Are server transfers ever going to be a thing?

My current server is fine and all, but the couple friends I had that played here have quit and I'd prefer to be able to play with some other buddies or just on a better geographically-localized server. This seems like it should be pretty non-problematic since names are already exclusive.

Take my money SOE!

They need free server transfers soon, the imbalance on many servers is completely out of control

Never going to happen, they'd kill the game. Players have no self control and you can't trust them when it comes to balancing populations.

Sadly this is why it won't happen until actual merges. Most people that have now waited a year would have been better off manning up and moving back in June 2013. There are obvious server choices in both Europe and U.S to pick your server.

On the Roadmap they are ear marked in for implementation..

https://forums.station.sony.com/ps2/index.php?threads/may-tentative-honorable-mentions.169394/

It's something that needs to be done with great care and with a few restrictions, or any imbalances today will pale in comparison to those it causes.

Actually according to the Road map they are happening.

Also why do players seem to think SOE won't put limitations on transfers so that players can only move to a server that is under populated preventing an over pop taking place? Why do players think it will be a free for all?

Seems like common sense to me and SOE are obviously aware of the glaring abuse that could happen if restrictions are not placed upon them

Come on, you know the transfert tokens people are asking for are not compatible with such restrictions. Time and time again have I seen people ask to flee their server where they're at a disadvantage.
If SOE puts limitations on them, they'll be barely used at all, probably making it not worth the investment.

And if they are foolish enough to not limit them they will kill the game. They are the one thing if not properly regulated that will finish the game off

Except they're not foolish, so instead of putting time into useless stuff they just keep postponing it. They don't have to explain themselves then.

Such tokens would kill the game as UP factions would get even more UP. The only solution is a free limited duration transfer "season" during which players in OP factions are allowed to move their character to another server on which the same faction is UP.

Otherwide PS2 will get a 2 factions game on most servers.

I'm waiting to see the complaints here when server transfer tokens are released. NC and TR on Woodman who actually thought they would be allowed to use it to leave.

Just worth pointing out, if the players are allowed to freely choose their destination server for a transfer, it will make population imbalance worse, not better.

Everyone will take their underpop faction character, and move it to a server where that faction has an advantage.

What's all this about killing the game? They are killing the game by limiting players to servers in the way they currently are. I've come across 10 to 15 friends in the last year who have been playing PS2 but on different servers to myself, or if on the same server then a different faction on it. Many of those guys don't play any more, but may have done if we'd been able to team up without losing all character progress and SC investments.

SOE should allow freedom of movement between all servers and simply impose a cap which would place people in a queue if their faction was overpopulated on a particular server. Instead, I fully expect we'll have to pay for server transfer tokens and if that is true, it's verging on scandalous!

Servertransfers would make a lot of sense. *giggle*

Seriously doubt whether we will ever see these - and probably a good thing. Transfers would cause more problems than they would solve.

It would have been more work, but binding chars to servers in an entirely PVP game where population demographics define gameplay was a bad idea.

Problem is now, you allow people to tranfer. I'd wager as a very strong conjecture that people will transfer from servers where their empire is low pop on that character, to servers where their empire is high pop.

Making a series of problems even worse.

At the end of the day, for the dev team its not hard to code server transfers, its moving data from one database table to another essentially. They don't i'd again, strongly wager, because they are conscious of the negative effects it'll likely have.

Server transfers are a horrible idea, but people want them.

So yeah, they will happen.

I don't think so. They pose such a threat to the game that surely SOE won't allow them - unless priced so high that only a few will pay (eg. £50).

No I fully expect them to come, because frankly there are enough silly people who think that character transfers are a good thing.

The question isn't "if" it's when, and how.

A major price tag like 50 euros would be one way to do it, but it doesn't seem like an SOE thing to do. They will charge a nominal rate I am guessing, I'd guess around 5-20$ (I am betting more towards 5$). It wont ever be above 20$, because in the whole membership changes thing, there was significant discussion as to whether or not because the first membership changes draft included a 20$ token for item purchases, meant that $21+ items were inbound, and that was denied. So we are probably going to see the transfer tokens released as 5-20$ tokens.

Ideally transfer tokens would take a few things into account.

1. What time you usually play
2. The population of your faction on average per week

So ideally, someone who plays at 8pm CST would not be able to transfer an NC character to Waterson. If these things are not considered, what will happen, is the population imbalances will be exacerbated by the character transfers (Which they have Finally started to get under control).

I don't know if you've noticed but the number of players hasn't exactly been going up lately.

The tech issues, lack of 'new' content and nickel-and-diming everything in the game is what is killing it more than any population imbalance ever will.