New World backtracks on region transfers, screwing players
Amazon made a big mistake when it told players that regional transfers are coming to New World.
It seems Amazon Game Studios is learning the tribulations of running a successful MMO the hard way with New World. As the game continues to struggle with long server queues, the developer has seemingly made things worse by communicating incorrect information.
Shortly after New World launched and it became clear that the game is going to be very popular, Amazon responded to its exceedingly long queue times by promising to offer players free transfers between servers as more servers were being spun up.
The server transfer feature was supposed to be live by now, but Amazon delayed it due to some "edge cases." Unfortunately, that's the least of players' problems right now. The main reason why the developer is facing a backlash is because when the feature was initially announced, Amazon confirmed that server transfers will also allow for regional transfers.
As a result, many players decided to temporarily pick servers in regions outside their own simply because they had shorter wait times, with the understanding that they will be able to move back to their own regions once the feature arrives.
With news of the feature's delay, Amazon posted an FAQ on the game's official forums, contradicting the earlier recommendation and admitting that the initial information was not accurate.
"So the ‘transfer to any server’ statement issues earlier was not true?" a question reads. "Unfortunately the original information provided was incorrect."
The post further explains that each region has its own separate database, which is why "it is not possible to re-assign as character to a different region."
Needless to say, the New World community is furious, particularly players who spent dozens of hours playing in different regions. Because of this clarification, they will either need to abandon their characters, or continue playing in other regions, with potentially higher pings. This also means that they won't be able to group up with their friends, who are likely all on servers in their own regions.
If you're enjoying New World despite the grind, long queue times and inconsistent messaging, we've got a few guides that will help you survive. To help with the grind, here's how to quickly farm XP. Our popular PvE and PvP build guide will also get you started on the right path.