FREE Character Transfers are Coming!

This is the only thing about 12 poeple (myself included) talk about on Trayus Academy.

Honestly, thats how active a server we have, there is no incentive at all to stay there but i'm not abandoning my only 50 which I put so much time and effort into.

We as a collective need it now!

Arymono: When will character transfers be available for everybody?

Dallas Dickinson (Senior Producer, Live Services): We will be rolling out our Character Transfer Service in early summer. First we’ll have some targeted free transfers from/to specific servers, but that will be followed with a broader system where you can either take advantage of free promotional transfers to specific servers or paid transfers to the server of your choice. We know everyone has more questions about character transfer, and we’ll reveal more details closer to the launch date.

I'm on a reasonably populated EU server, so I doubt I'll be making use of the transfer scheme. But I know server population will have a huge effect on players willingness to play long term - and that matters a lot to me. I want the game to succeed and anything that gets in the way is something I'm going to take an interest in.

I should be happy transfers are coming. But honestly I'm not.

Reading the quote...


Okay. So taking it apart.

• We can expect Server tranfers towards the end of May, early June. (*cough* provisionally)
• They opening FREE transfers FROM servers they choose TO servers they choose. On a limited basis.
• Not on the list? Don't like Bioware's choice of where you can move to? Tough! Get your wallet out!

And it's those two final points that really take the shine off this revelation.

Right or wrong, Bioware is directly responsible for server populations.

They made a choice during the pre-launch and launch of how distribute people across servers. At the time, they deliberately lowered server population caps to ensure servers didn't get overwhelmed. Then raised them slowly over time to reduce the artificial queues the lower caps generated. It had the desired effect and people chose other servers and in so doing, spread the community out across a great number of servers. I'm reasonably sure they also had in mind what happens when a lot of people play their initial 30 days and then stopped player. Overall, I think they made some poor decisions that were the best decisions apparent at the time without hindsight. They announced recently that it has become clear now that server populations could double and still be okay.

Whilst people made the choices, Bioware's policies and approach gave them no other choice. So in effect, Bioware generated the problem, however indirectly, and think charging people to sort it out is just great.

But... but... "FREE!!!".

LIMITED free. Whilst there's still no details exactly, we can probably expect single server to single server transfers recommendations, or maybe two or three servers to single server. What we won't get it customer choice. Some friends of mine intended to play on our server, but when the queues in the initial days were so high, they did what lots of people did and picked another server. They currently regret that choice and are rerolling low level characters on our server ahead of a character transfer announcement. The chances that Bioware's choice of transfers are going to include their server to our server? Not impossible, but unlikely. So it appears they'll have to pay to be on the server of their choice.

Profiting from a mistake (however well intentioned) is just cynical.

Personally I would like server transfers to be gated by time OR money. Prepared to wait? Sure you can have a free transfer to anywhere. Not prepared to wait? Get your wallet out.

I'd still prefer to see a series of whole server mergers to grossly sort things out, followed by a limited period of free any server to any server transfers for those players with specific needs. If you absolutely must bring in paid server transfer - let it be after the mistakes of the past are corrected to player satisfaction.

"Early Summer?" Sorry, too little too late.

Lol character transfers after 6 months of the most expensive mmo made to date.

Roflmao, yup the game is fine, subs are fine we are doing very well.

I told you so to all those hardened BW supporters, keep fighting the good fight!