Warhammer: 63 Servers Getting Shutdown

Mythic Entertainment announced yesterday that it will be axing a total of 63 Warhammer Online servers, 43 in North America/Oceania and 20 in Europe, in their efforts to stabilize and consolidate the game's sparse population.

Gamasutra reported earlier on this move:

The closures are part of an ongoing effort to consolidate the game's online population, which started some months ago with a free transfer offer to more popular servers. The now-compulsory moves have been completed this week and the empty servers are set to close.

Mythic was recently forced to confirm layoffs in its customer support and QA teams, although the developer insisted this was not unusual for a post-launch massively multiplayer online game.

Although Warhammer Online attracted 500,000 registrations in its launch week, current subscriber levels are now at 300,000. Both Mythic and publisher Electronic Arts have indicated they remain committed to the game.

The complete list along with a handy FAQ is now made available on the War Herald:

On Tuesday, March 10, we will be performing a final transfer of characters from several of the servers that have been, in the past, a source server (ie. we have offered transfers off of). Please read on for all the details, including a list of affected servers.

Characters on the source servers listed below will all be consolidated onto the corresponding destination server. All source servers will eventually be closed.

Source/Destination Servers
Tower of Doom: Magnus
Heldenhammer: Ungrim
Thorgrim: Monolith
Sea of Malice: Badlands
Chaos Wastes: Dark Crag
Anlec: Darklands
Middenheim: Gorfang
Mordheim: Gorfang
Wasteland: Gorfang
Averheim: Iron Rock
Be'lakor:Iron Rock
Rakarth:Iron Rock
Lucan: Ironclaw
Lustria: Ironclaw
Marius: Ironclaw
Drifting Castle: Ironfist
Grimnir: Ironfist
Thorgrim: Ironfist
Bretonnia: Ironfist
Tor Achere: Magnus
Tower of Doom: Magnus
Ungrim: Magnus
Azazel: Monolith
Drakwald: Monolith
Avelorn: Ostermark
Skavenblight: Ostermark
Tor Elyr: Ostermark
White Tower: Ostermark
Eerie Downs: Praag
Hochland: Praag
Wolfenburg: Praag
Wurtbad: Praag
Bechafen: Praag
Kragg: Skull Throne
Reikland: Skull Throne
Kislev: Volkmar
Marienburg: Volkmar
Red Eye Mountain: Volkmar
Sea of Claws: Volkmar
Heldenhammer: Vortex
Saphery: Vortex
Sylvania: Vortex
Ulthuan: Vortex

What will transfer over with my character?
All items in your character's inventory (equipped or otherwise) and bank vault
All character info (quests, Tome Unlocks, etc.)
Friends lists
Guild info, including the entire guild, guild vault, and guild association
Ignore lists
What will not transfer over with my characters?
Items that are currently listed for Auction
Guild alliances
In-game mail and attachments (both in your inbox and en route to your inbox)
Please note: This includes promotional and Collector's Edition items. You must retrieve them from your mailbox before transferring, or they will be lost.
What could make the transfer fail?
If you have characters on a destination server that are of the opposite realm as your characters on your source server, you will not be able to transfer your characters.
If a character's name is not allowed, you will not be able to transfer your character.
If you have no open characters slots on the destination server, the transfer will not be able to complete.
If the character has never logged in to the game, the transfer will not be able to complete.
If the character name is reserved, the transfer will not be able to complete.
What should I do if the transfer does not complete?
In the event that a transfer cannot be completed, you will need to perform the transfer manually by logging into Account Management.

What should I do if my character name is already in use on the destination server?
In the event that your character's name is already in use on the destination server, you will be prompted to rename your character when you log in.

What if I don't want to be on the server I'm being transferred to?
Starting on March 11th, all characters still present on the source servers, along with all the characters that we have transferred over to the destination servers will be permitted a one-time free transfer to any other server of the same type, regardless of level.

Despite the annoyances that may occur due to the consolidations, this move should prove positive to the overall player experience. Let us know if you're one of the affected players and tell us about your experiences with this transfer.

[via Gamasutra]