US to EU transfer: arguments against preconceptions

Community General Discussion
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Googling for US to EU transfers is always dissapointing, but today I saw a catch-22 (for impatient readers, there is a summary at the bottom):

While we do see the request from time to time here in this forum, it’s still fairly rare

Preconception number 1: Demand for this is negligible

Anyone googling for this feature always sees responses like “this is never going to happen”, “it is not offered”, “start over from scratch” etc. Therefore, they think posting it is futile. I did the same. I wanted this feature for years. Ever since I played MoP, I have wanted to transfer to EU, for the lower latency. But everytime I googled if such a feature was available, the answer in the forums was an overwhelming “NO”. So I never posted anything.

And so, the powers that be, see very few posts of this kind. And think that only a small percentage of the population is dissatisfied. So the next logical question is, if it was, in fact, a highly demanded service, would it be implemented?

Preconception number 2: No flipping switches!

The next most common argument against this feature is that its not really a switch that can be flipped, its not easy to do etc. Proponents of US to EU transfers point out that this flipping of switches does not seem to be a problem in case of US to US transfers or even retail to PTR servers. Why is it then hard to flip this switch between US and EU?

When these two do not suffice, it leads inevitably to
Preconception number 3: DIfferent country, different currencies, different laws

FIrst, I would like to point out something important: a difference in currencies and laws never stopped international trade! Goods and services flow quite freely between various countries, even between different companies. This couldn’t be truer in case of software, which is massively outsourced to different countries. With different laws. And currencies. Clearly trading something in different countries, but within the same company is not a far fetched idea.

These arguments also clearly ignore the fact that Oceanic servers exist. NA players can transfer to oceanic servers (which are physically located in Australia) and as far as I know, Australia and the US are different countries, with different laws and currencies.

So in summary, the problems presented (and my questions) are:
-too little demand (Is it? Would it matter if it was high?)
-not a flippable switch (Isn’t it? Exactly how hard is it ?)
-different countries, laws and currencies (Is this really not solvable?)

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The demand is high.

It’s not hard at all. Not even the slightest.

It is solvable, other mmorpg have done it with ease. So, WoW is enable to implement something beyond there corporate standards. But the technology is there, out there in the market…

So, what does that all mean?
It simple, :moneybag:

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That’s weird. You can do it on FF14 with no issues. So people who move to live in due to whatever reason military / school / work need to start over? How can blizzard allow this.

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Yes, they do.

Wow, doesn’t have because. They want ppl to spend money again on Subs, Expansion, Cash shops on different regional servers. Unlike FFXIV and ESO.

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Oh snap, you a dev? Tell me the process of how this is done. I’m genuinely curious.

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It’s hidden in here…
https://www.google.com/search?q=google&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwj4nbfBheHoAhVa_4UKHTYzBcgQ2-cCegQIABAC&oq=google&gs_lcp=ChJtb2JpbGUtZ3dzLXdpei1pbWcQAzIECCMQJzICCAAyAggAMgIIADICCABQviFYiSpg3i9oAHAAeACAAfMBiAHvDZIBBTAuMi42mAEAoAEB&sclient=mobile-gws-wiz-img&ei=zhGSXvh-2v6XBLbmlMAM&bih=694&biw=393&prmd=nmiv#imgrc=9-XRsHyVhifd5M

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Ahahahaha. You have no idea how the process goes, you’re literally talking out of your butt. What a troll.

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And what’s the colour of yours, I wonder…

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Are that many people moving across the ocean?

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There’s no preconceptions on it , blizzard doesnt want to have that service , its worth it more to have people start over then allow an easy transfer . Do you still have to a buy a EU/US version of the game to play like back in the days or can you use the same account now ?

Its the same thing for a lot of current business , some offer delivery during these times and some simply dont care and closed off/pick-up only . Its their choice but its ours to decide where we do business :wink:

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I’m so glad they gave us an /ignore feature on the forums again. Trolls like you don’t deserve to have a voice.

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You still have to buy a different version of the game :frowning:

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And what about you. Are you an innocent one or just another troll that bad mouths others?!?

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I don’t think money is an issue for people who want to transfer. It is the loss of progression.

Right now, if I have to start all over on EU, I have to spend nearly $100 to start playing the current expansion. In all honesty, I would be ready to pay $100 for a transfer, if that meant my xmogs, achievements, green fire are preserved.

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I was in a very similar boat some years ago. Gave it up. But I really hope it’s something they’ll work towards someday.

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I’d transfer to EU in a heartbeat if I could. Time zones are a pain in my rear.

I raid with Aussies because it’s not the middle of my night.

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Oh, how is the ping?

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Because it isn’t a “switch.”

It would be moving the character files, along with possible regional differences (possibly involving some manual editing), from one set of region character servers to the other.

The basic reasons are:

  • They actually set it up to not work.

  • They don’t seem to want to do it.

It would obviously be a super premium price, if they even WANTED to do it. You’d probably be looking at a minimum of $200. But again, they don’t seem to want to do it.

As far as I know, Squaresoft/whomever runs the servers/games in those other regions as well. Wow isn’t set up that way, it is contracted out to someone in that other area (in a way.)

This is why it wasn’t native to Australia, for a long time (I thought it still wasn’t, but I was looking at old information.) They could not reach a deal with the Internet monopoly company, in Australia back then. This has since changed.

But that is because they WERE here; So you are arguing against yourself, basically. Australia used to have to play on servers over here, with a horrible ping. Eventually, some deal was finally struck there and it could go native. So they had to be moved from here, to there. Because of that, with however they set it up, they can still move (since they had to in the first place.)

Q: Where will the servers be physically located?
A: The game servers will be hosted within an Australian data centre, ensuring Australian and New Zealand players receive the best possible latency.

Q: Will I still be able to play with my friends who are on U.S. servers?
A: Yes! Because the new Australian World of Warcraft game servers will continue to communicate with the existing North American hardware, players will still be able to play with friends on U.S game servers, just as they can today. They’ll still be able to use their Blizzard friends list to easily group up and chat, regardless of where they are playing.

So because they were HERE, it is still “connected.” So it was not set up the same way as other region’s servers.

So it seems to me more like it is just “hosted” in Australia, but ran/connected to here still. They can even play with their old buddies, who are on regular US server connections. This is different from the other world “regions”, where the game is basically “ran there.” EU and such even have different forums, with different forum blues.

Yes, it would have been great if they HAD set it up that way originally in those other areas.

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340ms steady.

Enough to require adjustment to strategy, like moving half a second early.

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I started playing in the UK in 2004! and I moved to the USA in 2013… I have both US and EU account’s and pay subs for both! I want to move or transfer my guild and char to the US account isn’t this not possible after all these years ???