7 years gone in a moment

jle30303

to be frank, if they can't restore his character, they should refund all money that the person has spent on the game on that account.

Galadan

As for me "all money that the person has spent on the game on that account" can not be enough compensation - game is not just amount of money spent. It us time you spent, it is experience, impressions you feel, your memories, your friends and feeling of being part of this community and world... which you lost because some stupid tech mistake.

Any good news? Please?

Girl_Number8

After over 52k views and countless posts, I am completely disappointed.

@Yormula What a sad and disturbing update....I am really sorry to hear things did not get worked out as of yet for you.

Is communication with ZOS going better~?

Have you tried their official Twitter account yet~?

@Yurnl

Yormula wrote: »

M_Volsung wrote: »

... any movement ...?

From where I'm at reading this implied expectation that there should have been some development brought up a smile.

I will update for the sake of record if anything other than words happens. So far there has been some communication, yet in essence it's the same as pre-incident correspondence (snip of that below).

To be clear, I do not expect my issue to be resolved. Not in the character restoration way, not in some compensation way, not in any way.

However, as mentioned, I do believe there's a broader underlying issue that might eventually hurt the game or even the whole franchise pretty bad, so I had to at least light it up.

ZOS_Kevin

Good morning, everyone. We want to take some time to provide an update on this thread. First and foremost, thank you to everyone who voiced concern on behalf of @Yormula and their account. We understand the concern comes from a place of care for Yormula's account, and also player account safety overall. We want to stress how seriously the ZOS team takes these concerns. We hope giving context to this specific case will help ease your concerns and show the steps we are taking to ensure account integrity.

As the original post stated, we were assisting in a specific achievement-related issue Yormula had. We attempted a very complicated manual fix that is rarely done to make the character whole. This fix failed due to a human error using very complex tools. The result left the character in an unplayable state.

With that, we would like to highlight a few clarifying details:

• Yormula's character is currently in an unplayable state due to the error, not deleted. The character data still exists. For those worried about character deletion, we want to reassure you this is not what happened in this case.
• We have identified the error which left the character unplayable and have updated our process to ensure that this type of error is prevented in the future.
• Lastly, we are personally updating Yormula as we continue the process to resolve this for them. This particular situation is complex and will take some time, and we are committed to doing everything in our power to make this right.

We hope this helps assure you that we have taken appropriate measures to prevent this error moving forward and also that we are taking steps to make this right for Yormula. We will continue communication with Yormula about this until the issue is resolved. Thank you.

Mythreindeer

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Good morning, everyone. We want to take some time to provide an update on this thread. First and foremost, thank you to everyone who voiced concern on behalf of @Yormula and their account. We understand the concern comes from a place of care for Yormula's account, and also player account safety overall. We want to stress how seriously the ZOS team takes these concerns. We hope giving context to this specific case will help ease your concerns and show the steps we are taking to ensure account integrity.

As the original post stated, we were assisting in a specific achievement-related issue Yormula had. We attempted a very complicated manual fix that is rarely done to make the character whole. This fix failed due to a human error using very complex tools. The result left the character in an unplayable state.

With that, we would like to highlight a few clarifying details:

• Yormula's character is currently in an unplayable state due to the error, not deleted. The character data still exists. For those worried about character deletion, we want to reassure you this is not what happened in this case.
• We have identified the error which left the character unplayable and have updated our process to ensure that this type of error is prevented in the future.
• Lastly, we are personally updating Yormula as we continue the process to resolve this for them. This particular situation is complex and will take some time, and we are committed to doing everything in our power to make this right.

We hope this helps assure you that we have taken appropriate measures to prevent this error moving forward and also that we are taking steps to make this right for Yormula. We will continue communication with Yormula about this until the issue is resolved. Thank you.

Good on you for making an official reply. The whole process has taken too long, but well, better late then never...maybe?

Gromph_Stormcrow

Thanks Kevin for the update! This is very appreciated.

Alucardo

I'm sure they'll be able to piece it back together eventually. Still sorry it happened, and I'm a little worried a backup wasn't made before tampering with a live character. Do you really have no failsafe procedures over there?? Human errors happen, and that's okay, but you should always have a way to undo it should something go horribly wrong.
Best of luck.

Odovacar

Such a refreshing thing to read on this blah Monday morning. Thank you for the update ZOS Kevin!

Sephyr

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Good morning, everyone. We want to take some time to provide an update on this thread. First and foremost, thank you to everyone who voiced concern on behalf of @Yormula and their account. We understand the concern comes from a place of care for Yormula's account, and also player account safety overall. We want to stress how seriously the ZOS team takes these concerns. We hope giving context to this specific case will help ease your concerns and show the steps we are taking to ensure account integrity.

As the original post stated, we were assisting in a specific achievement-related issue Yormula had. We attempted a very complicated manual fix that is rarely done to make the character whole. This fix failed due to a human error using very complex tools. The result left the character in an unplayable state.

With that, we would like to highlight a few clarifying details:

• Yormula's character is currently in an unplayable state due to the error, not deleted. The character data still exists. For those worried about character deletion, we want to reassure you this is not what happened in this case.
• We have identified the error which left the character unplayable and have updated our process to ensure that this type of error is prevented in the future.
• Lastly, we are personally updating Yormula as we continue the process to resolve this for them. This particular situation is complex and will take some time, and we are committed to doing everything in our power to make this right.

We hope this helps assure you that we have taken appropriate measures to prevent this error moving forward and also that we are taking steps to make this right for Yormula. We will continue communication with Yormula about this until the issue is resolved. Thank you.

This... This is exactly the stuff that we need to see. Thanks @ZOS_Kevin!

OutLaw_Nynx

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Good morning, everyone. We want to take some time to provide an update on this thread. First and foremost, thank you to everyone who voiced concern on behalf of @Yormula and their account. We understand the concern comes from a place of care for Yormula's account, and also player account safety overall. We want to stress how seriously the ZOS team takes these concerns. We hope giving context to this specific case will help ease your concerns and show the steps we are taking to ensure account integrity.

As the original post stated, we were assisting in a specific achievement-related issue Yormula had. We attempted a very complicated manual fix that is rarely done to make the character whole. This fix failed due to a human error using very complex tools. The result left the character in an unplayable state.

With that, we would like to highlight a few clarifying details:

• Yormula's character is currently in an unplayable state due to the error, not deleted. The character data still exists. For those worried about character deletion, we want to reassure you this is not what happened in this case.
• We have identified the error which left the character unplayable and have updated our process to ensure that this type of error is prevented in the future.
• Lastly, we are personally updating Yormula as we continue the process to resolve this for them. This particular situation is complex and will take some time, and we are committed to doing everything in our power to make this right.

We hope this helps assure you that we have taken appropriate measures to prevent this error moving forward and also that we are taking steps to make this right for Yormula. We will continue communication with Yormula about this until the issue is resolved. Thank you.

“ Yormula's character is currently in an unplayable state due to the error, not deleted. The character data still exists. For those worried about character deletion, we want to reassure you this is not what happened in this case.”

This is so good to read. Thank you for posting this information, Kevin.

scorpius2k1

OutLaw_Nynx wrote: »

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Good morning, everyone. We want to take some time to provide an update on this thread. First and foremost, thank you to everyone who voiced concern on behalf of @Yormula and their account. We understand the concern comes from a place of care for Yormula's account, and also player account safety overall. We want to stress how seriously the ZOS team takes these concerns. We hope giving context to this specific case will help ease your concerns and show the steps we are taking to ensure account integrity.

As the original post stated, we were assisting in a specific achievement-related issue Yormula had. We attempted a very complicated manual fix that is rarely done to make the character whole. This fix failed due to a human error using very complex tools. The result left the character in an unplayable state.

With that, we would like to highlight a few clarifying details:

• Yormula's character is currently in an unplayable state due to the error, not deleted. The character data still exists. For those worried about character deletion, we want to reassure you this is not what happened in this case.
• We have identified the error which left the character unplayable and have updated our process to ensure that this type of error is prevented in the future.
• Lastly, we are personally updating Yormula as we continue the process to resolve this for them. This particular situation is complex and will take some time, and we are committed to doing everything in our power to make this right.

We hope this helps assure you that we have taken appropriate measures to prevent this error moving forward and also that we are taking steps to make this right for Yormula. We will continue communication with Yormula about this until the issue is resolved. Thank you.

“ Yormula's character is currently in an unplayable state due to the error, not deleted. The character data still exists. For those worried about character deletion, we want to reassure you this is not what happened in this case.”

This is so good to read. Thank you for posting this information, Kevin.

I agree. Even though it's 10 months in and took a month for an official reply once it went public, it's nice to see some new administration here and @ZOS_Kevin is doing it right setting a new bar -- which is quiet refreshing to see. More of this type of communication and interaction with the community, please. It goes such a long way past just these forums.

@Yormula, please keep us updated as you can. Even with the positive verbal reassurance from ZOS, it would be great to know what the final resolution and outcome of all this is. All the best.
.

Moloch1514

Great to see a reply from Kevin! Thanks for the acknowledgment!

OutLaw_Nynx

@scorpius2k1

Yeah, I agree as well. I hope they continue to communicate within reason with us.

Radiance

Dang, almost a month later and still not been fixed!?! Breaks my heart to think of my main character more or less being erased and taken away from me. After all this time it's like they're their own people and I'd miss her! Like an aspect of my memory or personality being completely forgotten.

JoeCapricorn

Now that is something I like to see. Thank you for the update, @ZOS_Kevin!

It is reassuring to know that the error that caused Yormula's predicament in the first place has been fixed. Still, I think in exceptional circumstances of characters being rendered unplayable for any reason, there should be a quicker response, and those cases being marked as important. After all, this isn't a simple fix - it's not like me getting reimbursed for a crafting survey that disappeared from my bank.

Situations like this won't be 100% preventable with a game as complex as this. They will be very rare (ideally on the order of 1 in 100 million, so maybe 99.999999% preventable), but when they do happen, it shouldn't take 10 months and a forum thread with 13 pages and nearly 60,000 views for a resolution to materialize. So in the unfortunate event that something like this happens again, the player posts a thread thanking support for getting their character back in action.

For now, we are all pining for a happy ending for Yormula here.

Chrysa1is

Wasn't a Lost City of Na-Totambu achievement was it? 😬😬

16BitForestCat

I'm glad to see an official reply indicating progress, but I'm still extremely disappointed that ZOS was willing to sit on this issue for nearly a year and only stepped up when the problem became too public (on the forums, at least) for them to continue sweeping under the rug. It's too similar to what happened a year ago, when ZOS ignored reports with proof that one of their Stream Team members was doxxing people including minors, and only took action against him when the situation was made public by the frustrated abuse-reporters and started to be picked up on by external outlets. It's why a few people actually quit the Stream Team last year; they were angry at the lack of proper action taken until it was forced. I still love the game and have friends on the dev team, but part of being a good friend is having the courage to tell someone you care about that they're really putting their foot in it.

Wolfkeks

I'm glad to see that ZOS is on it and that they gave an official response.
@Yormula jeep us updated! I really hope they will fix this for you!

Girl_Number8

It is nice to see an official update, good on you.

Though I still think the time it has taken to get things to this point, shows that customer service needs an overhaul. If @Yormula hadn't made this post I just wonder.

At least ZOS’ new addition Kevin is communicating, as he has promised.

GenjiraX

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

We understand the concern comes from a place of care for Yormula's account, and also player account safety overall. We want to stress how seriously the ZOS team takes these concerns. We hope giving context to this specific case will help ease your concerns and show the steps we are taking to ensure account integrity...

• Yormula's character is currently in an unplayable state due to the error, not deleted. The character data still exists. For those worried about character deletion, we want to reassure you this is not what happened in this case.
• We have identified the error which left the character unplayable and have updated our process to ensure that this type of error is prevented in the future.
• Lastly, we are personally updating Yormula as we continue the process to resolve this for them. This particular situation is complex and will take some time, and we are committed to doing everything in our power to make this right.

We hope this helps assure you that we have taken appropriate measures to prevent this error moving forward and also that we are taking steps to make this right for Yormula. We will continue communication with Yormula about this until the issue is resolved. Thank you.

I can only speak for myself but this is the response I’ve been waiting for. Thank you so much, @ZOS_Kevin - it is much appreciated. Data security and integrity is the single most important issue facing players. I love this game and to think it could be snatched away in a moment, as it was for @Yormula, was most disconcerting. I am very happy that I can return to just enjoying playing again and have waiting for bugs to be fixed as my biggest gripe.

I’m not sure if this is your first significant communication, Kevin, but it’s a cracking debut if it is.

I sincerely hope, with the data blocked but not lost, that Yormula’s character can be restored.

Well done, Kevin, and thanks again.

Inaya

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Good morning, everyone. We want to take some time to provide an update on this thread. First and foremost, thank you to everyone who voiced concern on behalf of @Yormula and their account. We understand the concern comes from a place of care for Yormula's account, and also player account safety overall. We want to stress how seriously the ZOS team takes these concerns. We hope giving context to this specific case will help ease your concerns and show the steps we are taking to ensure account integrity.

As the original post stated, we were assisting in a specific achievement-related issue Yormula had. We attempted a very complicated manual fix that is rarely done to make the character whole. This fix failed due to a human error using very complex tools. The result left the character in an unplayable state.

With that, we would like to highlight a few clarifying details:

• Yormula's character is currently in an unplayable state due to the error, not deleted. The character data still exists. For those worried about character deletion, we want to reassure you this is not what happened in this case.
• We have identified the error which left the character unplayable and have updated our process to ensure that this type of error is prevented in the future.
• Lastly, we are personally updating Yormula as we continue the process to resolve this for them. This particular situation is complex and will take some time, and we are committed to doing everything in our power to make this right.

We hope this helps assure you that we have taken appropriate measures to prevent this error moving forward and also that we are taking steps to make this right for Yormula. We will continue communication with Yormula about this until the issue is resolved. Thank you.

Wow @ZOS_Kevin absolutely amazing update!!!!

ApoAlaia

A very welcome - and somewhat unexpected - update, thank you @ZOS_Kevin

Glad to read that you are actively helping this fellow player.

Astiron

Thank you for the detailed update. Great to see positive response

SimonThesis

Thank you so much for the update Kevin! The transparency is refreshing! I wish everyone at zos was like Kevin.

Phanex

I know that the devs probably have a gag order against certain things and can't tell us what's going on behind the curtain, but the fact that just taking the time to explain things to us, the customers, made the majority of us extremely excited should speak volumes to the company that they need to be more transparent with things the community have issues with.

Supreme_Atromancer

Its good to see the goodwill being propagated from the interaction people have been asking for. The fact that ZOS has made this happen deserves a lot of recognition in light of the criticism they get.

I really hope the goodwill lasts beyond the point where communication starts to also bring disappointment, because the insight we get from these responses is really invaluable and appreciated. I think that's on the community to meet this goodwill half-way and to answer it with respect. We'll see!

So speaking harder problems, @ZOS_Kevin, it seems like a large part of this entire issue has been how the issue has been managed. Its not that a mistake has been made, but that it has taken a terribly unreasonable amount of time to get it recognised. Most people in this thread find this the least forgivable aspect.

From tickets that are shut down prematurely, repeatedly, to frustrating automated responses that completely miss the point and just waste time, to even deliberately wrong responses from the team handling them. Particularly off-putting is the false, automated sentiment statements you get like "we understand this is frustrating" "we are doing our best" when none of that is true. I'm sure it handles a massive amount of what would be invalid complaints but it also results in a negative and undeserved experience for people with legitimate concerns.

I also want to point out that I've personally had some really positive and helpful responses from the ticket team, along with a lot of what anyone would call unacceptable responses.

Yormula, good luck, and this at least seems like a positive development. Hope it pans out well for you.

Jaimeh

Again, good luck OP, I sincerely hope they manage to fix the error and restore your character to a playable state soon, so that you may enjoy your time in the game once more.

Rukia541

ZOS_Kevin wrote: »

Good morning, everyone. We want to take some time to provide an update on this thread. First and foremost, thank you to everyone who voiced concern on behalf of @Yormula and their account. We understand the concern comes from a place of care for Yormula's account, and also player account safety overall. We want to stress how seriously the ZOS team takes these concerns. We hope giving context to this specific case will help ease your concerns and show the steps we are taking to ensure account integrity.

As the original post stated, we were assisting in a specific achievement-related issue Yormula had. We attempted a very complicated manual fix that is rarely done to make the character whole. This fix failed due to a human error using very complex tools. The result left the character in an unplayable state.

With that, we would like to highlight a few clarifying details:

• Yormula's character is currently in an unplayable state due to the error, not deleted. The character data still exists. For those worried about character deletion, we want to reassure you this is not what happened in this case.
• We have identified the error which left the character unplayable and have updated our process to ensure that this type of error is prevented in the future.
• Lastly, we are personally updating Yormula as we continue the process to resolve this for them. This particular situation is complex and will take some time, and we are committed to doing everything in our power to make this right.

We hope this helps assure you that we have taken appropriate measures to prevent this error moving forward and also that we are taking steps to make this right for Yormula. We will continue communication with Yormula about this until the issue is resolved. Thank you.

By the nine

rootkitronin

Supreme_Atromancer wrote: »

Its good to see the goodwill being propagated from the interaction people have been asking for. The fact that ZOS has made this happen deserves a lot of recognition in light of the criticism they get.

I really hope the goodwill lasts beyond the point where communication starts to also bring disappointment, because the insight we get from these responses is really invaluable and appreciated. I think that's on the community to meet this goodwill half-way and to answer it with respect. We'll see!

It's great that we finally got a detailed response that addressed a lot of the points that were being raised here, and a big thank you to @ZOS_Kevin for delivering that message to us, and for anyone behind the scenes that helped to champion it.

That being said, I think most would agree that it shouldn't have taken that long for this type of communication to happen (or at least it would have been nice to have it sooner) - the criticism ZOS has received (the constructive kind) has been well-deserved, and one step in that right direction doesn't change or take away from that. Hopefully we see more of this going forward.

As for goodwill, it's important to remember how this relationship works - this isn't a communal friendship, this is a business relationship. The community (or customers) really don't owe ZOS anything.

You could argue that ZOS doesn't owe the community anything either, except that they do want us to continue to buy their products - as a business they depend on that - and in general, building up goodwill with customers helps in that regard. The onus is on ZOS to foster goodwill through their repeated actions and interactions - this is not the customer's responsibility.

That being said, while the customer shouldn't have to win over the business, it doesn't mean that we can't be respectful, helpful, and kind with our interactions, even when we're upset - this is something I think most of us can get behind.

After all, ZOS is made up of people, people like Kevin (and all those unnamed behind the recent communication) that seem to genuinely want to help. And while the actions and policies of the company don't necessarily reflect the actions or mindsets of those working for the company, the opposite is also true.

Regardless, thanks again for the update @ZOS_Kevin, actions and transparency like this can really go a long way, and as you can see, it's been very well received by the community here! @Yormula - let's hope we see a resolution of some sort sooner than later, the whole community is rooting for a happy ending here - whatever that may look like!

amm7sb14_ESO

rootkitronin wrote: »

Supreme_Atromancer wrote: »

Its good to see the goodwill being propagated from the interaction people have been asking for. The fact that ZOS has made this happen deserves a lot of recognition in light of the criticism they get.

I really hope the goodwill lasts beyond the point where communication starts to also bring disappointment, because the insight we get from these responses is really invaluable and appreciated. I think that's on the community to meet this goodwill half-way and to answer it with respect. We'll see!

It's great that we finally got a detailed response that addressed a lot of the points that were being raised here, and a big thank you to @ZOS_Kevin for delivering that message to us, and for anyone behind the scenes that helped to champion it.

That being said, I think most would agree that it shouldn't have taken that long for this type of communication to happen (or at least it would have been nice to have it sooner) - the criticism ZOS has received (the constructive kind) has been well-deserved, and one step in that right direction doesn't change or take away from that. Hopefully we see more of this going forward.

As for goodwill, it's important to remember how this relationship works - this isn't a communal friendship, this is a business relationship. The community (or customers) really don't owe ZOS anything.

You could argue that ZOS doesn't owe the community anything either, except that they do want us to continue to buy their products - as a business they depend on that - and in general, building up goodwill with customers helps in that regard. The onus is on ZOS to foster goodwill through their repeated actions and interactions - this is not the customer's responsibility.

That being said, while the customer shouldn't have to win over the business, it doesn't mean that we can't be respectful, helpful, and kind with our interactions, even when we're upset - this is something I think most of us can get behind.

After all, ZOS is made up of people, people like Kevin (and all those unnamed behind the recent communication) that seem to genuinely want to help. And while the actions and policies of the company don't necessarily reflect the actions or mindsets of those working for the company, the opposite is also true.

Regardless, thanks again for the update @ZOS_Kevin, actions and transparency like this can really go a long way, and as you can see, it's been very well received by the community here! @Yormula - let's hope we see a resolution of some sort sooner than later, the whole community is rooting for a happy ending here - whatever that may look like!

You're not wrong, but the thing is, people are still gonna buy the products. Right, wrong, or indifferent, nothing is changing because of how this was and is being handled.

I am not canceling ESO+ because of this. I just bought a crown store item tonight. I still log in daily. This thread hasn't given me any fear into the safety of my characters.

I would argue that this thread has also changed nobody's ESO habits. We are all still here, talking about the game, playing the game, spending money on the game, as are the hundreds of thousands (millions?) of people who haven't even seen this thread.

This thread has approx. 80k views.

Many of those are going to be repeats from the same people checking it over and over again. But even if each view was unique, that's 80k people out of the millions who play. If we put ESO's entire population at even only 1,000,000, that is barely 8% of the population that would even be aware of this. That percentage drops even lower when you start looking at more accurate player counts for ESO's base.

Was this situation handled well? Hard to totally say, without being there. It does seem like they offered a solution quite awhile back to give Yormula a blank character to rebuild what he lost, but he didn't accept that (if I understood correctly). At that point, I'm not sure what could have been done to remedy the situation. So I wouldn't argue that it was handled in the best possible fashion. But I'd also argue that it wasn't some horrible PR or customer service disaster when it is 1. An outlier with no indication of happening to anyone else, past, present, or future 2. Such a miniscule percentage of the overall population is even *aware* of it 3. And even less than that are changing their spending or gaming habits because of it.