Faction Change delays

Greetings all,

As many of you are aware, Faction Changes seem to be taking longer than normal for some people. Our Technicians have looked this process and it does appear that the majority of the Faction Changes are going through though some are simply progressing more slowly than usual.

First, please know that the majority of Faction Changes are going through. They are taking between 1-24 hours to process. Our Technicians continue to look into why some are processing faster than others as well search for any other issues that may be delaying the process. Mostly we seem to have a abnormally large influx of Faction Changes recently.

When you initiate a Faction Change, the character should be locked once the service is initiated. In some cases it can take a few minutes before the "lock" can occur. We recommend that you do not attempt to log into the character once you have initiated a Faction Change until it has finished processing. Doing so can either delay or even cause an error in the process.

You can check your Faction Change's progress by visiting the following link: https://www.worldofwarcraft.com/account/faction-change-transactions.html


We have seen several Faction Changes that have had an issue in processing. The majority of those have been under specific conditions and usually involving a newly completed Paid Character Transfer. When a transfer is completed and the character ends up on the destination realm there are times when the character's name may be taken. In those cases a temporary name will be given to the character usually consisting of a few random letters and numbers.

If you have recently transferred your character but did not log the character into the realm and change the character's name this may have caused an issue with your Faction Change. Though not guaranteed we have had some excellent results when players have tried the following steps.

1. Cancel the Faction Change.
2. Log into the character and select a name.
3. Try zoning to another area (i.e. if you are in Kalimdor go to Eastern Kingdoms).
4. Go to an inn and log out.
5. Wait 15-20 minutes before initiating the Faction Change again.

Note: We only recommend these steps if you have recently completed a character transfer and the character may be set for a rename or if you logged into the character after you have initiated the Faction Change

Your request should be processing normally after that though it can still take several hours to complete.



One word of warning: When an online paid service is initiated, the funds are held by the bank or credit card company until our system performs its End of Day procedures. The pending funds being held are taken from your available credit and will show as a transaction; however, these funds will NOT be transferred from your account until our End of Day procedures are done. During the End of Day procedure the system will then process the credit card order and transfer the funds from the bank or credit card company to us.

If, for any reason, the order cannot be processed correctly (i.e. billing address verification failure, canceled order), the request for these funds will NOT be made when the system does the End of Day procedures. The held funds may still appear as a transaction on your bank or credit card statement until your bank or credit card company reverts the funds back to your account. The amount of time the funds will be on hold is based on your financial institutions policies for pending charges though it averages 3-5 days.

Q u o t e:
Should it show an estimated time of completion on that link?

I have been refreshing it every few minutes but all it says it that my transfer is still pending.

I don't believe the Faction Change system shows a estimated time of completion, Leboeuf, I've only done one myself but I don't recall seeing one.

I have actually inquired about that as it would be a much easier process if there was a way to tell how long current processes are taking, much like the Paid Character Transfers do.

Experiencing a delay is not the same as the process having an error, Treegangsta, which is why I tried to clarify as much as I could when that may occur and ways to tell if there may be an issue.

Q u o t e:
Is it safe to assume this from Alliance to Horde will take the same?

I don't currently have an estimate on how long these processes are taking. Some are going through within an hour or two and some are taking around 24 hours.

Q u o t e:
up to 32 hours should i restart it or just let it go through till tomorrow? D:

All inquiries have indicated that you should keep the Faction Change in queue, Frynub.

Q u o t e:
Finally! After 78+ hours of waiting it finally went through!! Good Luck all still in queue!!!

Excellent! Thank you so much for returning and letting us know, Gawin. We understand that these unexpected and of course unwanted wait times are an inconvenience. Our Technicians and Database Administrations continue to monitor the situation and if any adjustments can be made to speed up the process they will do so.

Q u o t e:
I was told there was an error with mine. Am i still getting that error?

Yours was specifically regarding a Character Transfer, Droctognopus, I think I mentioned in the previous thread that I forwarded your information as well as a few others up for further investigation. I apologize for the lack of information I didn't want to confuse the issue by adding PCT's to this thread.

Q u o t e:
Is it fixed? I would like to know if i should try again (a 4th time) I hate tieing up that much money on something this silly.

Technically, Alphablues, nothing appears to be broken. The majority of the Faction Changes are processing, though they are going slower than they normally do but outside of what is mentioned in the initial post, they are going through.

I would not recommend canceling your Faction Change.

Q u o t e:
Vrak, could you do any update for me? been in queue for almost 24 hours

You should be fine, Zarfot, I have been checking random Faction Changes including several from accounts I checked yesterday. I don't want to get into the habit of providing specific answers regarding accounts since when I do that people seem to stop listening to what I'm saying and just post "can you check mine too".

To reiterate, as long as your character does not exhibit the following quoted from the original post, you should be fine and I recommend to remain in queue. As Gawin just demonstrated Faction Changes are going though, some in a few hours, others are taking 24+ hours but they are processing.

Q u o t e:
We have seen several Faction Changes that have had an issue in processing. The majority of those have been under specific conditions and usually involving a newly completed Paid Character Transfer. When a transfer is completed and the character ends up on the destination realm there are times when the character's name may be taken. In those cases a temporary name will be given to the character usually consisting of a few random letters and numbers.

If you have recently transferred your character but did not log the character into the realm and change the character's name this may have caused an issue with your Faction Change. Though not guaranteed we have had some excellent results when players have tried the following steps.

1. Cancel the Faction Change.
2. Log into the character and select a name.
3. Try zoning to another area (i.e. if you are in Kalimdor go to Eastern Kingdoms).
4. Go to an inn and log out.
5. Wait 15-20 minutes before initiating the Faction Change again.

Note: We only recommend these steps if you have recently completed a character transfer and the character may be set for a rename or if you logged into the character after you have initiated the Faction Change

Lilybeard, when you look at your character on the character selection screen, do you see the character named Lilybeard? Or do you see, LilybeB084A0?

It seems you may have the conditions I just listed. It looks like the character is flagged for a name change. Though for yours it may be because you canceled the Faction Change part way through the process. I have seen a few of those and have notified our Techs. Can you follow the directions from my first post? That should clear up the naming issue.

Q u o t e:

thanks for your response vrak, i have been trying to help some people out on this thread, can you give us some possible advice on ways to speed up the process? maybe not log in to the account at all, or like the above user said, get out of a major city and it might go through faster?

Unfortunately I know of no way to speed up the process once initiated. As I said our Technicians and DBA's are looking into why some Faction Changes are processing within hours and some are taking much longer.

Q u o t e:

Im just concerned about my char not being locked. I did a server transfer but my name wasn't taken. So i have no option to rename.

That would be my concern as well, Alphablues, as it does appear that you logged into the character after the Faction Change was initiated. That may simply delay the Faction Change or it could have caused an issue with it. I hesitate to advise canceling, Alphablues, but it may be necessary to properly get your character through the process.

If you wish to try and cancel make sure you follow the steps I listed, not including the name change option of course.

Q u o t e:
I wish mine would go through like everyone elses. I know im being annoying, but can you please tell me wether my FC is having an error or is just taking long like normal? : /

Your Faction Change completed an hour ago, Production.

Q u o t e:



WHAT????? y am i not a blood elf then lol

Because you have to actually select the Faction Change option when you log into your character, Production. You'll be able to select your race as well as the character's appearance.

Q u o t e:
She still has the name Lilybeard on the character screen.

Odd, I am showing that it is flagged for a name change. I understand you have been waiting for awhile, Lilybeard, but it may be prudent to follow those directions. I believe the name change flag may be causing an error in your transaction.

Q u o t e:
Why do I need a name change? No one else has my name on Uther.

I said in a previous post that I believe that the character was flagged when you canceled a Faction Change that was in progress and then restarted it, Lilybeard. You are welcome to wait it out, Lilybeard, but that naming flag is likely causing the issue with your process.

Q u o t e:
Could you please let CS's know about this problem, because they are the ones making the cancels on my account, not me. : (

I believe you mean Billing, In-Game Customer Support is the Game Master department. Billing handles the majority of services such as Faction Changes. They are aware that canceling can occasionally cause an error.

If you are so inclined, please try the following steps, Lilybeard. That should get you in queue properly.

Q u o t e:

1. Cancel the Faction Change.
2. Log into the character and select a name.
3. Try zoning to another area (i.e. if you are in Kalimdor go to Eastern Kingdoms).
4. Go to an inn and log out.
5. Wait 15-20 minutes before initiating the Faction Change again.

Q u o t e:
And how is my paladin Fallal on Twisting Nether? Why would my stupid alt get done before my main? >.<

As I stated in my original post, Lonee, some Faction Changes are taking longer than others. Our Technicians and DBA's are looking into those cases but thus far they are still processing.

Q u o t e:
Hello - My rogue Gunsmoke was transfered from stormreaver to blackrock and then faction changed on tuesday. its been like 48 hrs and i am still locked >.< if there is anyway u could speed this up it would be great since i have a raid tomorrow with my friends.....i have not canceled it since i started it once

Did you read the first post in this thread yet, Ghalv? You seem to have what I go over in that post.

It looks like you didn't log into the character between the Transfer and initiating the Faction Change. When you log into the character selection screen do you see your character? It should say the character's name is GunsmoA3EB37, which means it is currently flagged for a name change. Please follow the steps below, that should allow the Faction Change to go through normally once you have re-initiated it.


1. Cancel the Faction Change.
2. Log into the character and select a name.
3. Try zoning to another area (i.e. if you are in Kalimdor go to Eastern Kingdoms).
4. Go to an inn and log out.
5. Wait 15-20 minutes before initiating the Faction Change again.

Q u o t e:
I'm having problems too. I havent done raids all week and want to do some raids. I've been saving them for the faction change. I really don't want to wait that long. It's a little irritating. It usually only takes like 10-20 minutes but I've been waiting for hours beyond hours.

Are you able to log into the character, Vascarnum? It looks like their may have been an error in the process. I'd recommend the same steps I just provided, minus the name change of course.

Q u o t e:
Ok, here I go again, I'm redoing the FC for the millionth time. I canceled the FC, logged in and renamed mage, left the area completely (Dalaran) and went to an inn in Ghostlands, logged out, waited 20+ minutes, did I leave anything out?

Nope, it sounds like you are set, Lily. *crosses fingers*

Q u o t e:
I've tried again, followed all the steps but my char still is not locking, like I stated before I may have an actual issue with my char since she was pulled off a suspended account (due to game time transfer, nothing illegal or bad)

What do I do?

I would have recommended not logging into the character after initiating the Faction Change, Alphablues. :( I'd say leave it be for a few hours, don't attempt to log into the character. We'll keep an eye on it.

Q u o t e:
I gave up. 48+ hours is too long to wait. I just figured I'd gear up the toon on horde and wait a few weeks while this mess clears up.

Sad though, I've never had a bad experience with blizzard before

The sad thing is, Brewshot, most of the paid services warn you when you use them and on their FAQ's that they could take as long as 3-5 days to complete. Most people forget that when the majority of these process within an hour.

Most of these Faction Changes have gone through within that time frame and though there have been some processes that have experienced an issue we have worked to find the cause and provide advice to resolve the issue.

I am sorry for the frustration these unusual delays have caused.

Q u o t e:
I've been trying to faction change this warrior for almost 2 weeks now. Talked to multiple billing representatives who have told me their faction change system has been down at least 3-4 times due to high traffic. I had recently started another faction change on him and noticed earlier today that my warrior's name has been changed from Denkiteki to Denkit846818 is this some kind of bug or an indication that this is normal?

Did you also have a realm change on him, Den?

We've been seeing this pattern - especially with those types of names.

If you cancel, log into the character, change his name (and they are also recommending zoning that character just to be on the safe side), then try this again.

We are still looking into exactly what may be causing this - but from what you are describing, yours is the scenario that isn't terribly difficult to address.

Do you see this character on Twisting Nether, but just cannot access them, Pestilent?

Yours looks a little different than most.

Q u o t e:
I can see him yes, and I can click on enter world, but I'm afraid too lol

He is where he should be? Try getting on the character, I think you'll be prompted for a name change.

If he's on the realm and as he should be - go ahead and try to access him.

Q u o t e:
No, hes on the right realm, but hes supposed to be a Tauren. Not a night elf.

Do you see him named oddly?

If so, I'd cancel the last change, log into him, change his name than re-initiate your faction change.

I think this is probably the same issue Vrak speaks about with maybe a slight twist.

If that doesn't seem to be possible - or work, please let us know.

I can assure you, Quincannon, that there isn't a lack of attention to this issue. I would hope the responses I have provides alone would have demonstrated that.

I understand that everyone is frustrated by this delay, especially on the heels of a similar delay from last week. Our Technicians and DBA's are looking into it. The transfers and faction changes that have been erroring out and been taking several days now are also under investigation as I have said. I have poked a few people with sticks and hope to get an update soon.

Q u o t e:
Is their a way for us to at least know if our faction requests are still in good order?

We have multiple threads on this issue so as not to confuse this issue further or require people to check multiple sources for possible updates I'm going to pick this up in the following thread and lock this one.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=24038430359&sid=1