New Transfer Features

[Saintjoan]

Thank you for this great news Vyvyanne. Thank you for keeping us in the loop, with the coming changes.

[Mar-Evayave]

Thank-you, Vyv! I am so excited and can't wait for the xfers to begin!

This is all looking great, so far. I have a few "what transfers" concerns, which I'll address in a moment. I'm a little disappointed (not for myself, but for others in this situation) about the EU/US incompatibilities, but I understand them.

I am also concerned about naming. I'm fine with -1 or a rename token, but if it's possible to use the same name as someone else on a server, I'm concerned about how this can be done while avoiding confusion and the potential for harassment. I was playing STO recently and heard about someone who decided to harass another player by making a near-identical name and then misbehaving to make others think the real player was bad. How can we be assured that our friends on a given server won't get the wrong impression of us if a griefer decided to try something like that? And, as someone else asked, what does "priority to the active characters" mean? If someone who hasn't played in years suddenly comes back, does this mean I might get booted off the server, or that that person won't be able to log in?

About the "what transfers" concerns, all things that currently transfer (like our personal vault storage) will still transfer, correct? And about the currencies, what items of the wallet already transfer? We'll still get our gold (and festival currencies, and unused taxidermy items, and landscape barter tokens, etc), right?

Lastly, there are a lot of account currencies beyond just Mithril Coins, Destiny Points and and skirmish currencies (Seals, Medallions, Marks). What about them? They include stuff like: Stars of Merit, Orthanc Sigil-fragments, Shards, Universal Ingredient Packs and Commendations.

[Macdui]

Actually you should say 'what some folks hoped' as many people would prefer to see the manpower and money resources go to solving other issues. Just to clarify that this is not a universal 'want'

Lothhil, BW

I'm one of them. But several teams working on the changes and up until the end of the year seems like a lot of expense and still falling short. A good many will reduce their pings by 80/90, another smaller group will have them increased.

But I think we'd all prefer resources were put into the game, completing/polishing existing content and some new stuff (raids anyone).

[Boskone08]

First, thank you very much, Vyvyanne, for this informative post and it's strong indications of progress on many fronts, and Turbine considerations in others. The note that this is part of a series that will provide further information as it becomes established enough to share is another plus. While it may reduce the amount of information in a single lump, I would request that this be a weekly series, even if some of them only include "We are still working on and . We have made good progress on , but there are still some issues. On , we have had to reconsider our approach, and the outcome is still not well defined and work is ongoing."

Second, a late Friday release (followed closely by an escape) might be the best time to release these updates. Just like any scientific advance, these posts will answer a number of our questions, but will generate 3 times the number of new, more detailed and specific questions than they answered - and 3x may be low... I'd strongly encourage some sort of rough schedule that seemed reasonable to you and your expectations of progress, as a pattern of information flow, even if it has it's good weeks and not-so-good weeks, is still a pattern that re-assures people that Things Are Happening.

Third, scheduled or not, being as informative as you can will be greatly appreciated. Even those of us who have managed a large project get nervous when we don't hear anything (that was always a sign to me that my vendors' deliveries were slipping). Just saying "We are working..." is a help.

[Pfeifenkraut]

Some people, very attached to their names, have played on several servers and used the same names on each server. So if we end up transferring due to closures, and decide to consolidate those characters on the same server, the name conflict will be purely with ourselves. For this situation, will we be able to chose which of our characters with the same name gets to keep that name, or will it automaticly be the character already on the destination server? And if that is the case, and we purchase a character rename for the one on the destination server, how long do we have to wait for the database to label that name as 'free' so that the incoming character gets to keep the name and isn't forced to rename as well?

[Tuco]

In regards to names, I think would help is any account that has characters level 1 should be deleted so those names are free for use. I have come across tons of names who are at level 1.

If this were a voting matter (which it's not), I'd say "Umm, no." I have several level 1 characters that are maxed guilded craftsmen. They simply aren't warriors, and they each have [Stone of the Tortoise] to prove it. Simply being level 1 should not be a bar. They probably have more /played time than some of the power-levelers.

/played time ought to enter into the equation. Maybe also store-bought items, like Steed of the Whatever and Stone of the Tortoise and Universal Toolkit. I'd be quite annoyed if one of my lowbie maxed crafters with hundreds of TP in personal gear got deleted. Even if you want to be Tuco on my server.

[Vyvyanne]

Thank you for the update, Vyvyanne. It looks very promising. Good information, and it raised a couple of questions for me.
Two questions on this:

1. If we're moving some characters to different servers (e.g. one to an RP kinship on Laurelin and another to a music kinship on Landroval), can we take some of the currency and marks and shards and wardrobe (for example) to each, or will it be everything from one server to another server?

2. What happens if the receiving bin is full -- do we need to have enough empty shared storage and wardrobe and housing storage to accept everything from the old server, or will there be some kind of overflow system to allow later pruning on the new server?

1. For splitting your characters between destination worlds, you will need to choose which one gets all the account items. We can only send the account data to one world.

2. There will be an overflow if destination inventory is full

Housing questions: More details on the changes to that system as we get closer to finalizing design on it, same for Name conflicts.

Can I choose the world my character goes to? Yes. You will be able to choose which world each of your characters goes to individually or select all the characters on one world and send them all to the other world of your choosing at once.

[Olgomil]

Can I choose the world my character goes to? Yes. You will be able to choose which world each of your characters goes to individually or select all the characters on one world and send them all to the other world of your choosing at once.

The rule about the maximun number of characters per server still apply? If ive right now 21 characters in 1 server, i can transfer all the characters to another server where already have some characters?

Thanks in advance!

Sergio :-)

[Vyvyanne]

Yeah, I noticed that with copies too - I just hope that its the same for transfers, and this is something that definitely needs to be clarified

All items that currently transfer with Characters will still transfer, including character bound items and storage.

[Systemyc]

Is this gonna be free, or still 35$ per character ?

[istvana]

>I'd be quite annoyed if one of my lowbie maxed crafters with hundreds of TP in personal gear got deleted. Even if you want to be Tuco on my server.<

I believe the level one crafters are quite safe. There has been no discussion of deleting characters just of freeing up names.

If they do adopt a system of releasing names held by characters below a certain level you can, of course, level the crafters once the naming policies come out. Though I assume they have been totally inactive (or close to it) for a long time or just crafting would have rapidly levelled them up.

[peachykins]

If this were a voting matter (which it's not), I'd say "Umm, no." I have several level 1 characters that are maxed guilded craftsmen. They simply aren't warriors, and they each have [Stone of the Tortoise] to prove it. Simply being level 1 should not be a bar. They probably have more /played time than some of the power-levelers.

/played time ought to enter into the equation. Maybe also store-bought items, like Steed of the Whatever and Stone of the Tortoise and Universal Toolkit. I'd be quite annoyed if one of my lowbie maxed crafters with hundreds of TP in personal gear got deleted. Even if you want to be Tuco on my server.

I should have clarified better I guess. I am talking about level 1 characters who have never logged into the game.

[dselden]

Thank you for all the information - its very much appreciated. However, there was something in this most recent post that didn't sit right with me - how does this first quote...



...mean the same thing as this one?



The list of things that you have said will transfer with us does cover most concerns, but it fails to address my biggest issue: that of the items in your wallet.

Now, most long time players, based on conversations with people in my kin and on the server, if they have been playing the game for a substantial amount of time, will have bought the premium wallet. In the premium wallet there are two kinds of things: account bound items, and character bound items.

Reading what you said in the second quote, you say that everything that our CHARACTER as well as our ACCOUNT will move with us. However, while account shared currency is mentioned on your list (and hopefully this extends to things like Stars of Merit, as well as Marks etc.), CHARACTER currency is not.

These character currency items include a lot of things - festival tokens, taxidermy items, regional tokens (the ones that you get from Dol Amroth quests are the most essential of these, but all of them have value, particularly if you're grinding in lower level regions for particular rewards (like the Enedwaith Gold and Silver Tokens of the Wilds).

What makes this situation worse is that those people that DIDN'T spend on the premium wallet will be able to keep their items, as they'll be in their inventory (or their vault) when they transfer. However, those of us that were fool enough to buy the premium wallet (and lets face it, up until now its been an essential purchase) will lose all the items that we have stored there.

I have never transferred a character, and don't know if it has always been the case that the CHARACTER bound items transfer with you, but as its not been stated that they do, I'm assuming that so far, they do not. Therefore, I'm asking you to please reassure us all that the aim is to ensure that CHARACTER bound items that are in the premium wallet, as well as ACCOUNT bound ones, will not be lost in the transfer.

Thanks for the excellent communication, and I hope to see it continue.

All items bound to a character in the barter wallet already transfer.

[peachykins]

Is this gonna be free, or still 35$ per character ?

Last I check, transfers were 25.

[Tuco]

>I'd be quite annoyed if one of my lowbie maxed crafters with hundreds of TP in personal gear got deleted. Even if you want to be Tuco on my server.<

I believe the level one crafters are quite safe. There has been no discussion of deleting characters just of freeing up names.

If they do adopt a system of releasing names held by characters below a certain level you can, of course, level the crafters once the naming policies come out. Though I assume they have been totally inactive (or close to it) for a long time or just crafting would have rapidly levelled them up.

No - the [Stone of the Tortoise] disables XP from crafting as well as from combat and questing. I slapped the [Stone] on these guys in the intro.

[Tirian-Hammerfist]

All items that currently transfer with Characters will still transfer, including character bound items and storage.

Excellent, thanks a lot - I didn't know that character items already transferred, having not transferred in the past, but its great to hear this confirmed - thank you

[Mar-Evayave]

Is this gonna be free, or still 35$ per character ?

It was $25 and yes it will be free at least at first. They have not said whether they will begin charging for transfers again after the server closures later this year.

Also, everyone, HERE is aa FAQ that lists what is already transferable. So I'm assuming you consider everything on the "can be transferred" list and include the new things Vyv has specified for a broader idea of what we get to keep.

[Mar-Evayave]

One issue that will impact me, and I have already seen at least one other post on it, and that is splitting characters between 2 (or more) destination servers. I think there is a big hint in this release that that ability may not currently be in the works. If the transfers are done at the log-in level, they would likely have to be 'all-in' moves - every character on that subscription on that server would be headed to the same new destination. That will be a problem for some folks that may want to unite some of their 'server-losing' characters with some other characters, but lack the character slots to put them all together. I am expecting to fall in this category, as I have an extensive collection of characters (multi-subs & multi-accounts) on two servers I have reason to believe are 'at-risk'. With characters on 8 different (all US) servers, I'm pretty certain to have at least 1 server closure hit me, and I am preparing for up to 5 (I am on 4 of the 6 US servers that appear to be the least active, by several approximate measuring techniques).

Characters can be transferred one a 1 by 1 basis, or as a whole group. It's the account currencies that will be all-or-nothing.

Vyvyanne - What about when players have the max amount of character slots used? Suppose I have 21 on Server A and 21 on Server B. Will it allow me to transfer those on Server A to Server B and retain access to all 42? Or will I have to delete characters to free up slots? Or will it ask me which ones to deactivate (sorta like when VIP drops).

Hypothetical numbers for me. I have 10 on Riddermark and I think 9-10 on Landroval. I can easily delete some of my Landroval crafting mules and I have 15 slots available, so I think I should be fine. But I know many others will run into this problem.

*edit* Woops, thought for some reason someone has posted after my last post. Sorry for the back-to-back posting... I would have just deleted and edited this into my previous post, except I can't delete in this specific forum. xD

[Boskone08]

1. For splitting your characters between destination worlds, you will need to choose which one gets all the account items. We can only send the account data to one world.

This ability to choose split destination servers by characters is exceptionally good news for me, and thanks to you and your project teams for being able to include this feature. Putting all the account items onto one server is a small price to pay, IMO. I may mourn the wardrobe losses, but I'll be able to plan my splits - keeping the gals and the wardrobe together!

[Boskone08]

*edit* Woops, thought for some reason someone has posted after my last post. Sorry for the back-to-back posting... I would have just deleted and edited this into my previous post, except I can't delete in this specific forum. xD

Sorry, there was a post there - one of mine, that you quoted as I was reading Vyvyanne's later post, and deleted, so you didn't make a double post - I did a Bad Thing. Sorry again.

[Alakin93]

Thanks Vyvyanne. I got a quick question.
And about the physical move of servers from US to EU, will that be in early spring too? Or we have a chance it'll be a bit before?
Thanks in advance.

[Williamfour]

Thanks a lot Vyvyanne for the information and the promisse you will continiue to inform us.

The kinship move made me very happy would be great if you could give some more information on how that would work.

The server merging has created quite a stir on our server, we have a great community there.
Very social, friendly and loyal players and kinships are working together on many levels for instace with multi kinship social events.
There is a sence of being at home with friends on Gilrain, many players say that often in world chat.
But the players are worried at the moment, what will happen to their "home"
I hope we can get some clearence on that soon I am getting IM's from players with questions I cannot answer and there are players who tell me they are going to leave the game over the server merge.
Good people, would not like to see them go.

[Bel-Astarte]

Being able to split characters and determine which server has the account currencies credited are very good things.

A few additional questions:

1. Reiterate how transfers to servers where a player has already filled all their character slots will be handled. I have characters, for example, on several servers. If I decide to go ahead an consolidate on my main server, where I've really let my inner altoholic run riot-am I going to have to kill some of my darlings?
2. If I decide I can't kill any of my darlings, and so consolidate on an alternate server from my main one (A), will i be able to basically move the closed server (B) ones to a third destination server (C) without endangering the balances of account items on my main server? I can see this working if only the B & C that are actively involved in the transfer process are combined, or allowing me to sacrifice the Middle Earthly gains from B & C to the benefit of server A.
3. Kinhouse storage is still an issue. Kins should not have to repurchase their existing storage simply because they've been forced to decamp to a new server. It will be stressful and expensive enough for them to find a new house on some servers.
4. Kinhouses often have what I call "legacy" items left behind by players who have left the game. In a normal transfer, these things would go back to escrow to the owner character. If it's for a currently active player, that's annoying, but can be retrieved. But if the player is no longer active, the memento is lost. We have several items of significance that remind me of departed friends that I still hope may come back. It will make me sad if they are truly lost and forgotten.
5. The most important kinship tranfer issue, however, is making sure folks who do come back after their kinship has transferred to a new server have a way to know where they went. If indeed no servers will be closed, then there hopefully will be a way to leave a marker. Our kinship, for example, has members who come back after months (and occasionally years) and it is a point of concern that they find their kinnies ready to welcome them back. I'll be sad to lose the bits and bytes of our kin souvenirs... *mourns the loss of big ### dragon statue in advance*... but at the heart a kinship is the players we are exploring Middle Earth with. If they decide to move on, we wish them well, but I want it to be their choice, not an enforced separation because they weren't on at a particular stretch of time.

[Brinswith]

I know it is early and I appreciate that nothing may be final. But, I think many peoples most pressing concern is the question: "Is my server one of the small ones likely to close?"

Until this is made clearer by Turbine I think the forum team are going to be having a very busy time trying to calm peoples fears especially if it drags out well into the spring.

Is it possible to have a clear idea when or if this list will be made available or infact any indication of server sizes as I feel it would allay many folks concerns.

[Alakin93]

[QUOTE=Williamfour;7310356]... and there are players who t

Leave the game because of the merge? When I logged in and had 31 people in global at 18:00 of a saturday last week?
You realize we can't even pug a skirmish or raid from global because you can't get to 12 right?
Gilrain is dead mate, and if they dont do the merge/closing of the server as quick as possible it'll finish that everyone will leave.
Only hope is that it'll close as soon as possible to save what is left. Gilrain was and is my home server.
Many people will be back, many that I know and spoke personally, and not go, believe me