The WoW Guild Master Realm Transfer System

…is arguably the worst account service Blizzard has ever introduced. I cannot believe that some jackasses at Blizzard thought this was a good idea.

Perhaps the planning stage for the Guild Master Realm Transfer Service went down something like this…

Jackass A: Hey, you know what we should offer our subscribers…a variety of Guild Master services, which will include a way for a GM to transfer an ENTIRE GUILD to a new realm, taking with them all of the perks, achievements, bank tabs and wealth of the guild…

Jackass B: What about the existing members…would they all transfer over as well..?

Jackass A: The existing members would have to put in for their own transfers at $25 each, that is of course provided the GM doesn’t change factions as well. In that case, it would be $55 per character.

Jackass B: Hmmm… that sounds like it could get really expensive, especially if someone had a lot of alts they had to pay to transfer. What if you don’t really want to transfer realms, yet you want to remain in the guild with the other players who also wish to stay behind?

Jackass A: You’re damn right it could get expensive, but you don’t have to transfer if you don’t want to… you can stay behind with the rest of your guildmates, and guess what… you still get to keep your tabard and the guild name!

Jackass B: Oh, ok…well that’s not so bad then. Do you still get to enjoy all of the perks and maintain all of your guild reputation? What about the guild bank? What happens with it?

Jackass A: Oh, no… the Guild Master takes all of the perks and guild achievements with him or her. They also get to bring all of the purchased bank tabs and all included goodies to their new realm. You’re basically left with dick…a tabard for a level one guild, and your reputation is set back to zero, unless you pay $25 for a transfer to the realm where the Guild Master wants to play.

Jackass B: Now wait a minute… what if the majority of the players in the guild don’t want to go with the GM to the new server? Are they pretty much screwed..? Will they lose all of their guild perks and have to start over at neutral?

Jackass A: If no one wants to follow the GM because they either: like the server that they’re on -or- they don’t want to pay the transfer fee(s), then tough shit! There’s nothing they can do about it… and yes, they lose everything…reputation, perks, achievements, all of the guild’s additional bank tabs, anything that was in the guild vault… it’s all gone just like that… POOF!

Jackass B: Hold on… what if the majority of the guild members feel that moving the guild to a new realm is a bad idea…what can they do to stop it..?

Jackass A: They can’t do anything to stop it…that’s the beauty..! The Guild Master can do whatever the hell he or she wants with the guild, and no one can do shit about it!

Jackass B: So… you’re saying this policy would allow a Guild Master to take full ownership rights over a guild, moving it wherever they wished, and taking with them all of the wealth and perks that were amassed by the guild collective over a period of years, claiming all of it for themselves..?

Jackass A: You catch on quick.

Jackass B: Oh man…this is an amazing idea you have here. I think giving the Guild Master absolute power over an entire guild and everything all of its members collectively worked to achieve is a fabulous idea. When can we go live with this?

Jackass C: I couldn’t help but overhear the brilliant idea you two were just discussing so I’ve already started working on the logistics, and I’m betting we could launch this new service by fall of this year.

Jackass B: Hmmm… maybe we should sit on it for awhile. We haven’t really considered what sort of fallout could occur should the wrong sort of person be given this much control over an entire guild. This new system could present us with a lot of disgruntled subscribers, should they find themselves in a situation where their guild’s been ‘taken from them’.

Jackass A: Eh…you worry too much. What could possibly go wrong. I’ll have one of our guys put together an FAQs page which we can use to redirect all support queries. If anyone wants to be a crybaby, we’ll just act concerned and apologetic, then tell them to refer to our Guild Master Services FAQs page where they can seek answers for all of their questions and concerns. Buh’bye…

Jackass B: I’m catchin’ what you’re pitchin’…let’s do this!

I made mention of this a few weeks back, but for those not in the loop…I had my guild taken away to a different realm last month. I confronted the GM who initiated this transfer and he willingly handed the guild over to me once I expressed my displeasure over his self-centered decision. I don’t fault him too much… I mean, our guild had been fairly inactive the past several months, and he was doing the majority of his playing on a different server. He figured no one would mind if he took our 5 1/2 year old guild over to his new realm.

Well…unfortunately no one was really active enough during that time to know what was about to happen. Those that did were naive to the fallout of the Guild Transfer system – should they decide to stay behind – not wanting to move to a new server or pay the associated fees.

Once I realized what had happened I was pissed. Just because we hadn’t been all that active the past few months doesn’t mean we wouldn’t be again… especially with the expansion on the horizon.

I was a little blown away by the fact that our GM thought it would be a reasonably good idea to move our 5 1/2 year old guild to his new realm, taking with him ONE OTHER PLAYER – who only paid for the transfer because they were just a few thousand shy of exalted… but even more amazing was that he was able to do this. Heck…encouraged even. Blizz did a good job of marketing this new service on both their website and WoW startup screen, making it look like an exciting new option for players.

What they didn’t really concern themselves with was the eventual aftermath that could occur when the wrong person has the ability to exercise this power and privilege. Our GM was not what I’d consider to be our rightful GM…he was given the role under duress when our then-GM had to leave the game abruptly for an indefinite period of time. I’m not entirely sure how that went down, but all I know is that there was not a ice cube’s chance in hell that our transfer-happy GM would have been ‘voted in’. He’s a nice guy and all, but…

Anyway, my beef’s not really with him…

I seriously cannot believe that Blizzard provides this service with its current set of rules. There really needs to be some sort of system by which guild members can contest or oppose the transfer through some sort of vote. I mean wow… allowing a GM to ‘take’ an entire guild, with everything it’s worked for…

What’s really pissed me off too is the lack of support I’ve been given in terms of trying to find out the proper procedure for ‘restoring’ my guild. Blizzard support staff are quite friendly on the telephone (especially Zane, he was super-cool, with a high regard for customer care), but as was the case with all of my 3 phone calls over the past month, no one I spoke to could properly answer my questions or address the concerns I had with the re-transfer.

The support ticket system was more than happy to not answer my questions, but rather refer me to the FAQs page. Ugh…

As it stands, early this morning I disbanded my 160+ member ‘left-behind’ version of my guild so that I can transfer back the level 25 guild and retain the name. Now I’m told I have to wait until tomorrow before I can start the transfer, as I need to wait for the armory to update and recognize that there is no guild on the destination server with the same name.

What really sucks is how many inactive veterans of the guild I had to orphan in this process. There will likely be a decent amount of returning players in the coming months logging on with a gray tabard, going WTF..?!

Anyway folks… just needing to vent a little here. This guild re-transfer is not only costing me $35, but it’s also caused me a huge headache, and as you can see… I blame Blizzard.

They do a lot of things right, but this Guild Master Realm Transfer service is just flat-out wrong. It needs work.

Any of you have a similar experience, or know of anyone else who has been a victim of this ridiculous service?

Update: Read part two of this post if you want an idea of how this whole situation has been handled by Blizzard support.