Three month cooldown on US and EU character transfers (and free transfers in EU)
by Mike Schramm 
Sep 6th 2007 at 5:02PM
Thundgot, one of the EU CMs, has confirmed that the character transfer cooldown has been reduced for the EU realms (and raised for the US Realms, as here it was previously one month, and three months, and six months before that). Currently, the cooldown for both EU and US transfers is three months. That means that any character you transfer has to stay put for at least three months before it can be moved again, which most players (and Blizzard, obviously) seem to agree is a good period of time.And on the heels of that news, Thundgot has also posted that free character transfers are available on select EU realms, as listed below:
From: Frostmane, Grim Batol, Kazzak, Outland
To: Boulderfist, Burning Blade, Daggerspine
From: Stonemaul, Warsong
To: Shadowmoon
First free character transfers in a while (the last I can find were these Oceanic transfers). Since BC was released, it seems like Blizzard has a pretty good hold on population control (or maybe it's just that the populations aren't changing that much anymore). I remember when free transfers used to come almost every week on US servers, but nowadays they are few and far between.
[ via MMO Champion ]
Filed under: Realm News, Analysis / Opinion, Blizzard
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Matthew Sep 6th 2007 5:26PM
I think they should offer some free transfers to Zangarmarsh. It Came From The Blog notwithstanding, that server is basically dead compared to the others I play on (Ner'zhul, Gorgonnash). Nothing can really compare to playing on Coilfang as an Alliance member, but still. Some of these servers still have terrible population problems...in that there isn't enough population to make the game really fun. I would hate to start playing WoW now, join a "recommended" realm, and find it impossible to get an instance group until you hit Outland.
FantomRedux Sep 6th 2007 5:37PM
About the free transfers, EU servers have them almost every week, or they have done since I started playing about 2 months ago. I personally havent used them, mainly because I've had no characters on the realms they were allowing you to move from, but it seems to me they've been less than fair on you guys in the US. Unlucky guys
Fischsticks Sep 6th 2007 5:45PM
If i do a transfer of a character to a different account can i also switch servers too? or would I have to be for the account and server change?
TotalBiscuit Sep 6th 2007 5:54PM
Well ya can count me among those who do not believe this is a good period of time. As you can probably see, that's my thread, and as a result of character transfers being 3 months, I've ended up canceling my account. Were it 1 or even 2 months, I wouldn't have had to, but that's the circumstances right now.
Blizzard needs to realize that a lot can happen in 3 months and just because many players do not run into problems in those 3 months, doesn't mean there aren't some of us who get shafted as a result when the unexpected happens. Now if those transfers were free, maybe I could understand, but those of us playing on UK accounts have to pay $30 to move servers. That's a lot of money for a simple data-transfer, and I'd like to think if we're paying that much we might at least get some laxer restrictions.
TB.
Matthew Sep 6th 2007 6:17PM
#4, it's 25 bucks for the US realms. If you really had a problem on a server, why not roll an alt on another server? Even though I regret transferring to Zangarmarsh since it's so empty, I've been busy with my chars on Ner'zhul over the past couple months, so it hasn't been too big of a deal.
I am looking forward to Sept. 16th, though, when I can transfer back off to a more populated realm.
The three-month cooldown isn't intended to hamper you from running away from "problems" (care to explain?) but it does help prevent people from running around harrassing players, ninjaing items, stealing from their guilds, etc, and then transferring away the next week to begin again.
TotalBiscuit Sep 6th 2007 6:47PM
@5 There's a long post about my 'problems' on the EU forums if you care to read it. To cut a long story short, as an experienced raider, and a firm believer in playing your character through from launch and not rolling alts, I had the chance to join a Black Temple guild on another server. They indeed, asked me to join, rather than the other way around.
My hopes were dashed, sadly, due to the restrictions on transfers. By the time my cooldown is up, life circumstances will make joining this guild an exercise in futility, the reasons for which are explained in said post (it's a big thread on the EU forums entitled 'Generic quitting thread').
The reason I will not reroll is that I did not put 2.5 years of time into this single character that I've come to be rather fond of over the years, simply to throw it away over an unnecessary restriction on a paid service. I have no objections to their being a cooldown, I just think 3 months is over the top. Ninja-looters etc (and who still believes the old urban master-loot is bugged and will eat your epix myth anymore anyway? Use ML, that's what it's there for, then you won't have any ninjaing) should not ruin it for the legitimate majority who may run into problems on their servers and require a transfer in order to continue to play the way they wish.
TB.
Zghuk Sep 6th 2007 8:55PM
I am wondering about this news. Recently I transfered my first WoW char (human priest) to EU-Frostwolf. The Cool Down was 3 month.
As I know it was 3 month a long time ago... at least for the German realms!
Ben Allen Sep 7th 2007 1:24AM
this is tangentally related, and i apologize for asking, but how long does it take for a character transfer to go through? i just put in an order to do one, but can't seem to find on the FAQ how long it should take. can anyone clear up my confusion? thanks WOW Insider readers!
-Ben
PyroAmos Sep 7th 2007 7:27AM
so many US realms are screwed up, they need to do some merging. 90% of the low pop servers are horrid for finding a raiding guild... a guild in general for that matter, or on some servers even a party. Plus they usually have a large horde/allie or allie/horde ratio. with the population down over a million players since the BC release, over 10% of the population, alot of servers are looking really dry.
TotalBiscuit Sep 7th 2007 11:55AM
@8 - Usually only an hour. I've transferred twice and that's how long it took each time.
TB.