New World server transfers delayed due to 'edge cases,' no transfers between regions

[ You get one free transfer to another server in your region.]

[Image credit: Amazon]

The New World team has provided a bit of an update on server transfers, a promised feature that they laid the groundwork for earlier this week but haven't yet released. A post on the New World game forums has updated a bit on that process, why it's held up, and what it'll be like when it launches.

In short, a character will get a free token from the in-game store, they can use it to transfer to a world that's not full, not in maintenance, and is in the same region as theirs. You'll keep all of your progression, currency, houses, and the like, but you won't maintain a company membership, friends list, or trading post orders.

The announcement is taking a lot of flak from New World players angered that the company is going back on their statement that transfers between regions would be allowed. A tweet from the New World account on September 28th saying as much has been widely, and angrily, cited by players who feel they've wasted time on characters they can no longer move to friends' servers.

Yes, you can move between regions if you want.

— New World (@playnewworld) September 28, 2021

"Unfortunately the original information provided was incorrect," said Amazon Games in an FAQ about the transfers.

Why are server transfers taking a bit to get implemented? "During our testing, we uncovered some edge cases where the transfer experience does not meet our standards for its release. This means that we will be taking some extra time to get these issues resolved before we feel comfortable giving everyone their free server transfer token," said community manager TrevzorFTW.

Here's the full Q&A on transfers:

How do I transfer my character?

• You need to log into your character, which means waiting in any applicable queues.
• Go to the in-game store where there will be a new tab to claim your character transfer token.
• You need to leave your Company.
• You need to remove any active Trading Post sell orders and buy orders.
• Your character must be located in a sanctuary (such as a settlement or outpost).

What comes with me when I transfer?

• You will keep all character progression (level, weapon mastery, titles, etc.).
• You will keep your Faction alliance and progress
• You will keep your inventory and storage.
• You will keep all of your currency.
• You will keep your houses and housing decorations.
• You will keep all quest progress.

What does not transfer with my character?

• Your Company membership needs to be terminated before transferring, and will not carry over.
• Active Trading Post sell orders and buy orders must be removed and will not carry over.
• Your friend's list is world-specific and will not transfer.
• Where can I move my character too?
• You can move your character to any world in your region, except:
• You cannot move your character to a full world.
• You cannot move your character to a world in maintenance.
• You cannot move your character to a world setting that you have an existing character in already.

The post stresses that you should be careful choosing a world, as more transfer tokens will not be immediately available. There may be another wave of free tokens, and it will "later make server transfer tokens available for purchase in the store. We will give notice ahead of time when tokens are changing to a paid service."

Getting an MMO's servers working smoothly is no mean feat, let alone transferring material between them when the company has seen totally unexpected levels of interest in its game. Yesterday's technical issues resulted in an extended maintenance downtime, which is no real surprise, seeing as Amazon Games had to halt character creation on overstuffed servers and we've been keeping up a list of info on servers.