Ascended of Icewatch,
Since before the launch of RIFT 2.3 & Free-to-Play we have seen the population of the European Server Cluster become increasingly more concentrated. The current growth we have seen on Icewatch has reached the point where it has begun to impact your ability to enjoy the game and will soon become unmanageable.
To prevent this from occurring and to ensure you all have the best experience RIFT has to offer, we will be converting Icewatch to a Trial Only shard this evening. This means only Meridian & Sanctum will be accessible. All players will need to relocate to two new English Language PvE shards taking the place of Icewatch & Akala (German RP) using our free in-game Character Transfer.
We realize this is going to be a big surprise, and some of you may be upset. We also understand that this is not ideal, however, at this time opening a new Server Cluster would do more harm than good for all of our European players.
This change will happen during tonight’s scheduled Hot Fix, after which you will be able to log in & follow the instructions when clicking the “Transfer” button at character select. We will be on-hand in-game & the forums to assist in answering questions and make this transition as swift and stress-free as possible.
Thanks for your cooperation, I encourage you to post any questions you might have. We look forward to getting you back to enjoying all the RIFT 2.3: Empyreal Assault has to offer with minimal disruption!
What does “Trial Shard” mean?
Trial Shards offer access to only the starting cities of Meridian and Sanctum. All your characters are still fully accessible and maintain all their features, equipment and items, including their Dimensions. They can be transferred off the shard at any time – our character transfer is still available, of course for free. You can find the transfer function in your character select screen. Guild transfers are also available – if a guild master transfers, he will automatically be given the option to transfer the guild, and all guild members will have the option to follow on their next login.
Please note: The usual transfer restrictions do not apply to trial shards, which means that you can transfer any character with any amount of platinum, as long as their mailbox is empty, as well as any guild, as long as their guild bank is empty.
Please keep in mind, though, that your character name may already be taken on your shard of choice. Our support will not be able to help freeing up a specific name. We understand that role players connect a lot with their name and are very sorry about this inconvenience.
Please feel free to use the forums to coordinate your move with friends and guildmates. We also understand it if you have to vent, but please try to keep your feedback constructive and confined to this thread. Rest assured that you will be heard.
Despite this, we sincerely hope that you will enjoy your future on one of the better populated German servers. Thank you for playing and supporting RIFT!
For more information on Free Characters Transfers please see this handy Free Character Transfer Tutorial.