1. What is Starting Over
2. Reasons and Implications
3. Practicalities
4. What now?

2. Reasons and Implications

First things first. Why do you feel the need to start over?

• New lease of wow life
• Different faction / realm type
• Friends moving server / leaving wow
• Bored with current character
• Falling out
• Bad Rep

All of the above are reasons I’ve seen for people starting afresh either on a new character on a new realm or moving between realms. The need to experience something new is certainly an attitude I can understand - I have altitis, I like to see the world in a different way, through a new character’s eyes but not all reasons are necessarily good ones for starting over.

Is it worth it?

You’re leaving everything behind. It’s all just pixels but remember how you ground ore for three months to get your epic mount? Remember that pug group where you finally got the Necklace of Infinite healy-goodness and made good friends with the tank / healer / that cool dworf rogue *ahem*? You’re going to be leaving behind all of the good things as well as the bad so judge carefully how much something irritating you is worth giving up all of the good things for. Starting over with a new character means giving up more than transferring but both will lose something in the move.

You may, of course, not be leaving behind much - maybe you just got to 55 and decided, blah, this isn’t the character / faction / server for me in which case it may not be such a wrench but you should consider that you may still be doing it for the wrong reason - some classes have a period which is a little dull. As a rogue, for me, this happened from around level 58-64. There just didn’t seem to be much new and I felt a little powerless at times. Come 64, for some reason, things started to pick up and I was happy being a rogue again. In other words, don’t decide to move too quickly - give it time and analyse whether it is the character itself or WoW / the server / the faction which is irritating you.

If you are thinking of leaving your server for one of the ‘social‘ reasons you should ask yourself if it’s really a good idea to leave. If you’re being picked on, griefed or otherwise having trouble then I can understand why you might want to leave but there may also be people who help you, are your friends, and will work with you to resolve the issue(s).

Friends leaving is always hard to take and was certainly why I moved, eventually, but I think even then you should consider if you are playing for them or yourself? Are you both looking for the same goals in WoW? Do you actually spend a lot of play time with them or is WoW just a fancy IM client? Their needs may not be the same as yours and transferring to follow them might not be the best choice to take!

You may not be moving to play with a friend - in fact you may be leaving some behind. Be sure to mention well in advance to them, let them know and have time to say your goodbyes. Make sure you’re not moving away from anyone who you enjoy playing the game with so much that not having them around will make things dull - often you only realise this after the fact, sadly.

If you’re looking for a new lease to your wow-life then maybe you could think about rolling an alt, taking up a new profession or maxing a skill / rep before taking the big step - you might find something which piques your interest and doesn’t involve going back to basics again.

Moving to a different server-type is a tricky one and I’d advise you to do plenty research before you do. I know, in particular, some RP-realm-ites can be quite untrusting of people moving from pvp and normal realms due to issues with them not understanding how to act within those realms. There’s also the basis in pve guilds moving to rp realms as they figure there will be less competition. If this is your basis for moving then I’d certainly tell you to think hard about it. Moving from PvP to PvE is an odd change as suddenly things become a lot less dangerous. Yes, it’s nice to not have to look over your shoulder all the time but it can also, sometimes, be a bit dull. Going the other way is a hard decision, too, as you cannot go back to a PvP realm from a PvE one.

Implications

You may know no-one or just a few people, you won’t have your old network of acquaintances who you can rely on to help you, you don’t know if that guy selling Mongoose in the trade channel is a scammer, either.

‘Local Knowledge‘ as stated, is the key to success in a new environment. For example, when I switched realm to Bloodhoof I was introduced to their ‘unofficial’ looting system - pass on any blues. I didn’t and still kinda don’t get this if you’re not with a guild group as, to me, it seems as though it’ll make a ninja’s job easier but every group I was in seemed to resort to using this method of loot distribution and ignoring the games’ own need/greed one. This was never used on Eonar or Sporeggar and if I hadn’t become used to it very quickly I might have become known as a ninja-looter! (luckily my friend on Bloodhoof explained things to me beforehand). Even though all servers have the same world within them, the people shape it differently and the game can be so very different dependant on the people within it.

Moving to a lower progress server has multiple issues associated with it. Even if you’re only interested in pvp or lower-end pve you may find life a little bit harder on such realms - unlike some busier realms you may not be able to snag excess patterns and, with the recent change of vortexes / primal nethers to BoE, you’re more likely to have been able to craft these items if you stay on the high population server.

However, if you’re looking for peace and quiet and not having to share grinding spots, perhaps you just don’t want to have to muscle past thirty bank alts in Orgrimmar, then moving to one of the lower population servers may well be the thing for you. Remember, though, that Blizzard does like to even out the server populations and may, in time, open a transfer window to the low-population realm you’ve chosen.

Moving to a higher progress server, in search of greener pastures, will also come with its own problems. Gear may be easier to get but often lower level items and basic ingredients come at higher prices (a general rule and not always true). Your lack of experience might mean it’s hard for you to get into a guild which is doing the higher content you crave but, if they’re worth joining they’ll likely give you a chance if you’ve strove to be the best you could for that content you did experience.

If you’re one of the gits running away to another server to hide from people and a lifetime of scams then understand that you will most likely be found and your whole realm will know about it. There are plenty of ways for people to ‘follow’ you and a similar number of examples on the forums where past scammers have been ‘outed’ on their new realm - sometimes before they’ve even logged in - this is especially true where a guild leader / officer has ninja’d the guild bank and done a quick server transfer.

Summin’ Up

I know a lot of this may seem biased against you moving but please understand that it is not meant to be so! I think moving my rogue was one of the best choices I have ever made and would never want to take back the experience I gained re-rolling with my druid. I simply want to convey the importance of thinking through your new start as I’ve seen so many people make the decision and then regret it later. More on that in part IV, though, hehe.

Homework..

The next post, part III, will deal with the practicalities of moving but I’ll end this one with a small thing you should do or, at least, think about. Pros vs. Cons list. The technique is as old as a very old thing but works! List what you’ll be missing and what you’ll be gaining - weighing them based on importance to you - and consider if, really, what you’ll be giving up is worth what you’re going to gain. This is a simple way to weigh things up and may tell you if you’re basing your decision too much on one small thing at the expense of the whole.