You would think that this is in Turbine's best interest.
It is only interesting to Turbine if the Lifetime earning from this enhancement are more than the sum of:
1) The cost to develop the enhancement
2) The cost to maintain enhancement (keep it working)
3) The cost to perform the transfers
4) Any other costs.
Companies go broke when they do a "John Carter" very often. This situation recent example where the total cost of the movie is more than the lifetime earnings. What you want is a "The Hunter Games" - a product that starts generates profit on the first day of sales.
Odds are Turbine feels that this enhancement is a "John Carter" waiting to happen. Not a "The Hunger Games".
Unless stated otherwise, all content in this post is My Personal Opinion.
I know this is something that can be fixed because this has not always been around. Or it's just a chance that your character could end up bugged and that's why they closed it. I have transferred off a server and back on to it and I know a few others that have before they shut down going back to previous servers.
I know all character transfers are currently disabled without any explanation why. Maybe they are looking to fix this? If not then I doubt it will be fixed until all the server-hoppers run out of servers to hop to.
Myself and two friends placed tickets for transfers to return our toons back to their original server on the 11th and 12th of this month, just to give it a try and see what happens. The transfers went through on the 15th and 16th! The bug has indeed been fixed! Thanks Turbine for resolving this issue and thanks everyone for their support in this thread! Woot!
I have no technical insight on the subject - all I know is what I got from a GM: There is a bug causing toons that are being moved back to a previous server to become unplayable.
It seems to me that Turbine do not have an automated transfer system. Toons are moved 'manually' by GMs. At least that's my experience after having moved a couple of toons. This is pure speculation though.
Giving that I have limited programming experience, how complicated would it be to take a 'snapshot' of the toon on the current server? Lets assume the following:
- Every item in the bags have a unique itemid and also an amount
- Every gear (equipped or unequipped) have a unique id aswell
- The toon has a fixed race, class and level
If the moving process is impossible or VERY problematic (which I assume it is after being unsolved for so long), why not create the toon on the new server, autolevel it to the appropiate level and award the loot from the previous server like we recieve store bought items or in gift boxes? I think most could live with their custom armor coloring being reset.
A couple of problems with this solution might be:
What about legacies on recreated weapons - would they be able to be created again using an automated process? There are thousand of different combinations.
What about store bought stats upgrades, would they be able to be recreated using an automated process. I assume that store items have an unique ID aswell so it 'should' be possible to award those automatically also?
This is just another way of looking at the problem.
Myself and two friends placed tickets for transfers to return our toons back to their original server on the 11th and 12th of this month, just to give it a try and see what happens. The transfers went through on the 15th and 16th! The bug has indeed been fixed! Thanks Turbine for resolving this issue and thanks everyone for their support in this thread! Woot!
/threadclosed
First of all, congratulations then Ravyrn!
Second, can a GM confirm that this bug is no longer an issue? It seems like this issue was somewhat revived in April but has fallen away again. I have a few creeps i'd pay good money to have transferred back to my original server so i would appreciate a GM reply here if it is doable. Tyvm
Second, can a GM confirm that this bug is no longer an issue? It seems like this issue was somewhat revived in April but has fallen away again. I have a few creeps i'd pay good money to have transferred back to my original server so i would appreciate a GM reply here if it is doable. Tyvm
Agreed.
Myself and two buddies want to transfer back but aren't sure if it was truely fixed since there was no official statement anywhere. (Not to discredit the OP, just trying to see if it was lucky or something)
Also, mentioning interest in fixing the other issue attached that seems to be glitching characters that transfer from EVER being able to transfer again. My account can't possibly be the only one affected.
Two years? This bug has been around since 2007, when the server transfer feature was first introduced. Turbine/Codemasters never fixed the bug, and this is just silly. Surely they should put in the time to at least do something?
Also, mentioning interest in fixing the other issue attached that seems to be glitching characters that transfer from EVER being able to transfer again. My account can't possibly be the only one affected.
Yes, this is the same issue. This 'effect' is why i have not transferred back. Luckily i knew about the problem ahead of time. I hope you didn't have one of your high rank classes deemed unplayable because of this. That must have been awful for you, if you did. I feel for you if that is the case
EDIT: I re-read your post and got the wrong end of the stick. I see what you were saying now.
Anyway, can we get a GM response here today (Sunday 17th) please? I know you guys are busy but there is a post in this thread that states that this problem is fixed. All we need is a yay or nay so 'please' could you respond because hours (where we could all be playing) are ticking by.
its not a bug. ive heard its physically not possible to transfer a toon back to a previous server because of the way server transferring works. im not computer wiz so i wouldn't know but i would not be holding your breath. youll most likely never be able to get back to a past server.
its not a bug. ive heard its physically not possible to transfer a toon back to a previous server because of the way server transferring works. im not computer wiz so i wouldn't know but i would not be holding your breath. youll most likely never be able to get back to a past server.
You are stating that software defect prevents a return. Product providers often try to rebrand a bug as "Its not a bug - It is feature". Having worked for years writing software, this kind of rebrand gets batted down with a "Not buying into that".
It means Turbine needs to change their procedures and tooling to allow a character to return. The reason it has been down is that Turbine management has not allowed the resources. The probable reason is that management thinks it is a waste of dollars. It cost more to fix than Turbine earn via increased character transfers.
Unless stated otherwise, all content in this post is My Personal Opinion.
Anyway, can we get a GM response here today (Sunday 17th) please?
GMs essentially never post here - the only one to ever do so is +Nod+, and that's maybe 2-3 times in 5 years. I suspect that means that they rarely read the forums, and only post here when asked by Sapience. Discussing customer service issues/incidents is generally forbidden on the forums, so there usually isn't any reason for them to even lurk.
It's been a long-term bug, and the number of people it impacts has to be pretty small. What percentage of active players pay to transfer characters to other servers? 1%, 2% maybe? And what percentage of those want to pay to transfer back? 10%? 20%? Multiply those together, and you get a pretty small percentage.
Until Sapience, Celestrata, or Victorie update this thread saying that this defect has been fixed, I doubt it really has.
GMs essentially never post here - the only one to ever do so is +Nod+, and that's maybe 2-3 times in 5 years. I suspect that means that they rarely read the forums, and only post here when asked by Sapience. Discussing customer service issues/incidents is generally forbidden on the forums, so there usually isn't any reason for them to even lurk.
It's been a long-term bug, and the number of people it impacts has to be pretty small. What percentage of active players pay to transfer characters to other servers? 1%, 2% maybe? And what percentage of those want to pay to transfer back? 10%? 20%? Multiply those together, and you get a pretty small percentage.
Until Sapience, Celestrata, or Victorie update this thread saying that this defect has been fixed, I doubt it really has.
Khafar
Yea I understand what you're saying. It should be about looking after the customers you have but I know Turbine doesn't roll like that. Check out post 8 of this thread. That post is dated April of this year. I think im just gonna put in a transfer request and assume it will go through as someone else said that this is how it worked for him and his two mates. I don't see a logical reason for him to lie about this. Or joke about it either. One thing that is for sure; if it is indeed fixed and they didn't bother to tell anyone about it, that would be pretty harsh.
I guess I am just naive because I imagine GM's (maybe that is the wrong title) like Celestrata sitting in front of a PC all day reading the forums haha. Maybe not on a Sunday though eh!
It should be about looking after the customers you have but I know Turbine doesn't roll like that.
The decision on when (and even whether) to fix a bug generally comes down to A) aggregate customer impact, and B) cost to fix. The more customers it impacts (and the higher the impact), the more cost to fix can be justified. Most companies won't put it that bluntly, but that's the sort of triage that gets done on bugs in every company I've ever worked for.
I guess I am just naive because I imagine GM's (maybe that is the wrong title) like Celestrata
GMs are in-game personnel like +Nod+. Sapience and Celestrata are Customer Relations (forums only). It's possible they might answer, but in the past they've just said to keep an eye on that stickied thread I linked to.
If the guy who transferred back was correct, I suspect that means that they can actually do this for some characters - not all. You can always give it a shot, and if they turn you down... you'll know they cannot do it for yours.