Asherons Call: Billing Migration Status Updated!

Ibn posted over the the Turbine Forums...

Hi folks! As you know, we've been talking for quite some time about the upcoming transfer of accounts from Microsoft's billing and login system to Turbine's new billing system.

Now we're at the point where we have the details nailed down and can tell you how things are going to work.

Initially, MSN Gaming Zone accounts will be selected in batches for the opportunity to migrate. If your account is eligible for migration you will be prompted to transfer your account the next time you start up Asheron's Call. When you accept, you will go to Turbine's account creation system.

Once there, you will create your new Turbine Billing account and enter your billing information. After your credit card is confirmed, you will be able to download and install Turbine's launcher. From then on, you will use Turbine's launcher and your Turbine account to log in to Asheron's Call. Shortly thereafter Microsoft will cancel the recurring billing on your MSN Gaming Zone account; once that occurs you will no longer be able to log in with your Zone account.

As we said, initially migration will be voluntary and in small batches of accounts, so we can slowly ramp up. As we continue into migration, we'll make the group of eligible accounts larger and larger until all players can elect to transfer their accounts.

For those who do not go through the transfer process when prompted, Turbine will begin a required migration. This will occur sometime after voluntary migration begins. Once we move into the required migration phase, you won't be able to log in to the game until you transfer your account to Turbine Billing.

That's it. It's that simple. You don't need your original CD-Key; you don't even need to know your current Zone account name. All you need to do is log in to the game.

The one thing you do need is to be an active customer. You can't migrate if you can't log in. If you are currently unsubscribed and want to re-subscribe, just go to the Asheron's Call Quicklaunch page on the MSN Gaming Zone and sign in with your .NET Passport. Click "Subscription" at the bottom. If you have issues re-subscribing or logging in, you can find support info here.

Obviously, there may be some special cases or other issues that aren't covered in this post. That's why we're working on a full FAQ that will be posted soon. The FAQ will answer questions about things like accounts that have been banned by the Zone, accounts that you can't re-subscribe to before the end of migration, etc. We already have an initial FAQ online in our Fuze system.

So, last question - when does all this start? We're currently shooting to start the first groups early next week. We'll definitely let you know if this changes.

We're pretty excited about this last step in the transition of Asheron's Call from Microsoft to Turbine, and we hope you are too!
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Alex "Ibn" Beckers
AC1 Online Community Relations

Woohoo!