FREE Character Transfers are Coming!

[DjinnLord]

Quick question: Will the mails also transfer with y´re toon if we´ll be able to transfer in the near future

[Chinsei]

this is probably going to be my shortest post to date...i'd simply like to point out since the game is p2p technically speaking...there not really 'free' since you're paying to use their servers, and software.. and it doesn't really cost them anything after transfers are added in. also note - there kinds pointless unless everyone 'agrees' what server they want to switch to to make it more populace.

[Visceran]

To those that say NOW:

First of all, many MMOs don't implement server transfers for a looong while. WoW, CO, and CoH didn't.

 

Second, there is way more involved in this issue than in a game like WoW. There's the problem of Legacy namely. What happens when I move my human from this server to that? It's level 50, so do I start a new Legacy on any server it goes to? Do each of those legacies get the Presence boost, the Heroic Moment, and the buff? If not, how do you control that?

 

Server transfers are not as easy as copy and pasting from A to B.

[Wesgile]

To those that say NOW:

First of all, many MMOs don't implement server transfers for a looong while. WoW, CO, and CoH didn't.

 

Second, there is way more involved in this issue than in a game like WoW. There's the problem of Legacy namely. What happens when I move my human from this server to that? It's level 50, so do I start a new Legacy on any server it goes to? Do each of those legacies get the Presence boost, the Heroic Moment, and the buff? If not, how do you control that?

 

Server transfers are not as easy as copy and pasting from A to B.

character transferred.

no.

yes.

N/A.

 

it is.

[JumboFat]

would we be able to transfer only 1 character or all? I currently have 3 characters on Naddist Rebels server, would be nice if i can move them all

[rawfox]

have they mentioned the year, when they said "early summer" ?

[-Eternal-]

From the 4/27/2012 Q&A:

http://www.swtor.com/blog/community-qa-april-27th-2012

 

And again...

 

Big news for the SWTOR community, especially those on low population (and super high population) servers. I am personally very pleased that BW is making this first wave of transfers free; good costumer service move on their part.

 

No exact ETA on the date of these transfers, but I imagine that "Early summer" means sometime in June.

 

 

These transfers will fix nothing. The free transfers will be to servers that are already dead and noone wants to play on. The fact that BW is even thinking about charging people to transfer is the final straw that will break their back. BW has created this dead population of servers by inept decisions and poor management, and now we pay for it? Not out of my pocket.

[mdob]

These transfers will fix nothing. The free transfers will be to servers that are already dead and noone wants to play on. The fact that BW is even thinking about charging people to transfer is the final straw that will break their back. BW has created this dead population of servers by inept decisions and poor management, and now we pay for it? Not out of my pocket.

 

How can free transfers to a higher pop server NOT fix a problem a player has stuck on a low pop server???

 

I'm guessing you were one of the folks screaming for more servers to be opened when there were queues at launch.

 

Free transfers will be geared towards unifying the population on fewer servers (probably standard pop servers), but avoiding flooding the highest population ones.

 

If you want to transfer to The Fatman, you'll have to pay for it. (this would be to avoid upsetting those currently on The Fatman with queues)

[mdob]

would we be able to transfer only 1 character or all? I currently have 3 characters on Naddist Rebels server, would be nice if i can move them all

 

As a software developer, I would go with the assumption that it will be a single character transfer that you perform once for each.

 

That way you can resolve any naming conflicts or other character transfer conflicts one at a time.

 

Besides the current server population problems, I would have a hard time imagining the need for a multicharacter transfer solution going forward.

[Yokomohoyos]

have they mentioned the year, when they said "early summer" ?

 

Lol - what an awesome post!

 

I can't wait for the functionality to come out - I will transfer / merge all my 3 toons to a server that is not a barren wasteland - paid or free.

[Yokomohoyos]

To all you people that thik bioware and swtor is the problem. It's not. No one sems to get what the real problem is now. The problem is simple people are bored. What is the reason for this? Swtor like every other mmo now caters to casual players. If you do not have a social life and you want to stay in and play a mmo all day, I hate to tell you this you will be disappointed with every single current and future mmo. Companies have realized that the casual player is there primary customer base. Face reality here. The only cure to your problem in your complaints is to get a social life. Play your favorite im emo with your down time any won't complain anymore. Even the main new mmo that all the buzz is about GW2 is more of a casual players game. The old school games like eve and vanilla/BC wow that we are all used to and could play all day without getting bored went the way of the Dodo bird. The only reason world of warcraft still has so many players is because it's what they started with. It is all they know. From now on every new mmo will cater to the casual player. What happened with star wars what happen with every mmo. It is inevitable. Examples... Rift,GW, aion, soon to be D3, and gw2... my point here get a social life become a casual player then you will have fun in these mmos agian.

 

Good arguments with regards to MMO's catering to casual players. Those casual players also do not complain, so it would be nice (for BW or EA) to cater to them at least it would be less of a hassle than catering to clients that actually expect something in return for their subscription.

 

To your point, catering to casual players will also cause a drop in subscriptions, that is what drew me away from WoW. They would not listen, so I dropped them. If the same happens here, that the devs do not listen, I will drop them as well. So far, they have listened to some of the requests from their client base

Edited May 18, 2012 by Yokomohoyos

[MaliksKid]

would we be able to transfer only 1 character or all? I currently have 3 characters on Naddist Rebels server, would be nice if i can move them all

 

AFAIK Transfers will be per legacy not per character, although if it was per character that might explain the delay (transfering one toon from a legacy would be somewhat of a nightmare it seems to me).

 

and without finding the post, the reason it's different to the AP server transfers is that those were manual, where as BW want's to make it automatic.

 

All character transfers (especially automated ) should be free, with a cooldown of say 1 week. You shouldn't have to pay again to make the game playable, especially if it's costing BW nothing in manpower to do it.

[mdob]

AFAIK Transfers will be per legacy not per character, although if it was per character that might explain the delay (transfering one toon from a legacy would be somewhat of a nightmare it seems to me).

 

and without finding the post, the reason it's different to the AP server transfers is that those were manual, where as BW want's to make it automatic.

 

All character transfers (especially automated ) should be free, with a cooldown of say 1 week. You shouldn't have to pay again to make the game playable, especially if it's costing BW nothing in manpower to do it.

 

There's no way it will be transfer per legacy. That may work for this server pop issue, but it would have very limited use going forward. If BW has any clue, and I'm confident they do, it will be transfer per character which will be usable for transfers for any and all reasons going forward.

[AGSThomas]

So we have heard many times that Bioware "cares" about the player base and they are "working" on a solution for free character transfers in "early summer". I think we have all seen the dev post.

Now call me a pessimist, but I have this sneaking suspicion that somehow Bioware is going to fail at this one too. I've seen a lot of posts of people assuming what transfers are going to be like. If you look at the quotes, they are unsurprisingly vague. Who will be getting free transers? Everyone? the most "motivated ones"? What does that even mean? They are planning something and I dont think its what everyone is going to be expecting. Another PR fallout I am sensing. No, but really, given all the fail that Bioware has been delivering, You cant be (albeit, you will be) surprised when free transfers are not offered to you at first.

 

Questions not clearly answered that could make a huge difference for people languishing on one of the many dead servers..

 

Who qualifys to transfer their character in the "first round"?

When will this "first round" roll out? "early summer" June 20th is the first day, so realistically not that exact date.

If we are not in the "first round" how long do we have to wait for the second round?

Who qualifys to transfer their character in this second round?

If we are not in the second round how long do we have to wait for the third round?

Will the transfers be only available to players going FROM high pop servers TO Low pop servers? or vice versa?

What happens to the less "motivated" people on low pop servers after their server is completely dead.

 

WHAT DOES BIOWARE MEAN BY MOTIVATED!!!??

 

God, this incomplete game is pissing me off! BE CLEAR about how you are going to tackle your LARGEST problem!!

[Urael]

Questions not clearly answered that could make a huge difference for people languishing on one of the many dead servers:

 

1) Who qualifys to transfer their character in the "first round"?

2) When will this "first round" roll out? "early summer" June 20th is the first day, so realistically not that exact date.

3) If we are not in the "first round" how long do we have to wait for the second round?

4) Who qualifys to transfer their character in this second round?

5) If we are not in the second round how long do we have to wait for the third round?

6) Will the transfers be only available to players going FROM high pop servers TO Low pop servers? or vice versa?

7) What happens to the less "motivated" people on low pop servers after their server is completely dead.

8) WHAT DOES BIOWARE MEAN BY MOTIVATED!!!??

 

Perhaps post these questions in Official Q&A Thread for May 25th, 2012 Q&A Blog Post ?

[ChaosKirin]

Now call me a pessimist,

 

You're a pessimist.

 

This is what it sounds like what they are going to do to me.

 

Let's say you have a server called 'Apple' with a population on the low-standard end.

 

And then you have Orange, Banana, Pear, Grapefruit, and Pineapple with almost non-existent populations.

 

If BW is smart, they will offer free transfers from Orange, Banana, Pear, Grapefruit and Pineapple ALL to one server: Apple. That way, the population on Apple becomes High-Standard and everyone's happy.

[Kthx]

Let me take a wild guess: You have your main(s) in a well populated server?

 

It is decent. Per torstatus.net my server now averages 85% Light. But I choose to have a positive attitude, am patient, and don't feel a need for special treatment. I also very carefully picked a guild of likeminded players and we're still having a good time, which I agree does shield me from the population problem. Ran two groups last night.

 

In summary, I stand by my assessment of the community.

Edited May 18, 2012 by Kthx

[Kourage]

All servers should be as populated as The Fatman.

[BLITZDace]

Got 30 days left on my sub and cancelled it. I would like clarification on the "early summer" line. The only reason I've cancelled is because my server, Hidden Beks, is following the EU/US decline rates. It's the most pressing problem for the game from my stand point. I know BW is feeling the pressure from this, and I can't think of any other way to put to them except to post here, and cite the decreasing population as the *sole* reason I cancelled my sub and that I will resub if they get ontop of it in time before the game tanks.

[ChaosKirin]

Got 30 days left on my sub and cancelled it.

 

They didn't lay down. They NEVER lay down.

[Urael]

They didn't lay down. They NEVER lay down.

 

LOL! Firefly (Serenity) quote!

 

But, I don't equate BW PR team with the Reavers.

[Voidillusion]

It is decent. Per torstatus.net my server now averages 85% Light. But I choose to have a positive attitude, am patient, and don't feel a need for special treatment. I also very carefully picked a guild of likeminded players and we're still having a good time, which I agree does shield me from the population problem. Ran two groups last night.

 

In summary, I stand by my assessment of the community.

 

Would you be as patient if no guild was to be found and you couldnt do those groups often?

 

Dont think so

[JumboFat]

Would you be as patient if no guild was to be found and you couldnt do those groups often?

 

Dont think so

 

agree

[ProfessorWalsh]

But srsly i want free time until server transfers are out. Today Logged on and if all the 50's grouped up we would still need one more person to form an ops group. thats assuming six dps and one tank is an optimal raid comp

 

I agree with this.

 

I have been in a PVP queue today for a total of 2 hours. I have gotten one Warzone pop. That one Warzone only had 6 Republic players vs two full Imperial premades from the guilds Dominion and Broken Chains. Needless to say we got stomped. Then there was no more pops after that.

 

I wouldn't mind free playtime because the main thing I do is PVP and I can't do that right now I am paying for something I can't do and that is a problem.

[Yokomohoyos]

My two cents.....

 

I have all ready unsubscribed, and it came a lot faster than I expected because the population on my server went from low but action, to not enough lvl 50's in game to run an op, at any given time of the day. I will not wait until early summer to play a game with people

 

M=Massive (small content at 50 with an even smaller population)

M=Multiplayer (not on my server, Black Hole Sun wont ypou come)

O=Online (I have soloed for two weeks now, I can do that without internet on 100's of games)

 

I do not understand why they would let people quit the game because they have such low populations that you cannot get any type of multiplayer game going. I am not exaggerating, it is that bad every time I log on.

 

I am on a similar boat. I already unsubscribed and have some time before the remaining subscription already paid for expires. If these options for transfers are not addressed by the time my paid time ends, then that will be the last that I will play the game. As you state, MMOs are meant to be played with the confines of possibilities that you describe. The fact that the priorities in which basic functionality, which some games had from the very launch (such as Server Transfers), is tackled to be addressed after some other issues are taken care of tells me a lot about the mindset of BW and EA. Gotta make money and there is a finite number of resources at their disposal in order to support the platform - those are the decisions that distinguish the great from the average - knowing where to compromise.