Posts with tag transfer

---

For European players on select realms, you have a limited time -- until January 14th -- to hop to a new realm for free. Here's the list of transfers currently on offer:

Takralus

PvE Realms
Draenor -> Magtheridon, Wildhammer, Kilrogg
Silvermoon -> Magtheridon, Wildhammer, Kilrogg

PvP Realms
Kazzak -> The Maelstrom, Grim Batol, Tarren Mill*, Ravencrest*
Outland -> The Maelstrom, Grim Batol, Tarren Mill*, Ravencrest*
Ragnaros -> The Maelstrom, Grim Batol, Tarren Mill* Ravencrest*
Stormscale -> The Maelstrom, Grim Batol, Tarren Mill* Ravencrest*
Sylvanas -> The Maelstrom, Grim Batol, Tarren Mill* Ravencrest*
Twisting Nether -> The Maelstrom, Grim Batol, Tarren Mill* Ravencrest*, Frostmane*

*FCMs to Tarren Mill, Ravencrest, and Frostmane are unlikely to be available after 14 January, 2014.

source

These transfers are available to both factions and could be cut off at any time -- even before January 14, if Blizzard hits the realm population numbers they're targeting -- so if you're interested in transferring, act fast. These migrations follow the standard character transfer rules, so read up before you make plans to move.

---

It's that time of year again -- the time when certain realms are filled to the brim, making them nigh unplayable. The release of Cataclysm has hit specific U.S. realms hard, and Blizzard is offering to help balance out population issues. To make life easier on these servers, Blizzard is offering free realm transfers to lower-population servers.

The high-populations realms are:

• Barthilas (Oceanic-PvP)
• Blackrock (US-PvP)
• Frostmourne (Oceanic-PvP)
• Illidan (US-PvP)
• Kel'Thuzad (US-PvP)
• Kil'jaeden (US-PvP)
• Tichondrius (US-PvP)

The destination realms are as follows:

• Altar of Storms (US-PvP)
• Arathor (US-PvE)
• Fenris (US-PvE)
• Garrosh (US-PvE)
• Grizzly Hills (US-PvE)
• Gul'dan (US-PvP)
• Gundrak (Oceanic-PvP)
• Nazjatar (US-PvP)
• Shattered Halls (US-PvP)
• The Forgotten Coast (US-PvP)

Blizzard has stated that while these transfers are still free, they are subject to end once the destination realms fill up. So if you or your guild are planning a move, you should start now to avoid any complications. Most questions on free realm transfers should be on this handy FAQ. As always, a realm transfer to any of the ones not listed still requires a paid character transfer.

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Sport for arena enthusiasts and The Art of War(craft) for fans of battlegrounds and world PvP. Want to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women? C. Christian Moore, multiple rank 1 gladiator, examines the latest arena strategy, trends, compositions and more.

Listening Music: David Bazan's "In Stitches." If you like slow, trippy indie and haven't heard of David Bazan (or Pedro the Lion), you should YouTube him. These KEXP recordings have come through surprisingly clear.

In my four years playing WoW, I've transferred servers for PvP around 15 times. For some, that might seem like a small amount but for the majority of you, it's probably a really often (and costly)!

Now, please take into account that I play multiple characters and I've happily stayed on some servers for many seasons. Other times, I've only been on a server for a few days -- finding out that your new PvP teammates aren't everything you expected them to be is pretty rough. Fifty bucks down the drain is worse.

So I've decided to write this article on giant red flags that might appear in the transfer process. The warning signs are obvious -- but sometimes only after you've already made your decision and thrown down your hard-earned cash. No one is immune to some crafty deception; even the best of us can bite that golden hook of a tempting offer or a myriad of other reasons for transferring.

Every week, WoW Insider brings you Blood Sport for arena enthusiasts and The Art of War(craft) for fans of battlegrounds and world PvP. Want to crush your enemies, see them driven before you and hear the lamentation of their women? C. Christian Moore, multiple rank 1 gladiator, examines the latest arena strategy, trends, compositions and more.

Listening Music: Kay Pettigrew's beautiful cover of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. It's two years old, but still awesome nonetheless.

Recently, players have started asking me, "Where should I transfer before Cataclysm hits?"

There are so many variables involved in that question, it's hard to know where to start. After all, it's difficult to say a single realm name when I know very little about the inquiring individual. Most people like different things in different realms.

I assume the people asking me where to transfer to are probably inquiring about PvP. After I give a few tried-and-true strategies, I usually get asked about arena teams and battleground imbalances. To tell you the truth, I'm not exceptionally knowledgeable about whether Horde wins more Alterac Valleys on Emberstorm/Whirlwind than Alliance. Unless you play on that battlegroup, you probably don't know much about that, either.

Whenever I choose a new realm for one of my PvP alts, I systematically go through a series of checklists. This article is that checklist. If you're wondering about where to transfer for Cataclysm because you have battlegrounds or arena in mind, this article is for you.

New around here? WoW Rookie has your back! Get all our collected tips, tricks and tactics for new players in the WoW Rookie Guide.

Back in the day, I never would have believed that players would be so willing to up and transfer realms. It's not just the $25-per-character fee -- it's the loss of your alts and all their skills, as well as your friends and social circles. Yet here we are, with players hopping from one realm to the next at the drop of a hat. This apparent willingness to pay to move from realm to realm in search of an optimal play experience has forever altered the solidarity of the realm community experience. Today's players are much more likely to view a fresh start on another realm as merely one more way to chase down the precise playstyle they're after.

In the face of such a massive list of available realms, how on earth can you start whittling down the choices?

1. Read our basic article explaining the different types of realms.
2. Join us after the break for more specific tips for realm-hopping players.

As I write this, I am dreading the week to come. After many months of going back and forth on the matter, I have decided to leave my guild for greener pastures. I'm reluctant to leave, though, since I do like my current guild; the people are nice, the raids are fun and we have a raiding philosophy of "work with what you've got" that I have always enjoyed. Still, for everything that I love, there are shortcomings and I am willing to risk losing what I have to see if my perfect guild exists somewhere out there.

So off I go to a new guild and server where I know no one. I'm scared -- scared I won't be good enough, scared they won't like me even if I am and scared I might be making a huge mistake in leaving my friends. You just have to swallow those kinds of thoughts, though. As a raider, I'm no stranger to moving around, and I've come up with many ways to deal with it.

One thing I do to cope is heading up to the spot you see in the picture before I transfer. This is my favorite hiding spot in the game, only accessible by players meticulous enough to complete the Higher Learning achievement. Up here, I will sit and eat some cake, then after I've had my fill, set out my little green rag doll on the bed and /sleep. The reason for this is so that when I log back in after my transfer has gone through, I know exactly where I'll be and I can pretend I'm waking up from a dream (or nightmare) to a new, promising day. I'm not sure why I do this; maybe the familiarity? It's really all quite silly, but I've been doing it for well over a year now and it seems natural.

Do you have any strange habits or rituals you do in game?

Eyonix has just announced that lockout time for paid character transfers has been reduced to 3 days from its previous 30. This means that you can now transfer your character to a new realm using the paid transfer service once every three days instead of once every thirty.

This is especially useful for raiders and PvPers who move to a new realm to join a guild, and then find out that the guild doesn't work for them. There are also tens of thousands of horror stories about people moving between servers only to find that their new guilds disbands a few days later. This will be a significant boon to people who find themselves in that situation.

The cost of the paid character transfers remain at $25 for a one way ticket.

World of Warcraft has, as you have probably heard, been offline in China for a while now. Even though The9 originally said they'd transfer over their servers to NetEase, they later decided to fight it out, leaving WoW offline for a matter of weeks. And it isn't quite up yet, but they're getting there -- this (very roughly) translated article says that Battle.net servers are now up and running, so Chinese players can now at least sign in to Battle.net, if not into the game itself. We already went through the same thing here in the US and the EU, so Azeroth should be back online in China any day now.

Meanwhile, the poor folks at The9 have not been doing so well -- they were on top of the world last year, but when World of Warcraft up and flew the griffon out of there, they lost the majority of their business. A new AP article has them revising their expected earnings down by an "estimated 55 to 75 percent." Ouch.

Let that be a lesson, NetEase. Keep your instances running and your downtime low, because if Blizzard pulls the plug on a game you're running, they'll be taking a ton of money with them.

Free character migrations were opened yesterday to the Latin American PvP realm Drakkari. The transfers will go until May 15 at 1:00 PM PDT (aproximadamente). Players on any of the following realms are eligible to transfer:

Agamaggan, Alexstrasza, Alleria, Andorhal, Anetheron, Archimonde, Azshara, Baelgun, Balnazzar, Blackhand, Dalaran, Dalvengyr, Dark Iron, Dentarg, Destromath, Dethecus, Detheroc, Duskwood, Emerald Dream, Executus, Garona, Gorgonnash, Greymane, Gul'dan, Haomarush, Hellscream, Illidan, Kael'thas, Kalecgos, Khadgar, Kirin Tor, Lightninghoof, Maelstrom, Malfurion, Moonrunner, Nazjatar, Norgannon, Ravencrest, Sargeras, Scilla, Spinebreaker, Staghelm, Steamwheedle Cartel, Stormreaver, Thrall, Turalyon, Twisting Nether, Ursin, Whisperwind, Wildhammer, Ysera, Ysondre, Zuluhed

As Bornakk notes, "keep in mind that this is a Latin American realm and people may speak a language other than your own" - which is to say, expect to see a lot of Spanish.

In honor of patch day, Blizzard have opened up some free character transfers on many US realms. These are open now and scheduled to run until Tuesday, April 21 at noon PDT.

• PvP:
  • From: Blackrock, Tichondrius, Emerald Dream, Lethon, Warsong
  • To: Ursin, Ysondre, Nazjatar, Gul'dan
• PvE:
  • From: Aggramar, Borean Tundra, Aerie Peak, Azuremyst, Proudmoore, Bronzebeard, Anvilmar, Alexstrasza, Blade's Edge, Silvermoon, Dragonblight, Bladefist, Antonidas, Arygos, Cairne
  • To: Nesingwary, Garrosh, Winterhoof
• RP:
  • From: Feathermoon, Cenarion Circle, Earthen Ring, Argent Dawn, Moon Guard
  • To: Wyrmrest Accord

I worry about their servers slightly, between patch traffic and these character moves, but we'll see if they can take it. This is more server transfers than we usually see at one time. I'm intrigued to see Arygos on there, since it really doesn't feel like a high-population realm to me, at least not on the Horde side. So who's moving?

There are a handful of free EU character transfers to report on today, all focused on the faction differences on the realm Magtheridon.

Now Magtheridon was always a pain in the butt in the days before his colossal nerf. It was a big challenge when BC was released to coordinate a couple groups of five people to click on cubes all at one time. I'd always say on vent very calmly: "Three, two... one... click-click-click. Good work. Break." Or "Three, two... one... click-click-click. Terrible. Wipe it."

Does that obnoxious and repetitious pattern which still haunts me in my dreams have anything to do with the character migrations? Probably not.

The full list of realms after the break.

In their continuing efforts to bring some faction balance to Magtheridon (EU), Blizzard has refreshed free character transfers off of the server for Horde, and onto the server for Alliance. These transfers are scheduled to run from today until Feburary 10:

• Magtheridon -> Haomarush, Tarren Mill, Trollbane, Zenedar, Silvermoon (Horde only)
• Aerie Peak, Aggramar, Alonsus, Arathor, Azjol-Nerub, Bronze Dragonflight, Bronzebeard, Eonar, Hellscream, Khadgar, Lightbringer, Kilrogg, Kul Tiras, Silvermoon, Terenas, Turalyon -> Magtheridon (Alliance only)

In addition, the following transfers are now open for European players of either faction:

• Al'Akir, Stormscale -> Vek'nilash, Xavius
• Burning Legion, Grim Batol -> Boulderfist, Trollbane
• Crushridge, Sylvanas -> Chromaggus, Haomarush
• Kazzak, Ravencrest -> Laughing Skull, Sunstrider
• Outland, Twilight's Hammer -> Daggerspine, Lightning's Blade
• Ragnaros, Shattered Hand -> Kor'gall, Shattered Halls
• Argent Dawn -> Steamwheedle Cartel, The Sha'tar

These also are scheduled to run until the 10th of this month, and like all other transfers may close early if the desired population levels are reached.

Magtheridon players, have you noticed an improvement in the faction balance since they started pumping Alliance in and Horde out? WarcraftRealms is now showing a 1:16 population ratio overall on that server, which is much better than the 1:67 ratio it was showing when the transfers started (but still pretty bad).

Our good buddy Zarhym (is he our good buddy? I have no idea...) posted a list of free character transfers for several high population PvP realms.

These moves are currently open and will go until Tuesday, February 10th at 8:00 p.m. PST or until they've reached their internal quota, whichever comes first. You can initate the character transfers by going to your account management page on worldofwarcraft.com.

Please be sure to move early if you want to. With the high latency and login queues on the realms we've seen many of these free transfer offers shut down early lately. Take advantage of this soon and be sure to bring over all your characters.

The full list of servers is after the break.