Warhammer Online servers closing

Three Warhammer Online servers are for the scaffold: US realms Iron Rock and Volkmar, and European world Carroburg.

Developer Mythic begins free character transfers next week to relocate populations before those worlds are "retired".

Residents of Carroburg will relocate to Drakenwald; Iron Rock and Volkmar residents will move to Gorfang.

To "facilitate" the migration, Drakenwald and Gorfang become multi-realms - i.e. servers where accounts are allowed characters from both factions: Order and Destruction. The available character slots are bumped to 20, too.

Guild leaders will be given the chance to migrate their entire flock to the new world.

For three weeks, Carroburg, Iron Rock and Volkmar will be deemed Legacy servers - places where no new characters can be created. Once depleted, they'll be retired.

Incidentally, you don't have to move to Drakenwald and Gorfang - you can choose to go elsewhere. However, doing so incurs a cost.

"The gameplay experience of our customers is something we highly value," promised Mythic on the Warhammer Online website. "We don't make changes like this lightly.

"A lot of metrics and analysis accompanies this type of decision. We feel that these changes will help to ensure that server options continue to facilitate that best RvR experience out there.

"Thanks for playing and see you on the battlefield!"

Warhammer Online took on World of Warcraft back in 2008. One's gone on to attract 12 million paying subscribers a month, the other now comes with an endless free trial.