Newbie question on changing realm

[Namsuri 0]

Hi everyone! As the title says, I have a newbie question: is changing realm a paid service?

From what I read on the Blizzard forums, the answer is yes but I don't understand why I should pay for it as the game made me start on a ''new players'' server, which is poorly populated...

Thanks for your help!

[Namsuri 0]

Ok, just got an official answer on Blizzard forums:

"Moving an existing Character to a different Realm is indeed a Service you would have to pay for. The alternative would be to start a new Character on the desired Realm."

Kinda extortion if you ask me...

Edited January 11, 2018 by Namsuri

[Valks 2,375]

On 1/11/2018 at 2:28 PM, Namsuri said:

Kinda extortion if you ask me...

Most companies do it specifically to stop massive shifts between realms, most notably in WoW due to gold and economies. There are realms where things are absolutely dirt cheap. If you can transfer there with a large amount of gold (millions), you can essentially completely dominate the smaller economy, pick up a massive amount of materials, items etc. for a much cheaper price. You can then move back to your "real" realm, destroying not one economy, but also massively harming another through undercutting with an influx of items that don't belong there.

It's also why the gold cap for transfers exists.