World Transfers

Would it be possible to allow one free world transfer a year or every couple of years? I know that we are able to buy transfers, but the cost is pretty substantial for a $30 game. Price breakdowns for transfers are as follows:

Medium: 500 Gems - $6.25High: 1000 Gem - $12.50Very High: 1800 Gems - $22.50

I understand wanting to make money and not letting people transfer all the time, but the last time free transfers were a thing was in 2013 I believe. I've made a lot of close friends who I would love to WvW, but it would be like me having to buy the game again to play with them. Perhaps I'm being cheap, but I think allowing a free transfer here and there would be beneficial to the community.

Also, alliances could potentially fix this problem, but until they are actually in the game, it's not really a solution.

You think $22 is a high price? Imagine being on my shoes that the due exchange rates would make this become $125. Meanwhile I have to stick in a suboptimal server getting spanked in WwW :(

Why do you need to transfer worlds?

Stacking worlds is part of the issue with WvW as it is.

@magnusthorek.8027 said:You think $22 is a high price? Imagine being on my shoes that the due exchange rates would make this become $125. Meanwhile I have to stick in a suboptimal server getting spanked in WwW :(

Hence why a free transfer every so often would be good for the community.

@Strider Pj.2193 said:Why do you need to transfer worlds?

Stacking worlds is part of the issue with WvW as it is.

I believe I answered this in my original post saying I would like to play with my friends and guildmates that are on another server. If it is already a problem with the current cost model, I really don't think a free server transfer every couple of years is going to break it anymore than it is. Besides, alliances will fix this eventually, when/if they come out with it, and get rid of the reason for world transfers anyways. Why not get rid of that model now?

@DeathIsVirtue.4105 said:

@magnusthorek.8027 said:You think $22 is a high price? Imagine being on my shoes that the due exchange rates would make this become $125. Meanwhile I have to stick in a suboptimal server getting spanked in WwW :(

@Strider Pj.2193 said:Why do you need to transfer worlds?

Stacking worlds is part of the issue with WvW as it is.

1800 gems isn’t much gold. Farm it, convert to gems and transfer. And that’s the highest amount.

World transfers used to be free until the system was abused and black gate server became what it was

@dodgerrule.8739 said:World transfers used to be free until the system was abused and black gate server became what it was

retired?

@Strider Pj.2193 said:

@DeathIsVirtue.4105 said:

@magnusthorek.8027 said:You think $22 is a high price? Imagine being on my shoes that the due exchange rates would make this become $125. Meanwhile I have to stick in a suboptimal server getting spanked in WwW :(

@Strider Pj.2193 said:Why do you need to transfer worlds?

Stacking worlds is part of the issue with WvW as it is.

That's roughly 750g.. I'm not sure about you, but grinding for that much gold takes a lot of time and effort, or as Death pointed out, too much irl $$ to really want to shell out. The alliance is a great idea, but.. For all we know, it'll never happen. At the very least they could reduce the cost for world transfers.

@Strider Pj.2193 said:

@DeathIsVirtue.4105 said:

@magnusthorek.8027 said:You think $22 is a high price? Imagine being on my shoes that the due exchange rates would make this become $125. Meanwhile I have to stick in a suboptimal server getting spanked in WwW :(

@Strider Pj.2193 said:Why do you need to transfer worlds?

Stacking worlds is part of the issue with WvW as it is.

750g is quite a bit of gold in my opinion. I'm not sure how anyone can justify the current cost range of transfers. If free transfers are off limits, at least reduce the current prices. Or tie free transfers to account birthdays. I'm hopeful about alliances, but they may or may not ever be implemented.

I do not think just making transfers free is the solution for WvW. Forced redistribution periodically where friends and groups are kept together using guilds and alliances is. But this plan seems to be be shelved.

It really should just use the mega server system where it pairs you with your home server last if you do not have a guild

@DeathIsVirtue.4105 said:

@Strider Pj.2193 said:

@DeathIsVirtue.4105 said:

@magnusthorek.8027 said:You think $22 is a high price? Imagine being on my shoes that the due exchange rates would make this become $125. Meanwhile I have to stick in a suboptimal server getting spanked in WwW :(

@Strider Pj.2193 said:Why do you need to transfer worlds?

Stacking worlds is part of the issue with WvW as it is.

@Strider Pj.2193 said:

@DeathIsVirtue.4105 said:

@magnusthorek.8027 said:You think $22 is a high price? Imagine being on my shoes that the due exchange rates would make this become $125. Meanwhile I have to stick in a suboptimal server getting spanked in WwW :(

@Strider Pj.2193 said:Why do you need to transfer worlds?

Stacking worlds is part of the issue with WvW as it is.

Though friends could move to a different server to play with you?

Or pitch in to assist with the transfer?

Guilds do this all the time.

Making it free would make it more abusable.

@dodgerrule.8739 said:It really should just use the mega server system where it pairs you with your home server last if you do not have a guild

Which is effectively the purpose of alliances.

If I recall correctly, transferring isn't just a simple click of a button? The dev team has to do some programming magic on the back end to make it happen and the high cost is to deter players from transferring often?

@kharmin.7683 said:If I recall correctly, transferring isn't just a simple click of a button? The dev team has to do some programming magic on the back end to make it happen and the high cost is to deter players from transferring often?

Unless things have changed, it really is a simple click of a button. Server transfers were free prior to a 2013 update with a 24h restriction between changes that was increased to 7 days. I was around for the last free transfer period and the most time consuming part was waiting for the world my old dead guild picked to open.

If alliances have truly been shelved, a free world transfer every so often would be a good solution. I'm not really seeing a downside to this as world stacking is apparently going to happen regardless. I'm really hoping alliances are still going to happen though since this would fix not being able to play with friends and guildmates.

@DeathIsVirtue.4105 Yeah, I don't really remember clearly. I thought that was what I had heard, but I haven't paid attention to that topic as I haven't wanted or needed to do a transfer.

@DeathIsVirtue.4105 said:

@kharmin.7683 said:If I recall correctly, transferring isn't just a simple click of a button? The dev team has to do some programming magic on the back end to make it happen and the high cost is to deter players from transferring often?

As much as I am against free transfers, if alliances is shelved I would argue with you.

Free transfers caused the WvW population imbalance problem in the first place.

@Strider Pj.2193 said:

@DeathIsVirtue.4105 said:

@kharmin.7683 said:If I recall correctly, transferring isn't just a simple click of a button? The dev team has to do some programming magic on the back end to make it happen and the high cost is to deter players from transferring often?

Speaking of this, when was the last time we heard any information about alliances? It kind of seems like it has fell into the Soon pit of darkness never to be spoke of again. Alliances would help WvW a lot in terms of world stacking, being split from guild mates and friends, as well as possibly increase participation.

Okay, let me chunk the free transfer idea since this seems to be an issue with others. Can we at least have world transfer sales like they do with black lion merch? They did this in 2014 so I know it can be done.

shouldnt we rather get something if we switch from a full to an empty server? to make everything a bit mit balancedinstead of Paying to play with an weaker server

@DeathIsVirtue.4105 said:

@Strider Pj.2193 said:

@DeathIsVirtue.4105 said:

@kharmin.7683 said:If I recall correctly, transferring isn't just a simple click of a button? The dev team has to do some programming magic on the back end to make it happen and the high cost is to deter players from transferring often?

It’s been over 14 months since the last official ‘update’ which was more of a ‘we are still working on it.

If we include the omg they are mad we didn’t give them anything during the saga announcement then it’s technically a little more recent.

The last substantive Information was closer to 18 months ago.

@Virdo.1540 said:shouldnt we rather get something if we switch from a full to an empty server? to make everything a bit mit balancedinstead of Paying to play with an weaker server

That has been suggested. The biggest problem with that is groups would move en-mass to one server in coordination which, has been demonstrated to be faster than the system can keep up.

But incentives to move to smaller servers would be great.

A free transfer to a diff server should justify the time they are taking for all the community players to join in a server and play together. A new player starting from scratch then hearing his guild mates are in a high population server would be disheartening. 750 gold to a new players is something they can’t even fathom to get anytime soon unless they fork over real money. As much as they can delete all characters, but why would you level a character to 80 for the first time then delete and repeat for a server? It would truly make new players not even want to try wvw. Let alone new players have to find another guild that wvw in the same server they have already chosen. New players already are trying to find the right guild. But finding a correct wvw guild also? Seems much of a hassle just to play with your guild mates and friends on wvw.

As much as people say oh just convert gold to gems. How many people actually flip in tp? How many people actually convert t5 mats to t6 and sell on the tp as spare time including t4s and farming volatile magic all day? There really isn’t many to say that everyone can just get gold real quick. 750 gold is a pretty penny even for veteran players that know the tricks to earn gold in a more faster pace.

The fact that arenanet makes the expansions 30$ altogether justify’s the worth of how much gem store items should be. 25$ to switch to a server is too high. You shouldn’t pay that much for a swap to a different server. It’s just an automatic click and popping an account into a diff server.

@blambidy.3216 said:The fact that arenanet makes the expansions 30$ altogether justify’s the worth of how much gem store items should be. 25$ to switch to a server is too high. You shouldn’t pay that much for a swap to a different server. It’s just an automatic click and popping an account into a diff server.The technical cost to switching servers is negligible and not the main reason for putting a price tag on it. The main reason is really to keep people from switching easily, while still allowing those who are desperate the opportunity to switch (at a considerable cost).

WvW, the only thing in game that really depends on your home world/server, lives and dies by the number of players playing, much more than by the skill of said players. Despite the transfer costs guilds and even larger groups have time and again skewed the balance between wvw servers by overstacking a single server and steamrolling any oposition by coverage. Without transfer costs keeping people from switching and stacking on a whim, the gamemode would've died log ago (as in really died, like a hundred times as dead as it appears today).

As for alliances being shelved, does anybody have any link to that? Last I heard (a couple of months ago) they said alliances will be using the same tech that was developed for pvp swiss tournament at that time, thus alliances won't be finalized before swiss is released (which it was in the latest patch I think?) and they had time to evaluate if that tech works as expected. Personally I don't expect any news on alliances until several weeks after the pvp changes have been released and proven to be working and stable.

@Rasimir.6239 said:

@blambidy.3216 said:The fact that arenanet makes the expansions 30$ altogether justify’s the worth of how much gem store items should be. 25$ to switch to a server is too high. You shouldn’t pay that much for a swap to a different server. It’s just an automatic click and popping an account into a diff server.The technical cost to switching servers is negligible and not the main reason for putting a price tag on it. The main reason is really to keep people from switching easily, while still allowing those who are desperate the opportunity to switch (at a considerable cost).

Alliances are not shelves however alliances are not soon whatsoever. If everyone in game community truly believes alliances are coming this year it would be a miracle. Alliances were delayed or not worked on until Swiss tournament was released which was yesterday. So from here on I assume when arenanet makes Swiss non buggy anymore, arenanet will start working on alliances. But to believe that it’s soon or it should be something to wait and hold onto because you like wvw, you should not wait. Your talking till at least next year.

For build templates to take 2 years. Swiss tournaments to take from 2017 to actually be out yesterday, arenanet should give an alternate way for all guild players to play with each other besides forking over 25$ to switch to a server.