Those on closing servers can transfer to one of the remaining servers in their region for free - indefinitely*. The closing servers themselves are not scheduled to actually close until the beginning of next year (2016). Though, as with all such things, time lines are subject to change. This means that, while new toons cannot be created on a closing server, toons already there can still be played up to the day they actually close.
Additionally, Turbine is getting a new data center...well, actually, I guess they are getting two new data centers - one in the US (NJ) and one somewhere in the EU (not exactly sure where - England? perhaps?). And LotRO had a "come help us test our new data center" event this past Saturday. As incentive for helping them test it, they would give anyone who logged in 100 free (LotRO-specific) TP, a chance to win a lifetime subscription to LotRO, and other stuff I won't bother to list (partly because I can't remember and partly because I don't wanna).
I was lucky enough to have been able to participate. And by that I mean that there are reports of many people who were not able to log-in at all during the testing period. Unfortunately, Mizzaroo was one of the unlucky ones. I tried to help as best I could, but there is just so much one can do via e-mail.
But then, that is the nature of a stress test - see what is/can be broken, and (hopefully) fix it. Overall, I believe LotRO was happy with the test. It was clear early on that their estimates of just how many people would be helping them test the system was vastly underestimated. And while we did not crash the server, they did shut it down not 10-minutes into opening it to add more memory. And even though there were still areas that had a significant amount of lag even after adding the memory, they stated that they "received a lot of invaluable** data". They also stated they were going to perform another such test "SOON™" (though they have not said if they will be giving more stuff away as an incentive to help with the test; but I suspect they will). So if you were unable to log-in last time, perhaps you'll be able to next time.
But I digress...
Three paragraphs of digression later and we finally get to the actual reason I started this post, and the meaning of the title: Mizzaroo and I had toons on a closing server. Originally, she was not going to be around to transfer off when the doors were first opened for transferring from our server. Since that effectively left me in charge, my plan was to wait until the new hardware was in place. But plans change. While we did not transfer on the day (or the next several days) of opening transfers off our server, we have since transferred. And we've even played a couple of times on our newly adopted home server.
It may be a bit early to say we're "Digging the New Digs" (which was an alternate title I thought of using for this post), but so far, it seems to be just fine.
As part of the consolidation process, LotRO gave every toon a "World Consolidation Gift Box". And inside, among other things, was a new title certificate (LotRO is big on titles) where you can choose the title "Of [name of server]". The list of titles (of which you could choose only one) included all of the closing - and remaining - servers. The idea was that you could (and I dare say most would - I did) choose the title of your closing server, as sort of a memorial to where you came from. So if you chose to display the title on your toon, your new server-community could see (or assume, in cases where people chose a closing server title 'just because') that you are not a 'native' of this server.
Not that that would (or should) make any difference. As far as I know, there are no hostile attitudes towards any of the closing servers. And dare I say that some players may even go out of their way to say, "Hi Welcome."
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* I do believe the term "forever" was used by the devs, but that would not - could not - be literal, of course. But rather, it would mean "until the day we shut down LotRO for good". So if you have a toon that you have literally not played in years, and it's on one of the worlds that will have closed, it'll still be there - waiting for you to transfer it to another server. Whenever you get around to it.
** English is a strange language. Typically, the prefix "in-" would mean "not" (as in 'insoluble'). But occasionally, it is used to exaggerate the root word. For example, "inflammable†" essentially means "can burst into flame" and not just "can burn" ("flammable"). Such is the case here, as well.
† Many people think that "flammable" and "inflammable" mean the same thing. Even the dictionary uses "flammable" as part of the definition of "inflammable". But they are incorrect (which is not one of the words where "in-" is an exaggeration of the root, but rather the traditional "not"): "flammable" means that something can burn; "inflammable" means that it can "burst into flame" or "explode". What's the difference? Basically a spark. If a spark can cause something to "explode", like gasoline, it is inflammable. But if not, even if it can burn, like diesel, it is 'just' "flammable". As an electrical engineer, I have - on occasion - had to explain the difference.
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