Any ideas when Xfers open back up?

[gloinfast]

the subject says it all

[sir-rinthian]

the subject says it all

.. except for the part about what an Xfer is.

[Yula_the_Mighty]

I going to guess that you are referring to character transfers to the big three servers. If so, the earliest would be some time after F2P launches. IMHO - It is likely be a very loonnng loonnng time. Maybe never.

[Stigger32]

Xfer= Maybe crossfer? Or Xfire? .....

[Sapience]

There are currently no plans to resume character transfers to the Brandywine, Elendilmir, or Landroval servers.

[roadhouse]

There are currently no plans to resume character transfers to the Brandywine, Elendilmir, or Landroval servers.

This is pretty ridiculous when you think about it.

The only reason I can think of for permanently shutting down character transfers to a server is if that server is full. If those three servers are truly full then one shouldn't be able to create characters at all on the servers.
It's a lame excuse by Turbine to keep people from transferring characters away from the servers that they can't keep populated in the first place. Who really wants to play on a server that is dead or dying?
I know some will say that there will be this huge influx of new players when F2P goes live but it will be a long time before any of these new players are able to make it to the zones that long-term players spend their time in.
It's infuriating that I have to start completely from scratch and abandon the three lvl 65 characters that I invested a LOT of time into, just because I can't stand feeling like I am playing an MMO by myself because there are so few people on the server.

Yet another GENIUS customer service move by Turbine.

[sir-rinthian]

Yet another GENIUS customer service move by Turbine.

Whether or not it's a genius move remains to be seen.

However, they clearly thought of something you didn't.

Free to play = lots of old players who don't want to pay, can now play.



It won't just be an influx of new players - old ones will return too. Anyone who ever got a level capped character can now come back and join in most of the stuff without having to pay a subscription.

[Adlarac]

And Landroval has been hit hard with connection issues lately. GLFF has lit up a couple times due to mass disconnects.

[Maxal]

being on a populated server has it good and bad points just like being on a lightly populated server has.

Frankly I am happy they have stopped the transfers. There are folks in my kin that will come back. There are folks who will add two more character slots, I can still add a couple and the lag just getting to log in is getting crazy now.

So yes being a member of E I am happy to hear it is closed down. I am sure the folks on b and L feel the same way.

Just because you did not get your transfer request in when everyone else did does not make their customer service poor. Sorry, it means you waited too long.

[trancejeremy]

And Landroval has been hit hard with connection issues lately. GLFF has lit up a couple times due to mass disconnects.

Indeed. And server load warnings (little icon popping up saying they are reducing the visibility of the world). I honestly don't expect to be able to play on Landroval for a while after it goes F2P. Not in the prime time hours, not for the first couple weeks.

I started creating characters on other servers, leaving them at 1st level, and will see which servers are up come F2P time...

[Wisdomandlore]

This is pretty ridiculous when you think about it.

Not really. If all your players crowd into a couple of servers, it hurts the play experience on all servers. The popular servers become overcrowded and laggy. The other servers become lonely and abandoned.

[SixFootDwarf]

A light dawns; I wondered why I have been having so many disconnects, jerky play and long load times on Landroval lately. I guess I need to go wake up one of my Gladden characters and try them tonight.

[Wolfgrin]

This is pretty ridiculous when you think about it...

Yet another GENIUS customer service move by Turbine.

Current high server loads + connectivity issues + incoming large numbers of new players and returning vets = halt transfers

It's a fairly simple equation that even chimps can understand.

[Yula_the_Mighty]

It's infuriating that I have to start completely from scratch and abandon the three lvl 65 characters that I invested a LOT of time into, just because I can't stand feeling like I am playing an MMO by myself because there are so few people on the server.

Yet another GENIUS customer service move by Turbine.

This is why Turbine stopped the transfers. Instead of game played on 11 servers. It is becoming 3 servers that about to die under the load. 8 empty servers. Each transfer to a biggie makes it more likely someone else will abandon Meneldor or one of the other little ones. The transfers are all going to level capped characters resulting in a permanent move.

When F2P starts all these people come back, I am going to be very happy on Meneldor. Watching my fellow eagle Landroval struggling, flying into trees... People are likely to start quitting the game because of the performance issues.

It would suck if you could not create new characters on Landroval. I got a lot of slots still free on Meneldor. Meneldor is my home. I would be more than a little upset if I could not start a Rune Keeper. I got characters for the other 8 classes. Never felt like playing an RK. I got a slot reserved for an RK. Some of us convince friends to try this game out. Being able to start a character on the server of your friend is rather important.

We have plenty of couples in our kinship. Until many of the other pairs. My life mate does not play on line games. I know it is dream. Unlikely to ever turn real. I can always hope that some day. I can convince her to spent some of her leisure time with me on Meneldor. This would really suck for people on Landroval to finally acquire a partner that games be unable to spend time together. Or manage to convince their partner to try the game out.

[Hakon_Stormbrow]

They should offer free transfers off The Big Three... Then see if that solves the problem so that they could open them back up for incoming transfers.

[geoboy]

We are full, don't want any more.

Sincerely, Brandywine.

[Yula_the_Mighty]

They should offer free transfers off The Big Three... Then see if that solves the problem so that they could open them back up for incoming transfers.

Since all transfers manual intervention, Turbine will never offer free transfers. They are not going expend dollars for no return on the money spend. The only reason Turbine offers premium services is that they are profit center. The cost of each transfer is less than the cost of completing the transfer.

The biggest single problem with free transfers is where to get sufficient child, man and woman power to process the requests. It is very expensive to hire, train, and then dismiss staff. Plus the equipment costs for to increase the physical assets - computers, chairs, cubes ... All of which will have to deposed of when the free transfer program ends.

[AceItcher]

Since all transfers manual intervention, Turbine will never offer free transfers. They are not going expend dollars for no return on the money spend. The only reason Turbine offers premium services is that they are profit center. The cost of each transfer is less than the cost of completing the transfer.

Is a transfer more than a click and drag of a name from one screen to another? Doesn't seem to me it would take alot of effort but I have never maintained a huge server.

[Hakon_Stormbrow]

Since all transfers manual intervention, Turbine will never offer free transfers. They are not going expend dollars for no return on the money spend. The only reason Turbine offers premium services is that they are profit center. The cost of each transfer is less than the cost of completing the transfer.

The biggest single problem with free transfers is where to get sufficient child, man and woman power to process the requests. It is very expensive to hire, train, and then dismiss staff. Plus the equipment costs for to increase the physical assets - computers, chairs, cubes ... All of which will have to deposed of when the free transfer program ends.

While I know there must be some effort involved, I suspect that some servers are overpopulated, and it would help turbine to get some people off them. Therefore it might be "worth" it to turbine to do it. Or, perhaps they stopped transfers before any servers got overpopulated, so they would get no benefit at all from moving people off them.

[Laire]

being on a populated server has it good and bad points just like being on a lightly populated server has.

Frankly I am happy they have stopped the transfers. There are folks in my kin that will come back. There are folks who will add two more character slots, I can still add a couple and the lag just getting to log in is getting crazy now.

So yes being a member of E I am happy to hear it is closed down. I am sure the folks on b and L feel the same way.

Just because you did not get your transfer request in when everyone else did does not make their customer service poor. Sorry, it means you waited too long.

I am also happy they stopped the transfers. Elendilmir is pretty crowded, and while I love the Big E and am happy to welcome all new players, the other servers shouldn't be completely abandoned by old players...

Personally, I'm a little worried about how many new servers they will be opening up (as the rumor goes) and if the low-populated servers will remain as such because of them. I wonder how many players they're expecting with F2P?

[LordRingz]

It's infuriating that I have to start completely from scratch and abandon the three lvl 65 characters that I invested a LOT of time into

According to my.lotro.com, you have 2 characters, a 65 Hunter and a 65 Guardian.

[LordRingz]

Is a transfer more than a click and drag of a name from one screen to another? Doesn't seem to me it would take alot of effort but I have never maintained a huge server.

All of the game data is contained in large databases with thousands of tables, columns, rows, views, joins, stored procedures, etc. To transfer a character from one server to another probably requires some very careful export/import procedures, using joins to reference many different tables on each end. Not at all like pressing the "Supersize the Fries" button at McDonalds.

[Elrorhir]

All of the game data is contained in large databases with thousands of tables, columns, rows, views, joins, stored procedures, etc. To transfer a character from one server to another probably requires some very careful export/import procedures, using joins to reference many different tables on each end. Not at all like pressing the "Supersize the Fries" button at McDonalds.

Well, for the beta it was only 1 button to press...

[Silverangel]

And Landroval has been hit hard with connection issues lately. GLFF has lit up a couple times due to mass disconnects.

Oh, glad to hear this in a way. I thought it was just me.

To the OP and people who want to transfer--an idea: make a thread in general discussion. Vote on a new "it" world. Nominate it as the new server to transfer to. Maybe use the current #4, like Silverlode, Meneldor, or Vilya. (Server checker widget is down now?) Use this as a springboard for advertisement. Recommend it. Recommend the thread to people who ask. Who knows. Maybe in a year you are playing on a high-pop server that people transfer to since the ban on the big three. Now there is a big four.

[Yosoff]

Well, for the beta it was only 1 button to press...

Actually, you had to check a box and then click a button. I transferred 4 characters to Beta, but something went wrong with one of them and it won't load. Having 25% of transferred characters be unusable probably wouldn't go over very well on the live servers. This is one of those things that sounds easy but can become a nightmare due to the requirement for a high level of quality.