7 years gone in a moment

JoeCapricorn

GenjiraX wrote: »

Christ. ZOS really wants this thread to go away, doesn’t it?

This is being handled really badly.

If they really wanted this thread to go away they would just lock it. I also have a feeling they understand the optics of doing so would be much worse.

Something tells me more is going on in the background than what is apparent. I hope Yormula gets their situation resolved. I also hope to see a developer come in here and assure us that a situation like this is rare and unlikely to happen, and that additional precautions are being put in place so those rare situations don't happen... or if they do, they can be easily reversed.

For example, there should be an internal protocol where whenever some sort of administrative action is done to alter an account (such as by attempting to restore achievements), the prior state of the account is backed up. That way, if something were to go wrong, that back up is restored. Just like with any of the single player TES games, backing up and "forking" save files is a good practice to keep from losing a significant amount of progress. I can't imagine such a system not already in place with ESO, where it is us players who have placed the trust into ZOS to do the backing up for us.

Khenarthi

I hope you're doing ok, @Yormula

It's quite troubling that a character can just get corrupted without the possibility of restoring a backup. It's something that can affect anyone and I would like some reassurance that it'll be fixed for you satisfactorily.

Arunei

I literally cannot imagine something this like happening to me. I've been playing since closed beta, if I lost my crafter (who has nearly all the motifs, thousands of Blueprints, slews of recipes, is a Grand Master Crafter, and is the one I do most overland content with) I would probably just quit playing.

GenjiraX

Arunei wrote: »

I literally cannot imagine something this like happening to me. I've been playing since closed beta, if I lost my crafter (who has nearly all the motifs, thousands of Blueprints, slews of recipes, is a Grand Master Crafter, and is the one I do most overland content with) I would probably just quit playing.

For me, the issue is not that I'd quit if it it happened to me. If it's possible that it could happen to me, what the hell am I still playing for?

At the moment, I'm not playing properly. I'm doing daily writs and partial Endeavours (actually, I did a couple of quests as well today) but my time in game is reducing day-by-day and I'm not spending any more money on crowns until I can be confident it's not money down the drain. I can't believe it's taking so long for a statement from senior management.

Mahabahabtha

Hey @ZOS_MattFiror or @ZOS_GinaBruno, would you please enlighten us how you will avoid such circumstances for other players?

Suna_Ye_Sunnabe

Any updates on this?

Khenarthi

GenjiraX wrote: »

Arunei wrote: »

I literally cannot imagine something this like happening to me. I've been playing since closed beta, if I lost my crafter (who has nearly all the motifs, thousands of Blueprints, slews of recipes, is a Grand Master Crafter, and is the one I do most overland content with) I would probably just quit playing.

For me, the issue is not that I'd quit if it it happened to me. If it's possible that it could happen to me, what the hell am I still playing for?

At the moment, I'm not playing properly. I'm doing daily writs and partial Endeavours (actually, I did a couple of quests as well today) but my time in game is reducing day-by-day and I'm not spending any more money on crowns until I can be confident it's not money down the drain. I can't believe it's taking so long for a statement from senior management.

I would not count on senior management coming into a forum thread for a statement - I know my company's senior management does not get involved with customer complaints or requests directly, they have a whole department dedicated to that.

However, I really hope that a forum mod / community manager would look into this and let us know what is being done to prevent something like this from happening again, and that the OP's case is being looked into by an actual human to do all that is possible to help. After all, this forum is not a free-for-all, the moderators do read the threads so they must be aware of the discomfort this issue is causing.

haelene

This is just unnerving. I can't imagine losing all that time, effort, and investment.

I hope op gets a resolution. As for myself, I'm actually kind of glad ZOS's constant overhauls are pushing me away. I wouldn't want to redo my characters for the millionth time, only to lose it completely.

Starlight_Whisper

Xorxe wrote: »

This must have been some mayor screw-up from ZOS support, because about 4 yrs ago I deleted all of my characters out of frustration from loot-box implementation. But after a while (like 1 year) i have change of mind and I tried and send a ticket asking of undelete. I fully expected to be told that I'm out of luck, but to my surprise, they actually udeleted all of my characters. They only needed their names.
So this seems to be some problem with account itself and they're trying to sweep it under the rug. Don't be that ZOS. If you can't fix it, give the poor guy few thousand € and call it a day. The way you try now you loose more money and customers :-/

Over the years heard of them restoring characters people delete too

JoeCapricorn

I think the bumping comment by KageW was in response to some people just posting the hashtag #keepthisthreadalive

I don't think regular continuation of discussion would be considered bumping. Even asking "any updates?" or expressing sympathy for Yormula is good. Sometimes what I do is stick to one or two points instead of posting everything on my mind, so I still have something else to talk about.

I am also going to join in with those who say that the devs or Community Managers ought to assure us that this can't happen to us. I would think the chance of it happening to any one of us is already tiny so it's not something I'm going to lose sleep over, but what is important is that if it does, steps are taken to make sure things are made right. Until now this apparently was something only between Yormula and ZOS, but now it has more of the community's attention.

In the meantime, well, I don't care about achievements that much...

vesselwiththepestle

If I were too lose my main character I would probably just leave the game. But this seems to be far worse with impact on the whole account. I've never seen something like that. Did you make sure it is not an issue with the client, completely removing it with all config and installing it new? I mean in regard to not getting whispers etc.

lookstwice

Sorry OP. I just have no words. I just started reading it and I can't believe this is not resolved yet.

This speaks volumes for this company. I really hope people are taking notice of this.

starkerealm

JoeCapricorn wrote: »

GenjiraX wrote: »

Christ. ZOS really wants this thread to go away, doesn’t it?

This is being handled really badly.

If they really wanted this thread to go away they would just lock it. I also have a feeling they understand the optics of doing so would be much worse.

They'd sink it. It's something the forum database supports, and it's a functionality that's rarely understood by forum users. Basically, it prevents future posts from bumping the thread back up to the top of the front page. In a high traffic forum like this, sinking a thread will effectively disappear it in a matter of hours, without any sign of moderator activity.

They could strangle this thread in its sleep if they wanted to, without any overt evidence that it had been tampered with.

So, no, when they said, "stop bumping," it's a pretty safe bet that they meant the, #keepthisthreadalive posts. And, yeah, that is breaking the forum rules.

Janus_Cruenti

It is a shame that ZOS will obviously look at this thread constantly, but never gives an official statement. I doubt anything will come after this long time, but who knows. The way that was "dealt" with the problem is something, that should never happen. It would be a first step if ZOS at least would acknowledge the issue and try to find a solution. But instead it looks like it is just getting ignored despite everything?

The fact that the problem was never adressed properly proves that there isn't a solution for it in case it ever happens again. As someone who playes since the Beta 2014 too, I'd be destroyed and quit the game if this happens to me.

krayphysh

There should be an option built into the game's launcher to backup account information - something that creates a file we can't access or modify. Maybe this could be done in a blockchain like style so that the information is verified by multiple random players computers just to be 100% that the backup file is accurate. You can't fake a transaction on the blockchain, so the same should apply to data. This could be implemented into the game's launcher and run completely discreetly. Probably a bit too futuristic as far as this topic is concerned, but a viable solution to prevent this from happening to others in the future. This post shouldn't be ignored, someone needs to sincerely help this person out. The OP has lost thousands of dollars, years of time, and a piece of him/her self. I would expect a company of this stature to do any and everything in it's power to ensure its customers are satisfied. Is there any logical reason that no one is going above and beyond to correct this issue? I hope all works out for you, OP, and you get the treatment that you truly deserve. ESO/ZOS probably won't care much for this last bit that I have to say; if this were my company, I would fire the customer service and hire a new crew. Your customer's satisfaction should always be your number one priority. Without customers, none of this would be possible. Always remember that you've progressed to becoming a successful company because of the customers. 😉 Now, do the right thing and help the OP out. Treat him/her like you truly care and sincerely fix the issue at hand. Do so in a way that satisfies the OP and makes that person feel valued for all they have contributed toward making this game what it is today.

xeNNNNN

starkerealm wrote: »

JoeCapricorn wrote: »

GenjiraX wrote: »

Christ. ZOS really wants this thread to go away, doesn’t it?

This is being handled really badly.

If they really wanted this thread to go away they would just lock it. I also have a feeling they understand the optics of doing so would be much worse.

They'd sink it. It's something the forum database supports, and it's a functionality that's rarely understood by forum users. Basically, it prevents future posts from bumping the thread back up to the top of the front page. In a high traffic forum like this, sinking a thread will effectively disappear it in a matter of hours, without any sign of moderator activity.

They could strangle this thread in its sleep if they wanted to, without any overt evidence that it had been tampered with.

So, no, when they said, "stop bumping," it's a pretty safe bet that they meant the, #keepthisthreadalive posts. And, yeah, that is breaking the forum rules.

I dont know how to quantify this really, because I have seen many threads over the years that have simply been of a more positive nature and those threads have used plenty of hashtag posts to keep "bumping" and yet they remained for weeks, months even.

I get it when a thread is derailing but I cannot imagine they would dare doing that to this thread.....the message it would send to the community....and then to Yormula it would basically be a massive middle finger after it was even their fault. So nah I cant imagine for a second they would be so foolish, not now. Imagine for a moment if they did; It would be a nuclear PR disaster - it would probably even make it to the big youtubers (the ones that cover this sort of thing), why is that important? Because the moment it makes it to them, then the visibility of the problem skyrockets and word spreads. Possibly one of the worst out comes for them.

They need to get this resolved for Yormula now, otherwise if this "shut down" or "sunk" the other result will probably be much worse. I really dont understand how its a hard decision either, I would of immediately order the rebuilding of his character bit by bit by constant conversation with him in their place.

I would even ensure hes contacted in game or give him a phone call as well. That might seem over the top but the best PR is when your customers know you're looking out for them, not this weird undergraduate mindset thats come out of the industry lately.

xeNNNNN

krayphysh wrote: »

There should be an option built into the game's launcher to backup account information - something that creates a file we can't access or modify. Maybe this could be done in a blockchain like style so that the information is verified by multiple random players computers just to be 100% that the backup file is accurate. You can't fake a transaction on the blockchain, so the same should apply to data. This could be implemented into the game's launcher and run completely discreetly. Probably a bit too futuristic as far as this topic is concerned, but a viable solution to prevent this from happening to others in the future. This post shouldn't be ignored, someone needs to sincerely help this person out. The OP has lost thousands of dollars, years of time, and a piece of him/her self. I would expect a company of this stature to do any and everything in it's power to ensure its customers are satisfied. Is there any logical reason that no one is going above and beyond to correct this issue? I hope all works out for you, OP, and you get the treatment that you truly deserve. ESO/ZOS probably won't care much for this last bit that I have to say; if this were my company, I would fire the customer service and hire a new crew. Your customer's satisfaction should always be your number one priority. Without customers, none of this would be possible. Always remember that you've progressed to becoming a successful company because of the customers. 😉 Now, do the right thing and help the OP out. Treat him/her like you truly care and sincerely fix the issue at hand. Do so in a way that satisfies the OP and makes that person feel valued for all they have contributed toward making this game what it is today.

Yes user side backup would be amazing. The company should create their own back up as well, but at least there are multiple redundancy protections at that point.

Khenarthi

User side backup would be wonderful, but potentially vulnerable to tampering. That is why one would expect ZOS' database team to have backups

kojou

As tragic as the loss of one's character is, I can also understand why it is not straight forward to just "fix" the character. Your front line support is just not going to have the right tools to do anything.

Backups are likely for the whole server and extracting information needed for one character on one account is probably not easy without doing a full restore.

I think the only hope is that the character is in some corrupted state, but still on the server and the right developer can analyze what is messed up fix the data and make it load again. OP would need to go full "Karen" on support and start asking for escalations and managers and harass them enough that they finally escalate the ticket to someone that can really fix it.

spartaxoxo

I'm actually terrified to contact ZeniMax with an issue regarding my own account until I see this resolved.

Currently I cannot manage my subscription to ESO+. I want to turn off auto-renew because if they charge my account next year at the same time as I purchased eso+, there may not be money in there. I got some additional money that I ended up using largely for fun outside of my normal paycheck and purchased a year of eso+. The money would probably be there next year, but just in case I want auto-renew off so it can sync up to my next pay cycle if it is there.

But Sony is claiming that it can't find my eso+ license and this seems to be an issue on ZeniMax's end. I don't want to contact them about it because I don't know want them screwing up my license and I end up unable to use my characters for months on end, possibly with the loss of all process.

It is thus vitally important to me that Yormula's issue is resolved.

SilverBride

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Currently I cannot manage my subscription to ESO+. I want to turn off auto-renew..

Have you gone to https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/home?

Then Account > Subscriptions > Manage Memberships

There you can choose Change your recurring membership or Cancel Membership.

spartaxoxo

SilverBride wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Currently I cannot manage my subscription to ESO+. I want to turn off auto-renew..

Have you gone to https://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en-us/home?

Then Account > Subscriptions > Manage Memberships

There you can choose Change your recurring membership or Cancel Membership.

That only works for pc but I appreciate the help 🙏

Yormula

Suna_Ye_Sunnabe wrote: »

Any updates on this?

Nothing new to report, folks.

krayphysh wrote: »

There should be an option built into the game's launcher to backup account information - something that creates a file we can't access or modify. ...

Community tends to crack any encryption eventually, I am not aware of a single exception, so local backups are not a feasible idea unless you don't care about players modifying their saves (a few titles did go that way, results vary).

JoeCapricorn wrote: »

I think the bumping comment by KageW was in response to some people just posting the hashtag #keepthisthreadalive ...

I'd suggest to add some positive thinking to the mix. People tend to really dislike being told what to do, burst of activity after said bumping comment is a case in point. So how do you help keep a thread active? Well, maybe by telling people not to bump it...

spartaxoxo wrote: »

... Currently I cannot manage my subscription to ESO+. I want to turn off auto-renew ...

If all else fails, you can remove pre-authorisation manually through your payment provider. Very simple with paypal, bit harder with small banks, but doable.

spartaxoxo

Yormula wrote: »

Suna_Ye_Sunnabe wrote: »

Any updates on this?

Nothing new to report, folks.

krayphysh wrote: »

There should be an option built into the game's launcher to backup account information - something that creates a file we can't access or modify. ...

Community tends to crack any encryption eventually, I am not aware of a single exception, so local backups are not a feasible idea unless you don't care about players modifying their saves (a few titles did go that way, results vary).

JoeCapricorn wrote: »

I think the bumping comment by KageW was in response to some people just posting the hashtag #keepthisthreadalive ...

I'd suggest to add some positive thinking to the mix. People tend to really dislike being told what to do, burst of activity after said bumping comment is a case in point. So how do you help keep a thread active? Well, maybe by telling people not to bump it...

spartaxoxo wrote: »

... Currently I cannot manage my subscription to ESO+. I want to turn off auto-renew ...

If all else fails, you can remove pre-authorisation manually through your payment provider. Very simple with paypal, bit harder with small banks, but doable.

Yeah. But they'd probably ban me for that. It's a problem for a year from now though. So I am hoping I can get it resolved long before it becomes an issue.

Thanks for the update!

Moloch1514

Maybe @ZOS_Kevin can help?

Thechuckage

This begins to feel like unknown persons are hoping this will die a natural death.
While I understand the forum mods are not involved with the process of fixing this, giving updates and reassurances is fully within their scope of duties. Some sort of reassurance to the community at large, even some sort of form letter would be better than silence.

Just my $0.02

Castagere

Just more proof that they need to fix their game badly.

Jaraal

Thechuckage wrote: »

This begins to feel like unknown persons are hoping this will die a natural death.
While I understand the forum mods are not involved with the process of fixing this, giving updates and reassurances is fully within their scope of duties. Some sort of reassurance to the community at large, even some sort of form letter would be better than silence.

Just my $0.02

They would have to run it by the lawyers first.

Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law.

Daydreamertmm

I've been lurking, keeping abreast of this topic, since I first saw this days ago. If the OP is being straight with everyone, the lack of a resolution here is simply OUTRAGEOUS.

I actually made a forum account just so that I could add my voice and support. There are MANY of us watching this thread.

Best of luck @Yormula. We're all rooting for this to be made right.

[Edit to remove bashing]

starkerealm

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Yormula wrote: »

Suna_Ye_Sunnabe wrote: »

Any updates on this?

Nothing new to report, folks.

krayphysh wrote: »

There should be an option built into the game's launcher to backup account information - something that creates a file we can't access or modify. ...

Community tends to crack any encryption eventually, I am not aware of a single exception, so local backups are not a feasible idea unless you don't care about players modifying their saves (a few titles did go that way, results vary).

JoeCapricorn wrote: »

I think the bumping comment by KageW was in response to some people just posting the hashtag #keepthisthreadalive ...

I'd suggest to add some positive thinking to the mix. People tend to really dislike being told what to do, burst of activity after said bumping comment is a case in point. So how do you help keep a thread active? Well, maybe by telling people not to bump it...

spartaxoxo wrote: »

... Currently I cannot manage my subscription to ESO+. I want to turn off auto-renew ...

If all else fails, you can remove pre-authorisation manually through your payment provider. Very simple with paypal, bit harder with small banks, but doable.

Yeah. But they'd probably ban me for that. It's a problem for a year from now though. So I am hoping I can get it resolved long before it becomes an issue.

Thanks for the update!

It would suck, but one thing you could do is order reissue the debit/credit card with a different number/expiration date. That would block any future autopay, and the only thing ZOS would do is say, "hey, your autopay failed, can you correct your information."

The unfortunate thing is, you'd now have to enter the new card info into every one of your automated payments. But, it is an option.