'Realm' population control

[Dundebuns]

A lot of my friends pre purchased, but I have opted to wait patiently until proper release in a few days time to join in. I've alread heard that some 'realms' (or whatever their name is in GW2) being closed to new characters. Is this true? And does anyone know if this is ana rtifical population control, or if the servers really are filled to capacity?

[Deleted]

A friend of mine couldn't transfer his character to Desolation as it was marked as full, but when he deleted it (it was only level 1 or 2) he could create a character on the server, despite being full.

[Starry101]

They have slowly been op ending more spots on these servers, none are truly full yet.

[Mothhive]

I created my characters on Desolation earlier, but ended up transferring them to a US server to pick up my HoM rewards (they were bugged in EU), and then I couldn't get back on Desolation as it was full. A few hours later it was at High again and I was able to transfer them, so it looks as though you may still have a chance even if the server is marked as full, as they are either continuously expanding server capacity to try and keep things as smooth as possible, or some people may transfer to another server and leave space for you.

[Niwoe]

It's also to do with server load. When people log off and servers are not full then you can make new characters. However, there are also people in queue ahead of you that are on overflows until a spot opens up on the server. Just be patient and try sometime late at night.

[Cthulhu 2020]

You have to choose a "Home World" which is the server where all of your characters exist. During the initial days of GW2, home world transfers are completely free and you should utilize them to their fullest. Play on a low pop server, then home world transfer to your friends' servers after a couple of days when things have calmed down. This happens with EVERY SINGLE MMO launch and GW2 has made a solution for it while the initial rush and hype is still going on. Please make use of it.

[Mayam]

You have to choose a "Home World" which is the server where all of your characters exist. During the initial days of GW2, home world transfers are completely free and you should utilize them to their fullest. Play on a low pop server, then home world transfer to your friends' servers after a couple of days when things have calmed down. This happens with EVERY SINGLE MMO launch and GW2 has made a solution for it while the initial rush and hype is still going on. Please make use of it.

So not being able to participate in the Headstart due to install issues (I pre-purchased but have only been able to get in the game recently), I cannot roll my toons and set Jade Quarry as my home server so I can participate in WvWvW along side my guild. Nor can I even roll on an available server and transfer without paying to JQ because Tech. Support's strictly one on one service was spread way to thin to help me resolve my issue in time to qualify.

I understand that I'm going to have to accept that I'll have to pay to transfer. I have a couple questions though if anyone could please help me (really tired of searching high and low across Facebook, Twitter, Reddit and every other corner that GW2 players can be found trying to work this stuff out on our own):

1. Can I employ my payed transfer as soon as I see a spot open on JQ to do so? Are there any other limiting factors like, specific time / date windows that I have to qualify for to transfer?

2. Could i roll on a low pop server just to kick around and actually experience the game and then delete those toons entirely and roll fresh toons on JQ, re-designating it then as my home server or do I just get one pick of server and then, short of a payed transfer, that is my home for better or worse from there on out?

3. Is my only option / choice to either roll on a server with open spots and hope someday to pay and transfer to be able to WvWvW with my guild or, sit and stare at the server status screen until a spot does open, not being able to play or experience the game at all until that time?

*(I have guildies who have reported waiting 4 days to catch an open spot so they can RvR - because really that is the main reason we've been so excited for so long for GW2. That kind of wait seems pretty inappropriate and the result of poor planning / design, and its pretty disappointing after looking forward to this game's release for so long. If I could at least play and experience the game until I can join my guild in a reasonable amount of time that would be one thing but the details on this seem very vague at the moment - being spread across nearly every corner of the MMO and gaming community forum for lack of an official GW2 site / forum.)

I'm REAL tired of looking for these specifics. If anyone out there could answer any of these concerns it would be GREATLY appreciated !

[Galaddriel]

1. Server transfers are still free.
2. No.
3. They have increased capacity on all servers a number of times since launch. They did this morning in fact when they released the 3 new servers. JQ, along with a number of other servers filled up almost instantly.

[Mayam]

1. Server transfers are still free.
2. No.
3. They have increased capacity on all servers a number of times since launch. They did this morning in fact when they released the 3 new servers. JQ, along with a number of other servers filled up almost instantly.

Awesome, that's good to hear. Thank you for your reply. I've been filtering through conjecture, assumption and trash talk of posts going from relatively present back a month or so without any concrete answers.

So I guess my best bet is rolling on any available server and propping my eyelids open til a spot on JQ opens to transfer.

Any idea on how long the free transfers will be available?

[Galaddriel]

This was posted 3 hours ago on their Twitter.

World transfers will be free until populations have stabilized. This post has more info: http://ow.ly/dofDT ^RB

http://twitter.com/GuildWars2
(best place to get the most recent info imo)

[Norn]

Mayam, Log out every hour, or try to check every hour... to see if JQ gets put to high. Ive seen it on high, and all the servers bumpded down to high at random times so friends can transfer to friends servers... I wish you best of luck getting into your JQ.

[Mayam]

Thank you guys for your replies. I was indeed, and thankfully so, misinformed that free transfers had already ceased. So I went ahead and rolled on a server that was High Pop. but has since that time remained "FULL". I've noticed that (at least American servers anyway) among those listed, 3 are always "LOW" pop., three always "HIGH" pop. and the rest "FULL" but I've been checking frequently all night through to see if JQ's status has dropped below "FULL". Eventually I hope I'm bound to catch it (I just hope when it does come open it's during my free time).

Aside from my issue though, as it appears from the server status page on log-in, I hope they are just limiting the server pops. with artificial caps presently or seriously not much room for growth remains for American servers. I'm guessing that artificial caps are in fact the case as they throttle up the stress loads post launch now.

P.S Incidentally anyone wondering - the act of transferring couldn't be simpler. Very self explanatory, just have to catch your destination server at a time when it has openings.

Thanks again for alleviating my frustrations and concerns guys .

[Deleted]

my brother bought the game yesterday and he cant join desolation :/ it would be awesome, me, my friend and my brother in 'WvW. now it's only my friend and i