How i lost my character

Swainyboy

So i have been playing Eso on console pretty much since launch, i managed to get myself to VR in the first few weeks of release and was on my way to max lvl (VR 14 at the time). UNTIL, i had family over for a visit and i allowed my little brother to create a new character and run around on whilst he was over...this was my undoing. He had managed to delete my VR character ( I know i should have been making sure he wasn't doing stuff like that) but i thought i could contact ZOS about the issue and have them restore my character like almost all other MMO's i have played. I was wrong.

ZOS did get back to me about the issue but they did not help, i was told that my character could not be retrieved and was given no reason to as why. I'm just wondering if customer services could not be bothered with the issue or if there is a genuine reason to why i can't be helped.

Since losing my main character, Eso has felt like such a chore to play since i had crown store motifs etc on the deleted character.

So im just asking the question, has anyone else experienced this issue and does anyone know why characters can't be restored?

ShadowDisciple

Be happy they didnt ban you for "account sharing"

Swainyboy

I wasn't "Account Sharing", i allowed my little brother to have a go on my game whilst he was around so he could have a laugh on my PS4 as he did not own a console at the time. I see no wrong doing in that...

Ajaxduo

ZoS is capable of doing character restores, I know that for sure. Around a month after release my account was compromised and I had to fight to get it back. When I logged back on after the fiasco all my toons had been deleted and replaced with jibberish named toons, clearly this was used for botting etc. it took awhile and couple of phone calls as their character restore function was still in the early phases but it worked out in the end and I got my v12 sorc and other vet alts restored. My advice is to not give up because you didn't get a response or an automated one. Open a follow up ticket and make it as detailed as possible, toon name, level, class, roughly when it was deleted. Then call them if you don't get a reply within 2 weeks.

Hope this helps!

Vildebill

You can register a ticket at customer support, but don't expect any ETA on that...

Swainyboy

Thanks for the response! I have tried to get in contact with support in the past, and i get the same reply, "Sorry your character has been lost to oblivion"... what does that even mean? Sounds to me like they are trying to fob me off. Cheers for the advice though, I'm going to keep on to support.

Brrrofski

Quite clear what to do here.

Force your brother to grind a toon to vet 14 for you. Give him a deadline and a consequence or not doing it.

Swainyboy

I have had issues with Eso in the past, and i always get the " We will reply in one business day or sooner"... the support is a bigger joke than the class balance

Surak73

ZOS can restore a character even after a month since his/her deletion: I know this for sure cause it happened to a guild mate of mine. Just don't give up with customer support, my friend had to insist for a month...

Egonieser

ZoS has the ability to restore deleted characters, yes. They have done it, yes. But they have only done it in legitimate scenarios like hacked accounts, database mess-ups etc.

Your case is just pure carelessness, it's not a legitimate case - it's your own problem. You entrusted your account to someone else (even if it's family) you paid the price for it. There is a reason why the game's ToS clearly states DO NOT SHARE your account, not even with people you know (that includes pesky little brothers). IF you breached those ToS and something went wrong, you deserve no sympathy neither from ZoS customer services, nor me (and others likeminded)
Next time think who plays on your account and what they are doing.

Bunneh

Support is now outsourced and acts as a firewall. You need to get past the CSR minions to someone at Zenibotch with real keyboard power.

BalticBlues

I cannot understand why ZOS customer support does not help.

Would it be better for customers to tell lies?
Like telling that the console was stolen and the account compromised?
Consoles are not PCs. If you have console access, you have ESO access.

As long as ESO on consoles does not have a character delete function that is password protected
ESO customer support should help people if their characters are deleted by other persons.

ZOS, please secure our valuable characters with a password protection.
I would quit the game if a family member or visitor would delete my character on console.

Surak73

Egonieser wrote: »

ZoS has the ability to restore deleted characters, yes. They have done it, yes. But they have only done it in legitimate scenarios like hacked accounts, database mess-ups etc.

Your case is just pure carelessness, it's not a legitimate case - it's your own problem.

This would be too logical to be true...

Actually, my friend had lost his main character not for his fault, but for a database error or something (just logged in and saw his character was missing...): well, when he told this to customer support, they replied that it wasn't their problem and that they couldn't do anything. He had to LIE and say that he had deleted his character by himself for mistake, then they restored it because "customer satisfaction is a priority for us" or something like this...

nine9six

Don't give up OP!

Swainyboy

I wont haha! Getting my character back will breath life back into Eso for me. I just find it difficult to understand why a character restore can become so hard for support to take care of

Enodoc

BalticBlues wrote: »

I cannot understand why ZOS customer support does help.

Would it be better for customers to tell lies?
Like telling that the console was stolen and the account compromised?
Consoles are not PCs. If you have console access, you have ESO access.

As long as ESO on consoles does not have a character delete function that is password protected
ESO customer support should help people if their characters are deleted by other persons.

ZOS, please secure our valuable characters with a password protection.
I would quit the game if a family member or visitor would delete my character on console.

Isn't that also down to you to ensure your account is secured? If family members/visitors can access your characters on console, it's because they can access your console account. They can only access your account if you haven't put any sign-in security on it. Both the PS4 and XB1 have pass-key sign-in features.

BreacaT

Reminds me of this... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJyhzmi2GmU

Zinaroth

Like any game company, they are in full control of the game, which means they can do anything within the game, including restoring characters or creating a new and giving items to players.

I think the problem lies in Zenimax (the publicer) hiring people without the competence to do stuff like that, because it is cheaper. So the people you get in contact with are not allowed to, or capable of, performing such action, and they have been told that they should tell the customers it's too bad, because that is the cheaper way of dealing with such an issue.

So in short; Zenimax can't be bothered providing proper customer service that is standard in any other MMO nowadays, because it costs more.

runagate

Swainyboy wrote: »

Thanks for the response! I have tried to get in contact with support in the past, and i get the same reply, "Sorry your character has been lost to oblivion"... what does that even mean? Sounds to me like they are trying to fob me off. Cheers for the advice though, I'm going to keep on to support.

It's because Customer Support is allowed to speak in "lore" terms but all too often uses it to obfuscate incompetence and laziness. They most assuredly can restore characters; nevertheless sometimes they get corrupted in the database when purposefully deleted and left for a long time. I recommend simply asking again. It can't hurt, and you might find someone more interested in helping with your legitimate problem rather than adhering to their strict CYA culture.

Swainyboy

Zinaroth wrote: »

Like any game company, they are in full control of the game, which means they can do anything within the game, including restoring characters or creating a new and giving items to players.

I think the problem lies in Zenimax (the publicer) hiring people without the competence to do stuff like that, because it is cheaper. So the people you get in contact with are not allowed to, or capable of, performing such action, and they have been told that they should tell the customers it's too bad, because that is the cheaper way of dealing with such an issue.

So in short; Zenimax can't be bothered providing proper customer service that is standard in any other MMO nowadays, because it costs more.

Sounds about right... Need to get through the mindless drones to restore my character

Idinuse

I would begin your letter with "I am happy to learn that customer satisfaction is a priority for you, especially as a paying customer. Now the accident happened and I am relying on your help and understanding for my dismal situation to facilitate further play and shopping in the crown store.

BalticBlues

Enodoc wrote: »

If family members/visitors can access your characters on console, it's because they can access your console account. They can only access your account if you haven't put any sign-in security on it. Both the PS4 and XB1 have pass-key sign-in features.

LOL. Consoles and TVs are made for convenience and entertainment. Turn on and play!
Do you really know anybody using sign-ins for living-room consoles or TVs?

People know how to backup their console savegames on USB or PSN.
However, a backup of ESO characters ONLY ZOS can do, and ZOS is responsible for that.
Therefore, ZOS must be able to restore deleted characters.

If a data loss is a customer's fault, ZOS could bill the character restoration service.
Denying that service usually will mean one less customer. Is that clever?

Troneon

Just when you think you made it through the ZOS support minions....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rR7fPyRT5Ck

Enodoc

BalticBlues wrote: »

Enodoc wrote: »

If family members/visitors can access your characters on console, it's because they can access your console account. They can only access your account if you haven't put any sign-in security on it. Both the PS4 and XB1 have pass-key sign-in features.

LOL. Don't you know that consoles are made for convenience and entertainment?
Do you really know anybody using sign-ins for their living-room consoles, TVs or other devices?

People know how to backup their console savegames on USB or PSN.
However, for the backup of ESO characters ONLY ZOS is responsible.
Therefore ZOS must be able to restore delected characters.

You were commenting on console security. I responded on console security. Yes ZOS can restore characters, but since you have already granted your console account access to your ESO Account, by using your ESO password during setup, it's down to you to keep your console account secure.

PC logins are password-protected because they are tied into the ESO Account system on ZOS' website, which is password-protected. Console logins are tied to your PSN ID/XBL GT, as you already linked your ESO Account to your PSN/XBL during setup (at which time, you were prompted for your password).

Swainyboy

Enodoc wrote: »

BalticBlues wrote: »

Enodoc wrote: »

If family members/visitors can access your characters on console, it's because they can access your console account. They can only access your account if you haven't put any sign-in security on it. Both the PS4 and XB1 have pass-key sign-in features.

LOL. Don't you know that consoles are made for convenience and entertainment?
Do you really know anybody using sign-ins for their living-room consoles, TVs or other devices?

People know how to backup their console savegames on USB or PSN.
However, for the backup of ESO characters ONLY ZOS is responsible.
Therefore ZOS must be able to restore delected characters.

You were commenting on console security. I responded on console security. Yes ZOS can restore characters, but since you have already granted your console account access to your ESO Account, by using your ESO password during setup, it's down to you to keep your console account secure.

PC logins are password-protected because they are tied into the ESO Account system on ZOS' website, which is password-protected. Console logins are tied to your PSN ID/XBL GT, as you already linked your ESO Account to your PSN/XBL during setup (at which time, you were prompted for your password).

Console security is great and all, but where is the fun in having a console if i cant play it with family/friends? it was a mistake made by a family member. Console security could not help me in this situation, character restoring features however...

BalticBlues

Enodoc wrote: »

it's down to you to keep your console account secure

And it is up to ZOS to keep customer data restorable and customers happy.

Console customers are not computer professionals and not trained in data security.
Such professionals should work for ZOS.
And such professionals should know how to help customers after a data loss.

Robbmrp

This sounds like a classic case of "Idon'twannaworkitis" on the part of the Customer service rep you dealt with. @ZOS needs to implement a policy for everyone that you get 1 free account restore for 1 character and then charge for any others. This would be a great way for them to collect additional revenue as well. I think ZOS and Comcast use the same Customer Service because they are both just horrible. I've worked in the Customer Service industry for over 30 years and it's in such a sad state right now it's just unbelievable.

@ZOS_GinaBruno, if there's anyway you could help with this or provide this customer a contact of someone that actually wants to help them, I'm sure they would be more than grateful.

Also, something @ZOS may want to consider, character restores could be a source of future revenue. Companies are always trying to find ways to create new revenue with minimal cost. You already have the customer service in place, so why not offer character restores? You could sell a ton of these at $10 a pop. Anyone would pay that to get their Vet level character back.....

Swainyboy

Robbmrp wrote: »

This sounds like a classic case of "Idon'twannaworkitis" on the part of the Customer service rep you dealt with. @ZOS needs to implement a policy for everyone that you get 1 free account restore for 1 character and then charge for any others. This would be a great way for them to collect additional revenue as well. I think ZOS and Comcast use the same Customer Service because they are both just horrible. I've worked in the Customer Service industry for over 30 years and it's in such a sad state right now it's just unbelievable.

@ZOS_GinaBruno, if there's anyway you could help with this or provide this customer a contact of someone that actually wants to help them, I'm sure they would be more than grateful.

Also, something @ZOS may want to consider, character restores could be a source of future revenue. Companies are always trying to find ways to create new revenue with minimal cost. You already have the customer service in place, so why not offer character restores? You could sell a ton of these at $10 a pop. Anyone would pay that to get their Vet level character back.....

Completely agree, if i had fallen into the same situation and a feature was available where i could "Purchase" my character back i would. Features like this can benefit both parties at the same time. ZOS should be looking towards ideas like that to replace their P2P model that was previously scraped.

Enodoc

Swainyboy wrote: »

Enodoc wrote: »

BalticBlues wrote: »

Enodoc wrote: »

If family members/visitors can access your characters on console, it's because they can access your console account. They can only access your account if you haven't put any sign-in security on it. Both the PS4 and XB1 have pass-key sign-in features.

LOL. Don't you know that consoles are made for convenience and entertainment?
Do you really know anybody using sign-ins for their living-room consoles, TVs or other devices?

People know how to backup their console savegames on USB or PSN.
However, for the backup of ESO characters ONLY ZOS is responsible.
Therefore ZOS must be able to restore delected characters.

You were commenting on console security. I responded on console security. Yes ZOS can restore characters, but since you have already granted your console account access to your ESO Account, by using your ESO password during setup, it's down to you to keep your console account secure.

PC logins are password-protected because they are tied into the ESO Account system on ZOS' website, which is password-protected. Console logins are tied to your PSN ID/XBL GT, as you already linked your ESO Account to your PSN/XBL during setup (at which time, you were prompted for your password).

Console security is great and all, but where is the fun in having a console if i cant play it with family/friends? it was a mistake made by a family member. Console security could not help me in this situation, character restoring features however...

I completely agree. The issue of account security wasn't brought up by me. ZOS should be doing all they can to help restore a character that was deleted by accident. And if they can invest in a system whereby they could generate revenue from it, even better for them.

Swainyboy

But as it stands, for an Eso Plus paying member of the community a character restore is much too hard of a task for support. Is there anyway around talking to the drones that sit on first line support? Sick of waiting for email responses telling me I cant be helped...

N0TPLAYER2

"What's the harm in that?"

Well now you've learned.