On the heels of Blizzard's recent announcement that StarCraft 2 gamers get one free character name change, the company is offering another freebie, this time for its World of Warcraft monthly customers. Players of a specific Source Realm can have their characters moved to a specific destination realm for free and without queues.
"Please be aware that, due to the unpredictable nature of free transfers, we may close down any Free Character Moves at any time and without warning if the target realm becomes full," Blizzard states. "If you plan to move with friends or your guild, we suggest that you coordinate the effort to reduce the chance of any stragglers being left behind."
If all goes well, this set of Free Character Moves will end on Thursday, July 25. Blizzard warns that by initiating a free transfer, customers will be moving their character to a new realm and home. It's a one-time, one-way trip, and if customers want to replant these characters elsewhere, they'll be required to shell out the standard $25 fee, plus tax in applicable areas, for each character. Ouch.
During this free transfer, characters residing on the Stormrage realm will be moved to Trollbane only. Area 52 characters will be moved to Turalyon, Darkspear residents to Vashj, Tichondrius residents to Blackrock, Illidan residents to Mannoroth, and Bleeding Hollow residents to Korgath.
"If your character’s name is already taken, you will be prompted to rename your character," Blizzard states in its Character Transfer FAQ. "Remember that your character name should follow our Naming Policy. Your character's race, faction, and appearance cannot be changed with the Character Transfer service unless you choose to undergo a Faction Change at the same time. Your character’s class cannot be changed."
Blizzard's Eligibility & Restrictions dictate that characters must be at least level 10 before they can be moved unless they're Death Knights which can't be moved until they're at least level 60. An individual character may only be transferred once every 3 days. The transfer will fail if it will cause customers to exceed the maximum of eleven characters on the destination realm.
However the Limitations & Restrictions section of Blizzard's Free Character Migration FAQ doesn't say any of this, and only covers character items, guild status, entire guild transfers, Honor and Conquest points, Friends Lists and Arena-Awarded Drake and Titles. Character transfers in this free offering may apply to characters of any level and number.
