon, which wasn't too bad off population-wise. I ended up re-rolling to Firaxan Shark (at the time I didn't realize how bad the pop was there), because one of the names I wanted to use as an alt was taken on KD. I debated about using special characters in the name, but like to keep things simple for myself - it would of just been confusing for me to have to remember the slight deviation.

I am fortunate that all my characters got to keep their names in the transfer process. If not, most likely I would be waiting until the Paid Transfers come out. Unlike you, I don't feel that my own identity comes from the characters I have in game, but it is the identity of the characters themselves. Like you, I have reused several names throughout all the games I have played (Shayde and Mistic however were left behind in Wiz 5), and identify the characters by their name. However, as an aside, I found it rather amusing that when I was Alpha testing Stronghold Kingdoms someone actually recognized me via one of the names I used for my cities. Turns the guy remembered the name because I had helped him out a few times back when Guild Wars was first released.

Don't get discouraged, hopefully the Paid Transfers will be here sooner rather than later and you can find a place where Shayde can remain Shayde (I thus grant you permission to continue to use that name).

BJ