Possible Server Merge?

[Shazo]

Before you all start hating on me just because of the title, please, hear what I want to say.

Yes, I am suggesting a Merge of Servers, but that goes only for Chaos and Order, not Blight. Why?

Well at first, each server has to be maintained and payd for, just like any other game. And when one of the servers has a lack of people, or under the border of being actualy worth maintaining it, the Developers usualy Merge that server to another one to save the money, and to give the players a chance to be along with a greater community than their own was being.

Now, with the downfall of Order players, theres barely between 10-25 people per day (not counting weekends where it maybe runs up to 30 or so and discount Jsntron, Woobie and Vulcanos). I don't play on Chaos but I'm certain the difference between numbers is not that big.

Why wouldn't we ask for a Server Merge to be made? The RolePlay.

Well, Order is a Server for RP. Do we have any? I'm an active player, and I didn't have what you can call a Real RP in a good few months or even more. A few years back, there was gatherings and stuff, nowdays its been far too long and it died out. The players come and go, some new, some olders but that doesn't mean there is RP anymore. Newcommers come to Order for RP (seeing the Roleplay being sayd at character creation) and go as they don't see any, and barely some people in there. There is some RP, privately with the people who like or want it, but it's more of a "conversation" kind of RP where you just -sighs- do kind of things like that. With that sayd, I know there are special Events ocurring once or twice a year, but that is not RP events, only for the players to hunt, receive/give gifts, gather around and that is about it.

Differences between Order and Chaos:
-Order is a RP server with its own community.
-Chaos is not a RP server and it has its own community.

Now, I will talk for the Chaos players thinking their Server is being different than Order. At this stage, it is not. Why you ask?

Well, you think there is RP going on all the time. It's not. We have families being made, couples and things, but isn't that what you do too? Like I said I'm not from Chaos, and I haven't been there for more than a few minutes, but from what I know about some players there, and seen OCCly, yes, you do make families, you do call eachother, son, dad, sister, etc. So it is the same. We don't RP anymore at first sight and talk OCCly with brackets. I'd like to like a few years back, but people just don't do that anymore.

Long story short. Oder is for RP, there is none anymore. Only Privately, but that can be done on Chaos too, and there is already. There's no big gap between the two anymore.

Possitives from possible merge:

-The 90% of plots/lairs are not being used at all. With more people in one world only, it might be more crowded.
-Since the rebuild of the Epic bosses, there would be more hunts since there will be more people to gather for them (not only at weekends if you're lucky enough to find a group at a certain time)
-More people to talk to and make friends, help eachother in general.
-Devs can focus more on 1 Testing and 1 Main instead of 1 Testing and 2 of the same kind. Release testing content on Blight, and if there are any bugs on Chaos or Order, then can fix it just on one, and won't need to do it twice. Beside of being easier, it is budget wise more comfortable too.

Possible Negatives from the merge:

-Both communities not really wanting to merge because of server differences, but why? We are the same players. When you get to play a different game and there is only 1 server, you go rampage trying to split it because you want to be on a different one? No.
-Some taken plots/lairs on each server on the same place being conflicted, but it can be sorted out or moved to another desired location with the same dimmensions with everything already build and items included. I bet there are some lairs/plots that the owner would like to relocate but after being all built up just didn't want to loose it all and start over, so decided to stay. It is for the well being of the server itself. Besides, there might be a possibility Devs can make another lair/plot close by the original taken location? I mean, there is like a ton of mountains around that have nothing on them that would suit as a good location for a lair for instance, and there's some lairs at really bad positioned locations that nobody wants. Maybe they can be relocated? I don't know what the Devs are able to do and what not, it's just an suggestion after all.


Well now all the hate comments can come in. But think about it, you'd rather play alone and not have help to ask for when needed, wait for the right people to come Online in maybe days, and see the world empty asking if there is a certain plot near the place you need to gather/be at? Or a more crowded server with more people to meet and greet, more people to help out and be helped, and a place with more life than just empty dirt spots and closed up lairs?

There's no differences anymore between us, let's unite together against the evil which is out there, not us.

[photon wyvern]

Merging doesn't sound like a bad idea. I agree.

[LOVWYRM]

I did not vote "yes" or "no" here.
Though I checked out Chaos recently- if there was free plots or lairs Flame and me could live with: None!
The population on Order indeed is depressing most of the time.
We played on Chaos for years- I still have good friends there and I love Chaos too.
But I still say.:Its 2 different games. And thats ok. And its not because of rp.
The biggest prob I see is the plots and lairs- even if we could get plots/lairs like ours- we would not want to build all up again.
Even not with 100% novians. Two subs-instead of 4-5 would be enough then. Thats concerning us.
So a monetary loss for the company.
We discussed a server merge in the last weeks- the majority of players do not like that.
Thats what I heard.
And we have a lot of sleepers on Order, who hold 2-6 plots. They do not play atm- but pay. Since years some of them.
And a lot of crafter-only- players, who love their plots.
So before we decide- we need to know what the company thinks about that.
Would a server merge balance out the monetary loss of players and subs??
How expensive would it be to implement Shazo`s good ideas or other good offers for Order-people?

Flame and me would not leave the game when it comes to merge.. but we would never leave at all^^
and we haven`t decided yet- maybe Order situation will become better again?
Hope dies last they say^^

[Tilithia]

Voted no.
not until its a necessity.

I respect Order folk for being attached to their shard,tight community,and plots. Id feel exactly the same if numbers were opposite.

[Mithent]

For the perspective of a new Order player: it was difficult to choose between Order and Chaos because I was interested in getting involved with RP but was also concerned about the server population being too small, particularly in EU timezones. When I started playing, it was definitely pretty quiet, and I was a bit worried that I'd made the wrong choice. (Particularly as I don't have any property, a transfer was always an option, although $25 is, admittedly, around twice what I'd really want to pay.)

As I've gotten to know some people, Order has become home to me, and I'm now happy with my decision. I certainly regret not having gotten involved years ago (it's not as if HZ/Istaria was unknown to me). But without any point of comparison, there is something to be said for the small community being fairly easy to mingle with - although Chaos is hardly huge either, so it might not be that different. And I'm less interested in endgame combat than I am in doing things socially - which may involve combat, but need not. However, as noted, it's certainly quieter in EU timezones. It's unfortunate always being one of the first to head off. This is pretty much a universal problem, though.

I wouldn't choose to leave, but I wouldn't mind a merge, either - with one main caveat, really. I've recently had a few tantalising experiences of "world" RP (in emote/say), and I would dearly love to see more of that. I know it's not super prevalent on Order either, what with our small population, but it would be sad if it became something that didn't happen at all.

[Shazo]

Okay, so all of those who took wrong what I meant in my last respone, here is my explanation.

1.) I never sayd that Order players were rude or generaly bad people. They're not. I have still some awesome friends there.

2.) I never sayd that Ming was insulting anyone, nor did I intend to do so. So please, stop with that.

This is my point of view of what I meant.

Order has became very scarse of players. There is allways the same 10 to 15 active players around. With this knowledge, it is asumed that everybody knows everybody.

As of what I meant with "specialty" is that if someone in Order is in need of an Alchemist 100, they'll probably all recomend "xxx" player because of the lack of people, there is only one active Alchemist 100 around. Thus, people being "known" like a "celebrity" because of that. And even if some people hide that fact, they like to be "special" in their way in their small world of basicaly 20 people around.

Property? Yes, there are some specific locations that are special and very good, be it due to nearby resources and stuff. But people are just too obsessed with what their have like if they won it in lotery and couldn't eventualy rebuild it somewhere else. That is not true, people HAVE the ability to either remake, or even have their plot transfered to a place with same dimentions as they had, but they just keep their teeth on the build because they spent perhaps a few days logged on making it.

And no, I am absolutely not saying that people from Order just don't want to release their grasp on what is left of Order. I understand that some feel comfortable there, but is it really comfortable?

Look at it from this point of view. You're comfortable on Order due to your friendships there. If everyone moved to the same shard, their friends would be with them. I mean, just because they would move the friendship would disolve? What sort of "friendship" is that then?

They're cozzy because of what they know. Like Chaos is another map? Another world? Another game? Is the exact same landscape, with exact same NPCs, exact same air. And if you say it because of the Roleplay of Order, you're wrong. There is NO RP left on Order like it used to be. Memories are there, from the great NT gatherings and tales. And they won't dissapear if you move to another place.

I am not forcing anyone to move anywhere, I am just saying both sides because most of you are just like " Oh no, Order is better, Order is still alive, Order will be allways alive, We are happy here with only 20 people weekly with nobody to help us, and we won't go anywhere untill we die." That was a bit extreme, but some people actualy do talk like that from Order, thus why I moved.

I have played in Order almost for like 7 years or even more. I love Order, or at least, what it used to be. So yes, I do know Order pretty well, and their people.

Why do you think people leave to Chaos? Is it just because? Order is starting to die out, many are gone, but not from the game, only from Order. I won't answer you the question why, because if the one asking themselves why, doesn't know the answer. They must be either dumb or blind.

Also, have in mind, the Devs have to support an aditional "dead" server with sleepers and casually 10-15 players daily. All that cash goes only due to you people. And beware that keeping up a server is not that cheap. All of your Order subs only cover maybe the maintenance of it, not the actual payment of the staff. The Devs have to update both servers manualy, applying the same thing to both, and half of the time, is going to waste.

Is not all only about you. You just don't want to think abotu what is best for all, only what is best for you and your bubble of friends.


Now, you can go and hate on me. I don't care. Be blind if you want. Order has died out anyway, there is nothing you can do about it, and the game will end up closing sooner or later itself. There is no point of defending it with your life.

[Dacurly]

I'm sure I am like most players on the Chaos server (could be wrong), if Order was going to merge with Chaos and all our Guild owned plots did not change in any way, then I would be for a merge. But if Chaos was to merge with Order and we had to rebuild everything then NO. I'm sure the players of Order will feel the same way. So how can a merge be done without loosing players (I,m sure some will not like having to rebuild and just quit playing) so then the game looses in the merge more than it would gain.

So I didn't vote on your poll, would need more info on how it would be done to make a good decision.

Now maybe the Devs could cut out the fee to move from one shard to another so players could change shards if they are not happy where they are.

[Shazo]

So the biggest issue as to why against the server merge as I see is the Plots/Lairs issue.

I guess that is the main if not the only reason why the Devs still keep the two servers separated. But if they were able to build the same way/give/transfer everything you have built to another location of your choice, would you accept? I mean, If I had a fully built plot and I was giving the offer to transfer to any empty plot of my choice without loosing a brick Id accept. You can rebuild it anyway, and theres tons of places to be at. Maybe the mayor issue to many of the plots is the simple reason fo not being portals/pads closeby. Some could be build? There many regions where you can reach by a few minutes of pure running/flying, and they lack of spots to teleport to.

[awdz]

Long story short. Oder is for RP, there is none anymore. Only Privately, but that can be done on Chaos too, and there is already. There's no big gap between the two anymore.

I think this misses a key component of why, when coming to Istaria, Order may be chosen. Because IC is the norm, it is an escape from discussions about rl things. I do not want to enable typical OOC chatter in the fantasy world where I go to get away from it.

[meepsa]

another no from me, I am on both servers for reasons, and I'd like to keep it that way.

another idea though (came to me because of Darkwing's loyalty idea), how about a free transfer token every [x] months of subbing (every month counts up quickly, so that's why I'm sugggesting multiple months per token)?

[Shazo]

Why not just give a free option to transfer a character between shards, but after pending the option, if you want to go back youll need to pay.

Like when the rename token came out, everyone had the oportunity to use one freely, but next time had to pay.

[Racktor]

I'm a few days tardy to the party, but this was brought up before recently and I'll just quote my original comment on it:

Reallllyy not a good idea. Plots are what hold a lot of people here and if you end up merging the servers, you're going to be stuck with a lot of conflicts everywhere and a lot of unhappy players who lose their years of work on a plot. Furthermore, Chaos and Order have two different themes - roleplay and regular. Most MMOs I've seen these days have these separated and for good reason - nobody who wants to just play the game wants to bother with the rules of roleplay and common courtesy that comes with it. Order even has special rules on character naming that Chaos does not.

Yes, it sounds very good in concept to see more players on one server, I agree - but you have to think of Istaria's situation specifically as well as the reason those two servers exist in the first place. I only seriously considered merging the servers over the winter last year when Order was struggling to hold 10 people at once.. but now it's back to 20-30. Otherwise I'd never consider it.

Sorry if any of these points were brought up/debated before, but I'm still really busy getting set up after a lot of moving and lack of internet and don't have much time to do much more than skim ^^;

[xWaterwingx]

I am also quite late to the party, if I may say.

I am saying yes to the merge, but it seems all the problems are due to:
- players wanting to keep their lairs/plots in the very spots they bought and built them (same dimensions, everything in it's place)
-conflicts between players (and thus changing shards to get away from said conflicts)
-naming policies (including players with the same names)
-sleepers
-money for the company

What people keep doing in this post is repeating the same issues over and over as the sole reason they won't merge, but aren't giving many options or solutions to those issues.

The reason I agreed to a merge is due to somewhat personal matters, but I have some resolutions for the others who oppose. Hear me out.

1) Conflicts due to lairs being in the same place.

This requires a one on one talk between the players holding the plots from each shard. As someone suggested (was it Shazo or Azath? I don't remember haha ^^;;), there would be an email sent regarding the merge possibility. If the merge is imminent, a second email should be sent reminding the player if they are holding a lair (or multiple lairs) that conflict with so-and-so's lair from the other shard. However, there are three problems here: if one or both players do not cooperate or respond, if both players refuse to relocate their lair/plot, or if [I forgot this third problem dangit lmao].

Upon receiving the first email, all active (players who are subbed, or on free trial, sleeper or not) players should be more lenient with each other's wants and needs. If a player chose to build on a plot for crafting and utility purposes, or to utilize a close portal, they should be more understanding if the other player(s) chose theirs for scenery. I'm not saying it's mandatory, but just a thought.

2) Conflicts between players

I'm going to be frank, people need to start to suck it up. Whether or not you want to believe it, Istaria is just a video game, and the people you meet will never get to the point where they can ruin your entire life unless you can physically talk to them or they know your personal information. If a player is bothering you, there is the Ignore button, which will hide you from their game, as well as hide them from your game. You will never see each other, or hear about them unless other players speak about/to them. If they attempt to slander your name, there are devs you can contact through tickets that will address the problem, and there is the law and police force if they are unlawful. We are not children, and we have all had that one person we absolutely despise, but can live with or tolerate on a daily basis. If you need emotional support, myself, Pryzm, and many other friends of mine are there for help. That's not to say you can be biased or cause them more trouble than it's worth if you chose to give that support.

3) Naming policies/people with the same name

This one is troublesome, mostly for the latter. Players will have a character with the same name on each shard. Most of the time these are on the same account, and so an email verification (possibly in the same email with conflicting plots-- conflicting characters?) would do players good. If they want to keep the characters, one can pick which to archive (or not if there are spaces open), that will have _order/chaos or some kind of number at the end of the name, like today. Regarding the name policies differentiating between the shards, I don't think this is an eminent problem. Chaos doesn't have strict naming policies (though I don't know what Order's are) unless it's inappropriate, etc. Players should be free to name themselves whatever they want and shouldn't be penalized if there is a merge.

4) Sleepers

What I feel I am most lenient with are the “sleepers,” as you all seem to call them. If an email is sent out, this may be the only way the sleepers are reached. If a merge is imminent, a sleeper’s account should be moved as well. However, there is a possibility that these accounts hold multiple plots. If it is known that the account is paying for those plots but is not active, by default the plots will be relocated if they do not reply and create a compromise with any player with a conflicting lair. This is how it should be for all conflicts, truthfully. If you do not reply, you take the hit. This doesn't matter for a sleeper, so until they cancel their subscriptions, they will continue paying.

5) Lost money/less player purchases but higher possibility

The problem here is from purchases other than subscriptions. Player shard transfer tokens cost 25$ per character, quite pricey if you ask me, but a nice sum for the company. Combining the shards (excluding Blight of course) would make this option redundant. But, if you're like me, more players on a server draws you in. I can see more players sticking around to enjoy the game and it's community, and buying a subscription. Two players equals about 20 dollars per month, assuming they pay monthly, which in total is way more than a single pay option. Running a single server would also be helpful to developers in terms of maintenance and updates, as well as feedback. There is also the wasted money spent from transferring a character to a shard. If you did it to get away from someone, suck it up. It'd be better to just leave the game at that point, to be frank. I'll only feel empathetic because you lost money. If you did it for convenience, I am terribly sorry. I don't know what compensation Virtrium would offer, if any.

6) Extra things to note

-There is a lack of players on Order, as Shazo has said.
-There isn’t much RP as there was years ago on Order. On Chaos, from personal experience, people have role-played plentifully on Chaos, be it family role-plays, stories and battles, etc. Istaria is known for its story and lore, players like to make their own stories and it’s no surprise there is role-playing on Chaos, where there are more players to RP with.
-There isn’t much of a difference on either shard anymore, except whether or not the shard has a community large enough to be called one. A community large enough to give feedback and report bugs - that’s what developers need. Even though both shards can be called a single community, it's the exact same as a single shard, which also means this doesn't matter as much as the other, more important issues.

Anyway, just my 2c guys. I'm in agreement with a merge, and all that's left for me is to view it from a developer's perspective, and discuss it with you all.

[Spyrioyo]

No, this a bad idea very bad. Merging Order and Chaos. It's just cause endless drama and people will quit. I know people who went to order to get away from drama that happens in the Chaos Shard. So no. Not a got idea plus people will lose their plots. It just cause more fights over plots and stuff.

[Tilithia]

Those who escaped one server for this reason to start over,would have no where to go beside blight and that does not sound like a fun idea.

[Shazo]

Well, yeah that might be true, didnt think about it since I have no such issues.

[Drakarius Shadows]

Without more information did not vote.
A lot of players were lost when the shards first merged for many reasons.
That could likely happen with another merger.

[Shazo]

Its kinda the same when you start out freshly in a game, you are lost and disoriented, but you get used to it as the days go by, its just a matter of acceptance of new things, but the 90% of people prefer to stay in what they know and dont want to risk anything they have even if that means a benefit for them

[Azath]

I say yes on personal reasons that I have a lot of chaos freinds and can't sustainably double sub (thus allowing me to dual log) between servers, so, at some point i'm going to have to decide between order friends and chaos friends...And the one plot i hold can certainly be relocated without much issue, or even rebuilt.

But on a wider scale, i would be concerned that 1. lost revenue from no more shard transfers, 2. lost revenue from lost subs from a few i could name who have issues with certain players and moved server to avoid it, and 3. lost revenue from people not wanting to recreate plots and kind of...give up.


Now, it's order which is lacking players, so i think it's "we" (coming from currently an order main) who should have to relocate (And hopefully done as shazo says - the option to move to a plot/lair of the same size, with coin taken for price differences if need be, with all plots copied precisely) and leave chaos' plots be.


Firstly, yes, i would only agree to a yes if plots could be moved as Shazo suggests - everything copied precisely building for building, flower for flower, lair room for lair room.
I think that order players get a choice: either keep its plots where compatible (where empty on chaos) and where incompatible always be allowed to move to a plot of the exact same size/dimensions (and as above, coin paid for any price differences potentially). That is, no rebuild needed, just a change of convenient portals.

The point of the choice is...lets take a settlement, say Lerena for example. One player (or a group of players) on order own 3 plots and a lair in this settlement, they keep the plots close together for their convenience. On chaos, 2 of those plots are taken, and if all plots would be automatically placed into vacant spaces on chaos they'd have 2 plots in Lerena and 2 plots elsewhere...they might then be frustrated because they want all 4 of their plots to be in one settlement (why not get a guild? because they might multiple players over multiple guilds, or they think guild settlements are ugly or whatever) - so given a choice, they might elect to move all 4 peices of property to a new place instead of taking the vacant spots.

But we still come across a problem...alright, so, I used to own a plot on chaos in Mia's Edge. I was suprised it wasn't taken because it's a really appealing plot. I don't own it anymore, but I think it's a safe bet that multiple order players, assuming it's still free, would want to relocate there.
If multiple people want one plot, how is it to be resolved? Mind that merging is already a forced thing, bidding happened a long time ago but is it fair to say to people "you gotta bid if you want this land" when they already have had to move their plot anyway? Is bidding effective, even, anymore?

One problem we come across we saw in Lovwyrm's post - a lot of "sleepers" on both shards. People who keep subbed but don't play...I'll cover that in a different section.


This section - things we should do before we consider a merge.

Firstly I think there needs to be a consensus. I'd want 95% at least of the order shard to agree to a merge, and that is all active accounts (defined as an account with access - yknow, free or paid) with a character on order. The less active players, the easier it is to get this goal so naturally if orders population is low enough that we need a merge this is more likely to be fulfilled.

There should also be some sort of consensus on chaos - 80% agreement IF chaos gets to keep the plots it already has. This is with my preferred conditions, that order is the one to relocate its plots and not chaos. IF chaos' plots are touched in any way by force of the merge, then that should be 100%.

These are harsh conditions, but I think that if population is low enough on order to a point where a merge is needed, then those conditions will be met.


And..even before that, emails need to be sent out to ALL accounts who are paying, free access, or have played istaria within the past..what, 5 years maybe, 10 years? but don't play any longer.

This is to entice people back to the game (the point of sending it out to active accounts is to gauge opinions and get those so called "sleepers").

Said email will state that a merge is being considered, and should perhaps link to a questionnaire or something that poses the question of "Would you be likely to play istaria again if the Order and Chaos shards were merged?" With a likert scale to answer (that is, a scale of agreement in this case. So answers range from Certainly > very likely > likely > unlikely > very unlikely > Never). A second question should follow it up - a question that guages whether their answer is due to the merge or to other factors - for example, one who doesn't have enough time to play may be unlikely to play istaria again in all cases, regaurdless of the merge, even if they are in support of it. Or simply a...do you want to actively play istaria/do you support the merge as seperate questions, obviously worded more fancy.

If much of replies give a certain/very likely answer, or an answer that indicates they'd still play or support the merge then the merge should be iminenent.
If too much disagreement is shown then it should not be considered.

EDIT: I understand there is issues with using questionnaires (in terms of validity), and thus i think the return rate of questionnaires needs to be at least 20-30% to be accurate from non-active accounts/former players, and i'm honestly not sure what return rate you'd need from active accounts since its difficult to differentiate who's a "sleeper" or not.


On another note, istaria needs to make a "break even" at least to survive. There's a loss in revenue from lost subs from frustration, but reveue is merely a number of what money is made, and does not account for what money is lost.
There's a potential that lost revenue does not outweigh the losses of keeping the order shard going...but I simply, right now, do not think this is true. I'm assuming, and anyone informed can correct me if i'm wrong, that with all the sleeper subs on order, along with those who don't neccesarily play everyday but might play only on the weekeneds, that we can keep up and therefore, i do not yet think a merge is needed. Maybe that'll change in the future.

[Shazo]

Well, pointing to the votation idea and all. The main trouble here is that the players that <u>DON'T</u> want to move it's because they are just so Goat Headed that don't want to move their plots/lairs elsewhere. Maybe the Devs should consider making new plot/lair locations that would be more apealing for the player to actualy use, instead of having so many empty settlements that nobody ever wanted.

I'm certain like 10/30 plots per say, have not been ever used just because of the simple reason of being in a very unusefull spot, or plain ugly.

There is so mutch terrain space that can be used. The question is. If Devs were able to make new locations, lets say, on places that players consider important or would like to have a plot/lair on said location (hence I came across many palces I was like, omg, I wish there was a lair here to buy), would people agree on Merging then?

Because lets be honest, there are issues between players and drama between shards, but that happens not only here but in other games too. Drama is everywhere, that doesn't man you can run away from it. You think Chaos has drama players and you run to Order to avoid it? You're wrong, theres drama masters in Order too, but since being a lack of people, there is less.

But let's put aside "your" troubles with chaos/order players, and think about others and general server wellbeing.

People are just being too "nononononononono, Im good where I am and I don't give a ... about what others want". What sort of community is this? Aren't we supposed to be supporting eachother, even being across other servers? When your neighbor is annoying but you dont have the budget to move, you just tell him to go away? Or you go to sleep to another street? No, you learn to live with it and get along.

I am not asking Everyone to be moving because they want. I am asking a serve merge, because we, Order players, want more company, people to play with, more players we don't have just because Order is meant to be for Roleplay which there is None! And because of that, the 50% of Order population suffers from lonelyness, helplessnes, being loners, not having weapons, not being able to epic hunt, or even do RoP/ARoP!

Please, if not considering a server merge, let at least choose the players to transfer to Chaos freely, because not everyone has the money to buy the transfer token! If Order wants to stay where it is, be so, but don't chain us, the players that want to merge, to stay.

Me for an instance, wouldn't mind to move to Chaos if I had the chance to, transfer my characters there and play with more people. The only reason why I didn't yet is because I don't want to rebuild my ancient I worked hard on. And I don't have the money for a character transfer.