Migrating Realms = Fantastic!

So I've been playing on the Dragonblight server now since about January of 2005 in World of Warcraft. In my time there, I've leveled a couple 60's, done my share of dungeons, and met my share of cool and loyal friends. But I'll be damned if that server didn't get full over the past 2 years. It's ri-goshdarn-diculous.

I live on the East Coast, and the server runs on West Coast time (I switched from my East Coast server of Warsong after realizing I'm afraid of being ganked and PvP servers are not for me). So what that means for me, is that logging into a West Coast server at 9pm means it is 6pm where the bulk of that server's player base is. As you can imagine, over time the server got popular (it is a cool name, after all), and I was finding myself waiting in line for 30 minutes to an hour every night I couldn't get on before 8pm EST. That got old... and fast. I wanted to leave, to find a new server to call home, but I didn't want to throw away all those hours of play, and I certainly didn't want to pay 25 dollars per character for Blizzard to move them. That's just a ludicrous price.

But last week, O' Glorious Blizzard came to my rescue. They offered free transfers off of Dragonblight to the low population Mountain Time Zone realm, Blade's Edge. Some good in-game and real life friends and myself packed things up Friday night, and transferred out main characters and alts to the fledgling new realm.

The transfer process only took one night, and by about mid-morning all of my characters had been successfully transferred to their new home. No hiccoughs, no missing items, no messed up quest logs, or naked avatars... everything was in its place. I was happy. I am happy.

My friends and I quickly put together the new guild's charter (we chose the name Killer Bunnies... because why not?), picked out the appropriate purple, gold, and white bunny adorned tabbard, and got the requisite signatures out of the way. We are now hopping about Blade's Edge in all our glory, striking fear into the hearts of Horde throughout Azeroth and the Outland. Passersby chuckle at our name, but quiver at our intimidating presence on the battlefield. Especially nice is the fact that we all can actually walk five steps in Hellfire Peninsula without getting jumped by a fast spawning mob or running into a cluttered mess of other players. Overpopulated, Blade's Edge is not.

I just wanted to write this out here, because well, if any of you blogspotians have the option, I heartily recommend taking up Blizzard's offer of free server transfers. It's a far better choice than waiting and hoping other people leave to make the queues smaller or the lag smaller. Also add in the fact that if the server isn't reduced in population enough Blizzard will be forced to split the realm, leaving you and your friends to coordinate which one to pick at the log in, and I think it becomes clear that the best option in such a situation is to talk to your mates, get the willing together, and make the move.

It worked for me, and it will work for you.

(This message has been approved and endorsed by Bildo.)