Update: 12:24pm — Blizzard just notified me that I cannot return the guild to its former server and retain the name. I have to wait 90 days, at which time they’ll gladly accept another $20 from me to get the guild’s rightful name back. No one ever thought to mention this to me before today. It just keeps getting better, doesn’t it…?!
Here’s a follow-up to yesterday’s post – describing in detail the amount of ‘support’ I’ve received when requesting information and assistance concerning how I’m to recover my guild and undo the wrong that’d been done.
As a whole, I think Blizzard does great things and usually I’m impressed with their support. I guess maybe that’s why I’m so perturbed over this whole Guild Realm Transfer incident. It’s been a major disappointment…the lack of customer care.
This post is in response to a previous comment where someone asked how support had been handling this matter. I started to answer in the comments, but then decided I’d take it to a post. That way I can describe in detail all that’s happened, and hopefully expose the flaws associated with giving one player absolute control over a multi-player entity.
I’m not going to quote Blizz’s support responses out of fear that I may be overstepping some bounds, but I am going to briefly and accurately paraphrase the support conversations – with my tickets copied here verbatim.
Just to review again… last month our ‘placeholder’ GM thought it would be a fun idea to take my guild over to the new server where he’s been doing the majority of his playing these days. The 183 member roster had been pretty inactive, so he figured no one would mind. So, he gave the guild a week’s notice of his intention in the guild note, then proceeded to transfer it.
I was one of the inactives during that particular week, so I was in the dark as to what was about to go down. When it did hit me what was happening, I figured it was the popular choice, and maybe that’s what the active players wanted to do. However, after realizing that the GM transferred with only one other following him (and that was only so the player could finish up his grind to exalted, then they quit…), I was pretty upset.
This just seemed wrong in so many ways. I could see moving a guild to a new realm if a core group of players wanted to head to a new server, but not if a GM thinks it’s alright to leave 183 members ass-out just because the guild’s become pretty quiet. Players often come and go… WoW’s been around for 7 years – it’s expected that people will take time off now and then – sometimes months and even years.
The GM was already cozy in a level 25 guild on his new server…why did he need to take my guild..?! He was agreeable when I requested that he give it back so that I could return it, but trying to figure out how to properly ‘restore’ a guild has been nothing short of a real hassle.
The following is an overview of my struggle with Blizzard in trying to get the guild ‘back’…
When I first learned of what had happened last month, I submitted an in-game ticket to find out what course of action I should take.
This is what I said:
Our GM transferred my lvl25 guild to another server, and now the guild is back to level 1 w/ an appointed lame-duck alt as GM. I was unaware of this plan.
Is there some way I can assume control of this guild? I’ve been in it since ’06, and I’d hate to see it dissolve.
I’m not privy to how this whole guild x-fer system works… Did we lose all of our perks now that the GM has run off to another server? Seems like the 183 of us left behind got hosed. The x-fered guild is a 2 member, lvl 25 guild.
A few hours later a game master replied via my account help desk. All that he concerned himself with was whether the transfer had been legit, and not the result of an account compromise. Apart from that, he basically ignored my concerns, told me to be careful in the future, and to have a good day.
This lack of concern pissed me off a little bit, as you could imagine.
My next ticket in this thread read like this:
I’ve requested that the GM hand over leadership to me. Although I’m a bit miffed that he’s run off with all of the guild’s progression – for he and one friend of his – I’m mostly concerned with the 183 members still on Kul Tiras and the fact that we’re one of the oldest guilds on the server.
C*** D******* still exists on Kul Tiras, correct? Even though the guild level has been reset to one, the guild and all its members are still intact, right?
On a side note, this person who was ‘GM’ was only given the role by default when our true GM left the game last spring due to an emergency. In my opinion, this move of his seems like an abuse of power. There are a few of us who’ve been in this guild for 5+ years, and didn’t wish for this to happen.
I can’t help but feel this guild transfer system is flawed. ‘One player’ takes the ‘entire’ guild and all its perks to another server, while 183 members who ‘do not’ want to leave KT are left behind with a tabard and a lvl 1 guild.
Sorry for the rant… I just hope that the guild still exists on ‘KT”. Can you please let me know. Thank you.
The next reply was pretty helpful in terms of spelling out just how f**ked we all were. The game master did a thorough job of explaining the Guild Master Realm Transfer system and all that it entails, for our then-183 member roster. He also said that he was sorry I disagreed with my former GM’s decision to transfer the guild, but in short, the GM has full control and can do what he or she wants with the guild — there’s nothing a game master can do to override it as long as the transfer is legit.
Now that I’d fully realized the fate of our guild, I decided that I needed to get our level 25 guild back. Personally, I could have been alright with ‘starting fresh’, although I may have been a bit grumbly for awhile, however, there are a few other members who contributed quite a bit in terms of getting the guild leveled and the bank loaded. I didn’t want to ask them to start over, plus…I figured if I’m going to be captain of this ship then it would be much easier to rebuild a level 25 guild than a level 1. 😉
Alright, so I’ve decided to pay the annoying fee to undo all of this, but I want to know how to go about it. This is a sensitive issue and I don’t want to botch anything.
Here’s my next ticket…
I’ve gained control over C*** D******* on Kul Tiras, and the GM of C*** D*******Â on D*********** has agreed to let me transfer the guild back to Kul Tiras.
What’s the next step in the “guild restoration” process?
Seriously… this guild transfer system needs some work. This $70 worth of aggravation was certainly not needed. While I think it was wrong of him to initiate the transfer, I’m equally annoyed over the fact that he was allowed to do it. There needs to be a system in place by which members can veto the transfer, or at least contest it somehow.
Had I been aware of his plan I would have talked with him and prevented it, but because I was not on much at that time, with no way to get ahold of him, there was nothing I could do. Anyhow… just seems wrong. Also, it appears some of the members left behind were unaware that we would lose everything in the process. I know the info regarding guild transfers is available on the Blizz site, but maybe some more cautionary in-game advisements and warnings would be a good idea, along with a system that empowers the popular vote, rather than the GM monarchy.
Anyway, thanks in advance for the assistance. 🙂
The next reply was completely unsatisfying. All the game master did was take my request literally, telling me there was no “Guild Restoration” service available. Obviously, I was aware of that, but I felt it was the most accurate and concise way to describe what it was I was wanting to do. I just wanted a game master to say, alright…first of all you need to do this, then you need to do this…and after you do that, then you’ll need to do this, etc… Once you’ve done all that, then your guild will be back on Kul Tiras, with you and all of your members sorted out.
Could I get that sort of response…no…
All he said was that I couldn’t get my guild ‘restored’, then went on to tell me how valuable my feedback has been on their new Guild Transfer System, and that I really should share it on the official forums.
Well, I’m a sharin’ it, but not on the Blizzard forums — I tend to avoid them.
After the last headdesk of a ticket reply, I sent in this very brief and to-the-point ticket:
Is there no way to transfer C*** D*******Â back to Kul Tiras? Can’t I pay the transfer fee and have C*** D*******Â back on KT, or are guild transfers one-way only?
The reply to this one thanked me for enjoying World of Warcraft, and told me to please consult our billing support page or to call them on the phone for answers to my questions.
After this last reply, I had had it. I phoned Blizz so that I could properly voice my concerns and illustrate exactly what it was I was wanting to do — which is basically “get my guild back!” How hard is that to understand…F…F…S!?
The support guy I spoke with was very helpful and able to answer many of my questions. He cleared up a few things concerning what I’d need to do in order to prepare for the re-transfer. What he wasn’t able to do was give me confirmation on whether or not all of my members would be able to return to the guild at their previous reputation levels after the ‘re-transfer’. I got a few ‘shoulds’, but never a definite ‘yes’.
It really started to seem as if Blizz felt I was making an unreasonable request, and that Blizzard had never banked on an incident such as mine. As in… “You want to what…?! Why not just pay the $25 and transfer to where the GM’s taken the new guild — and tell the rest of your peeps to do the same. Good day, sir.”
That’s a harsh generalization, but seriously…Blizz support’s apathetic view towards what went down was pretty unsettling. A lot of players would probably quit over a situation such as mine, especially when Blizz isn’t doing all they can to try and make things right.
At any rate…I had to wait for the 30 day guild transfer to be up before I could move the guild back anyway, so I shelved this issue for a few weeks.
Guild Transfers impose a 30 day cooldown of the service, with the other particulars being that the GM needs to be at least level 10 and has to have been acting as GM for at least a week, and the guild must have at least one member. Apart from that, your mailbox must be cleared and then provided all rules are adhered to…you can transfer a guild. There ya go… now you know how this BS system works.
Fast-forward 30 days and now I’ve directed my attention back to restoring the guild, so I send in another ticket looking for guidance…
I am in control of the leveled and legit version of my guild which was wrongfully transferred last month to D***********. I wish to transfer C*** D******* of D*********** back to its original server, which is Kul Tiras.
On Kul Tiras, my main is in control of the 163 member ‘left-behind’ version of the guild.
What happens when I transfer the C*** D******* of D*********** to Kul Tiras?
My goal is to get the ‘level 25’ C*** D******* back on Kul Tiras, with my main as GM, and keep our roster intact.
What do I need to do to make this happen. I am aware that you impose a 30 day cooldown on transfers, and I do believe C*** D******* is outside of that now.
I had a previous ticket in about this issue, but I don’t see a history of it now. Basically, my guild was more or less ‘taken’ last month and I’m trying to get it back.
The reply to this ticket was of little help. The game master told me I had to wait for the 30 day cooldown, which I’d mentioned was up, and in fact had expired two days prior. Then they went on to say that this new transfer will create a ‘new guild’.
I may have uttered a few cuss words after having waited 17+ hours for that useless reply.
Here was my follow-up…
That didn’t answer much, unfortunately.
C*** D******* was ‘taken’ to D*********** by our former GM. After confronting him about this ridiculous and self-centered decision – permitted by this even more ridiculous guild transfer system – he gave me control of both the level 1 (on Kul Tiras) and level 25 (on Dragonblight) versions of my guild.
The leveled C*** D******* on D*********** is awaiting transfer back to Kul Tiras, with my level 8, newly created alt in control of the guild.
I need answers to the following questions…
– Do I need to be a certain level to transfer the guild back to Kul Tiras?
– My guild has no members. Do I need members to transfer back to Kul Tiras?
– What happens to the 163 member, level one version of C*** D******* that’s on Kul Tiras?
– Will I have to disband the level one version on KT prior to moving the level 25 guild over from D***********?
– How do I get Garwulf – Kul Tiras appointed to GM of the transferred guild? Do I need to appoint someone else as GM, then have them invite me and re-appoint me?I know this isn’t possible, but I need a ‘guild restore’, and I need to know how to go about it. The guild transfer system that Blizzard has introduced allowed our jackass of a GM to transfer the whole f**king guild for HIMSELF. I have dozens and dozens of members awaiting the return of this guild to Kul Tiras.
The fact that Blizz allowed this ONE person to move an entire guild just boggles the mind. Please make amends by assisting me in properly undoing this. I don’t want some canned response, so please escalate this ticket if need be. I don’t want to be chasing my tail here. I want to be sure this process goes smoothly, and I don’t want to initiate anything until I know what’s to be expected, and that I’m satisfied with how it’s to be handled.
Regards, Craig
Due to the history of this support thread, and because of the tone used in the above ticket, I really hoped to get someone’s attention — ensuring a ‘hands-on’ conscientious reply to my increasingly frustrating situation.
Did I get a thorough response from Blizz customer care…nope. Once again, this ended with me being forwarded to the FAQs, which never touch on what to do in my given situation. They also reiterated that the transfer would create a new guild on Kul Tiras and that I’d have to rename it.
I don’t want to change the name..! And what about our rep..?! Will the ‘new guild’ recognize its former members and return our rep..? Answer me that..!
At this point I was getting sick and tired of being fed these copy/paste types of answers, with no one really assisting me in ‘getting my guild back’.
Once again… I phoned Blizzard support. The guy I spoke with was not able to answer my questions, but he did make the effort to seek someone in the office who could could try to help. In other words, he seemed to care about the predicament I was in and wanted to help as best he could. He even submitted a game master ticket on my behalf – outlining all of my concerns over the re-transfer process. His name was Zane, and by far… he was the most helpful support rep that I’d dealt with during this whole fiasco.
However…after 5 days with no reply to Zane’s submitted ticket, I updated the ticket…
5 days with no response. This seems a bit excessive.
This resulted in a pretty quick response, but again…it was another “please refer to our FAQs page for all of your concerns…”, and they also indicated that my transfer would create a ‘new guild’ and that the name would have to be changed.
I’m sure many of the support staff play WoW and would actually be sympathetic to my situation, but I also think a lot of them are just ‘working there’ — dishing out canned copy/paste responses from a GM handbook. God forbid you ask a question that’s not addressed in the included training manual.
As it stands now, I’ve given up… I disbanded the level one guild and am waiting for the armory to update so that I can put in for a transfer of the level 25 guild. I had to disband the level one guild, due to the system preventing the transfer due to same-name guilds on a server. I had no idea I’d have to wait for server maintenance for that info to update. Once I’m able to transfer, I’m just going to hope that all goes smoothly.
I’d hate to think I wasted $35 on a transfer, plus several hours of my life running in circles with Blizzard’s tech support.
I’m pretty much done with my rant, but I will be sure to let you know how things have shaken out once all of the dust is settled.
This is absolutely terrible and should not be allowed to happen. I can’t believe Blizzard would implement something like this with all the possible pitfalls that could occur for many other players in guilds that fall victim to this sort of thing. I would freak out if something like this happened in our guild. Luckily I’m the GM though and I would never go anywhere without everyone knowing and putting in their two cents.
There most certainly should be a veto system and if they can’t find a way to work out the fine tuning on this than it just should not exist as a service at all. It’s a wonder you didn’t go nuts dealing with all the customer service bullshit.
Gar, I just read your 2 posts on this.
This is ridiculous. I know you are wise enough to generally avoid the WoW Forums, but in this case you really need to post both of your pieces on the official forums, in General Discussion. Use an alt if you like.
Customer Service agents are ONLY allowed to respond according to their training manuals, but CANNOT treat any concerns about the system as legitimate feedback. The only way it gets taken into account as real feedback is if it’s on the Forums.
So, please post these. They will generate a lot of support, and I’m confident that Blizzard will seriously take notice and move to fix this system.
Good luck, and glad to see you back in the saddle after a period of silence. Was getting worried about you, hahaha!
Kaz
Hi Kaz,
I’ve been around, just been too busy to post, nor have I had much to post about. My WoW-time has been spent finishing up my latest UI setup, along with trying to take care of this guild re-transfer mess. Sheesh…I’m glad that is over.
I did post something earlier this afternoon, but it’s gotten buried beneath the deluge of other posts submitted today.
http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/3789458983
I think that I managed to open their eyes a bit to how this service can be abused. I know they didn’t intend for this type of thing to happen, and that the realm transfer service definitely can be a good thing, but I believe I exposed a glaring downside to offering this service. We’ll see if anything comes of it, but I’m willing to bet they’ll put something in place to prevent any more situations such as the one I’ve been dealing with.
I jokingly told the support guy I spoke with that they should add a ‘Garwulf Contingency Plan’ to the GM Realm Transfer Service. He thought that was sorta funny…
Hi Shannarria,
When were you in the guild? Seems like I remember your name… did you have a priest named Shannaria in the guild?
I just got off the phone with Blizzard…again…but I’m happy to say that I received excellent customer service this time. I believe the wheels are in motion and CD will be reborn!
You would know me from the Vanilla days where “Yeah” always pulled whelps when we ran Ony and Moleki was our Main Tank. My main, at the time, was Shannaria, a NE Warrior OT.
Wow that really sucks. CD was one of my first and by far one of my top 3 favorite guilds I was able to be a part of. Keep us posted and I hope you can get CD back.