World Transfers

[Fratonia]

The concern is not about characters that were just created, but characters that were created 6 or 7 years ago, but never made it to the Intro, or through it.

That was what I was trying to say, "just" = "only", "nothing more than". And some people say that German is complicated.

[Scirocco]

Please note I found an error in the original article, which we are working to correct, but I will state here:
“The new Transfer Service will become available with this patch. You will be able to access it through the launcher at the World Selection screen after logging into your account. There will be a button that says “Transfer” underneath the “Play” button. Beginning August 3rd the service will be available for copying characters to the Bullroarer Test World and for free moves between the ten worlds (5 US and 5 EU) that will be remaining available after the end of this year. This is just the beginning of the process.”

The paragraph has incorrect information. Free moves between the main worlds will not start Monday, only Bullroarer copies will be available that day. Transfers between the remaining worlds will probably be a week or two later after we spend some time with the copies to Bullroarer and make sure there are no issues.

I am sorry for any stress this error may have caused.

Thanks for the clarification, and it makes sense. I don't think anybody on one of the surviving servers would want to be a test case for the transfer service this first week.

[Stilgaard]

Please note I found an error in the original article, which we are working to correct, but I will state here:
“The new Transfer Service will become available with this patch. You will be able to access it through the launcher at the World Selection screen after logging into your account. There will be a button that says “Transfer” underneath the “Play” button. Beginning August 3rd the service will be available for copying characters to the Bullroarer Test World and for free moves between the ten worlds (5 US and 5 EU) that will be remaining available after the end of this year. This is just the beginning of the process.”

The paragraph has incorrect information. Free moves between the main worlds will not start Monday, only Bullroarer copies will be available that day. Transfers between the remaining worlds will probably be a week or two later after we spend some time with the copies to Bullroarer and make sure there are no issues.

I am sorry for any stress this error may have caused.

Bold by me, THIS needs to be shouted at the rooftops at the highest level since everyone and their cousin is under the assumption that these start in 3 days for EVERYONE.

Twitter, Login alert, Forums front page, etc.

[cdq1958]

It's very easy to do it. I just did it with 2 accounts in 90 minutes. Just take a high level and drag your other accounts and kill everything. Easy peasy.

People who are having to scout on servers they have not played on are in a situation like the Russians. They're starting over and will not have any high levels to drag lowbies around in many, if not nearly all cases.

For me, the quickest times were 30 minutes for the man/hobbit/elf/dwarf introduction and, when I could test it, 19 minutes for a Beorning. I probably could shave a few minutes more off this, but if I'm going to level them to 10 or 15, then there would not be a point to doing that. The time savings in the intro would get used in the regular world. From exit of the intro to level 10 adds roughly another hour, so my best times to level 10 would be 90 minutes. Notice the log linear increase in the time to gain a level (it will eventually get to the point where it will take about 30 white quests to gain a level and due to this, using mob kills to supplement that also suffers from a negative exponential decay, too; so it will soon be better to quest than kill mobs). I have not recently timed getting from 10 to 15, so I can't comment on that much, but as a guess I'd say getting from 10 to 15 will take 4 to 6 hours.

[sedlar2006]

Vyvyanne,

I have Elf-Captain notes from way back in 2007 that one were supposed to be used by Scholars. Will these transfer or will they be sucked into the Void? I have items (Armour, Weapons, LI's) that were created by players that have sadly passed on. When I reach the new server will they still display who created the item? Finally, I have a hooks on Server Y that are bound to a Char that moved to Server X. If I moved char from Server X first to the new server and then move Server Y all at once will the bound item find it's way back or does it get lost in the void?

[Scirocco]

That was what I was trying to say, "just" = "only", "nothing more than". And some people say that German is complicated.

German is only complicated because you stick a bunch of words together to make a single word, although the meaning of that word is fairly clear (assuming you can decipher it). With English, we give 10 or so meanings, sometimes entirely opposite, to a single short word. Deciphering what the speaker meant from context is often not accurate, and thus we spend a half-hour yelling at each other before we figure out what the other person is talking about....

[RJFerret]

lets say i.e BW / Landy / glad / crick / whatever server will remain. I am at Landroval server and want to xferr to Crick, so I am at crick now and didnt like it, do I have the option to xferr back to landy for free? Thanks

Yes, it was answered that during free transfers you may freely transfer repeatedly up until Oct. 1st. However, if your previous server is to remain open, and someone transfers there with your name, when you transfer back, you'll get a -1 suffix (and free rename token).

My apologies I'm sure this has been answered multiple times and I've tried to keep up. So to be clear; I live in the U.S. and have characters on Laurelin. That means they are gone right? No transfer and no ability to log on after the change is in full effect correct? If this is the case the best thing will be to liquidate everything and gift someone in EU. Thanks ahead of time for any answers

They are not gone at all. You will be freely able to transfer from that server to any remaining server in that region type (EU-EU, US-US, just not between them as they have conflicting data types). You will be able to log in and play on closing servers until end of year, when you will still be able to log on, but do nothing but transfer to another server of that region type.

Note, ultimately EU servers will be across the pond physically, but you can still play just as you do today, exactly how thousands of EU folks play on the US servers on this side of the pond (and Aussie, and Asian, and African, and South American, etc.)

[Boskone08]

My case may be rare, but I'm fairly sure it's not unique. I have been very active in LOTRO since 2008, and I have multiple accounts active on 10 total NA servers. Some of those are pretty limited (F2P accounts with few if any accoutrements), but some are my main accounts, including Lifetimes with every expansion. Several have houses on each of the 10 servers I am on, and three accounts have more than 600 Housing Chest Storage Spaces on their total current housing inventory. After the Closures, 600 spaces will be the maximum (5 servers x 120 spaces per server maximum), so it looks like I will 'lose' 45 spaces or so per 'main' account. I believe I have a 'waltz plan' that will limit my 'losses' to those 135 spaces, which is only 7.5% of my post-Closure house storage. These 'losses' can be easily covered by items from multiple servers that will stack once I 'get things together' and/or simple adjustments to get things out of escrow overflow. This is far from the worst thing that has ever happened to me, so if that is what happens, we go on.

Shared Storage will also be a problem; while a couple of servers have a good bit of open space, those main accounts are maxed out at 210 slots per server, and 8 are all pretty full (average about 175 slots filled each). That's 1400 stacks of stuff - some will merge, to be sure, but there will be only 1050 slots for it all to merge into. Hopefully, mergers will cover most of that 33% 'loss', with any remaining overflow going into character vaults or bags or sold off. Again, not the worst thing that's ever happened to me.

As someone who has done a bit of programming and also followed up on programming done by others, I firmly believe 'simple programming changes' are those done by someone else, somewhere else (likely Heaven) and do not exist in the worlds I interact with, including LOTRO, so I don't expect these limit to change. I am open to being wrong, but I am not in any way expecting it to change.

Thank you for your consideration, and thanks to the LOTRO Team (current and past) for the excellent game you have produced. Your Middle Earth is one of my Retirement Homes these days!

[summerf]

In the article, does the information regarding Kinship transfers apply to Tribes as well? Thanks.

[Ellyllon]

When a kin leader transfers, is there any reason to move that character on its own, or is it fine to move all that kin leaders characters at once? (I assume it's fine to move them at once, but maybe there are extra steps?)

Should everyone in the kin house move their items out before the move? I assume once the leader goes, the house becomes inaccessible to the remaining players?

[Fratonia]

In the article, does the information regarding Kinship transfers apply to Tribes as well? Thanks.

What is a tribe in Lotro?

When a kin leader transfers, is there any reason to move that character on its own, or is it fine to move all that kin leaders characters at once? (I assume it's fine to move them at once, but maybe there are extra steps?)

Should everyone in the kin house move their items out before the move? I assume once the leader goes, the house becomes inaccessible to the remaining players?

When the kin leader goes there is no more kinship, no more kin house and therefore no more items inside that kin house. All bound items are returned to their owners when the kinship is disbanded. Unbound items go with the kin leader.

[Finnok-2011]

"What is a tribe in Lotro?"

Kins for creeps, basically

[Fratonia]

"What is a tribe in Lotro?"

Kins for creeps, basically

Thank you. I never was a monster player.

[bucko39]

Please note I found an error in the original article, which we are working to correct, but I will state here:
“The new Transfer Service will become available with this patch. You will be able to access it through the launcher at the World Selection screen after logging into your account. There will be a button that says “Transfer” underneath the “Play” button. Beginning August 3rd the service will be available for copying characters to the Bullroarer Test World and for free moves between the ten worlds (5 US and 5 EU) that will be remaining available after the end of this year. This is just the beginning of the process.”

The paragraph has incorrect information. Free moves between the main worlds will not start Monday, only Bullroarer copies will be available that day. Transfers between the remaining worlds will probably be a week or two later after we spend some time with the copies to Bullroarer and make sure there are no issues.

I am sorry for any stress this error may have caused.

We're off to a rocky start already here...

[RJFerret]

I have Elf-Captain notes from way back in 2007 that one were supposed to be used by Scholars. Will these transfer or will they be sucked into the Void? I have items (Armour, Weapons, LI's) that were created by players that have sadly passed on. When I reach the new server will they still display who created the item?

Inventory and storage and all get moved (exception is housing items pre-2014 when house chests were converted). If there's too much to combine with the destination server's current storage items (if any) they go into overflow. Come Monday you can verify names by transferring (copying) to Bullroarer.

Finally, I have a hooks on Server Y that are bound to a Char that moved to Server X. If I moved char from Server X first to the new server and then move Server Y all at once will the bound item find it's way back or does it get lost in the void?

The recommended move order is kin leader first, house owners next, account stuff, etc. It sounds like it's to prevent that situation you describe, as the bound housing items get returned to character's escrow. You could test this on Bullroarer by moving a character with something bound to it first, then copying the house owner afterward.

Note, names aren't the important part, the user identifier is not displayed to us, but unique to your character (on US, or on EU, hence never the twain shall meet).

[RJFerret]

When a kin leader transfers, is there any reason to move that character on its own, or is it fine to move all that kin leaders characters at once? (I assume it's fine to move them at once, but maybe there are extra steps?)

Should everyone in the kin house move their items out before the move? I assume once the leader goes, the house becomes inaccessible to the remaining players?

From the article:

Recommended Transfer Order

To lessen the chances of item confusion or loss, it is recommended that you transfer any Kinship leaders first, then Home Owners, Shared items, and then other characters or all at once if they are going to the same world.

This ensures kin house and items are sent where expected before others arrive. This sets up other house stuff to be waiting others too. Then shared items are in place. Now transfer the remaining characters individually or all together as the welcome mat is out and the system is applied as expected.

[Ellyllon]

Yup, I know the kin leader should go first, but I also think I saw an option for moving all your characters at once, which would be faster & convenient. (not all kin characters, obviously - but if you're kin leader, all your own characters) I just wondered if there was any reason not to do that.

Former kin members won't automatically be restored to the kin, I assume? (You'd have to reinvite?)

[Knossa]

Thank you for such enlightening information

I have noticed a possible exploit which is to immediately create as many characters you can on all the worlds before August 3rd in order to get the goodie box. Please may I humbly suggest that you discourage such greed!

If you look at the items in the gift box, it appears most will be character specific, possibly some account bound; title, Cloaks, Yard items, etc. While the gift box contains some nice things to remember your old world, I see no real incentive to create toons to have 30 of any item listed, even if they aren't bound. And if someone decides they want 30, does it really matter?

[Valamar]

A Kinship question -- With folks moving around, will the max size of a kinship be increased?

I haven't looked at the numbers lately, but the Old Timers Guild (OTG) on Gladden has hit the level cap on more than one occasion.
Right now we are (I think) significantly under the cap, but with the various moves and changes that is likely to change.

[Knossa]

We're off to a rocky start already here...

Seems this is a big undertaking. To test the new transfer implementation using BR prior to real world moves makes some sense. All heck breaks loose (better to happen on BR transfers I would think) and there is a lengthy delay then yeah... rocky start. To quickly correct an error in the text of the initial announcement, but the transition goes as designed? Far from rocky imho. If that is the extent of "rocky" then I will consider it a huge success.

[maartena]

Yup, I know the kin leader should go first, but I also think I saw an option for moving all your characters at once, which would be faster & convenient. (not all kin characters, obviously - but if you're kin leader, all your own characters) I just wondered if there was any reason not to do that.

Former kin members won't automatically be restored to the kin, I assume? (You'd have to reinvite?)

Kinmembers will automatically re-join the kin if they choose to go to the same server as the kin leader.

I will also do a complete move of all my toons. Remember, you can always move some over to other servers if you want later.

[bucko39]

To test the new transfer implementation using BR prior to real world moves makes some sense.

I agree, but that is not what I meant.
I mean the misinformation...that's been out there for about 5 days or so.
Thankfully, it was caught before Monday hit, because the forum would have been lit up like a Christmas tree.

[Silmelin]

Vyvyanne's response below to the question above has me a bit unsettled. To say the least.

Here I was thinking that once the moves are completed and the dust settles we would be able to live on whatever server we ended up on (stress free), and not have to worry about some 1 still being able to take our names, yet again.

So say I move to another server, take on a new name (forced to) and then decide to take a long, long, very long vacation (lol) from all the stress I've endured over the passed 7 months, and I don't return for lets say a year and 1 day. And I log in to find some 1 was able to take my name/new name while I was away!? Any 1 else see anything wrong with this scenario?


I thought this new transfer plan was a temporary thing and once it was done that the old transfer rules would come back into play. I sure hope they don't make it possible for people to just wait and perhaps watch/stalk names they still long for, to become inactive to rip it out from the other person?

Please just let it rest once this is all done and over. And go back to the old transfer rules!

Vyvyanne, what about Jurny's post above?

Will there be a time limit on people who are transferring being able to take someone's name if they haven't logged in that character in a while?
I hope the characters on the closed servers can't continue grabbing names if they wait for years before they transfer, because many of us play lots and lots of characters. What if we take a break from playing a character and focus on a whole bunch of others, and we might not even have noticed that it's been long enough for the name to be in danger, and then when we log in to play one day, it turns out that someone who hadn't transferred when the servers closed down had kept their character waiting and transferred a long time later.

Will we always have to live with the stress of having to guard our names, keeping schedules to make sure we log in on all of them regularly?

I don't mind it being this way during the transfers since there are so many names tied up by people who just tried the game once and haven't been seen again, but please go back to the old transfer rules when all of this is over.

I play every day, every single day for many many hours (except the times I've been in the hospital of course) so no one can call me inactive. I feel I should get to keep the names of all my characters without having to work hard forever to not lose them

[monk_tbd]

Will there be a time limit on people who are transferring being able to take someone's name if they haven't logged in that character in a while?
I hope the characters on the closed servers can't continue grabbing names if they wait for years before they transfer, because many of us play lots and lots of characters. What if we take a break from playing a character and focus on a whole bunch of others, and we might not even have noticed that it's been long enough for the name to be in danger, and then when we log in to play one day, it turns out that someone who hadn't transferred when the servers closed down had kept their character waiting and transferred a long time later.

How is this any different from you transferring in the next couple weeks/months and maybe taking someone else's name who might be in the same situation of currently taking a long vacation?

[maartena]

Please note I found an error in the original article, which we are working to correct, but I will state here:
“The new Transfer Service will become available with this patch. You will be able to access it through the launcher at the World Selection screen after logging into your account. There will be a button that says “Transfer” underneath the “Play” button. Beginning August 3rd the service will be available for copying characters to the Bullroarer Test World and for free moves between the ten worlds (5 US and 5 EU) that will be remaining available after the end of this year. This is just the beginning of the process.”

The paragraph has incorrect information. Free moves between the main worlds will not start Monday, only Bullroarer copies will be available that day. Transfers between the remaining worlds will probably be a week or two later after we spend some time with the copies to Bullroarer and make sure there are no issues.

I am sorry for any stress this error may have caused.

This is both disturbing and encouraging.

Disturbing, because Turbine should have seen such an obvious error before it was published live for almost a WEEK, setting expectations among users. This shouldn't have gone out like this. Or Turbine changed their mind on the moves and is trying to cover it up by pretending it was an error.

Encouraging, because it means we won't see a Brandywine exodus on Monday, possibly taking over names of people on other servers. This gives people more time to create characters and reserve their housing if they need more time. It also means they are committed to proper testing.