Characters Disapearing!
By
American_Angel,
Posted on: 2012-07-09 17:05 in ALL ACCESS Gameplay Technical Issues Bugs
File a petition, we cannot help you here. However, I suspect your last statement is not as true as you believe it to be.
"You don't lose levels. You don't have equipment to wear out, repair, or lose, or that anyone can steal from you. About the only thing lighter than debt they could do is have an NPC walk by, point and laugh before you can go to the hospital or base." -Memphis_Bill
We will honor the past, and fight to the last, it will be a good way to die...
If you mean only me having access, it is very true. I have a very difficult password involving numbers and letters. I am the only one that knows it.
If it isn't a bug then either someone else knows your login and password, or you deleted the characters in your sleep. Those are the only three possibilities.
Quote:
Perhaps an infinite number of monkeys typed until they got his password and then gave it to someone else who deleted his characters in their sleep.|
Originally Posted by Forbin_Project
If it isn't a bug then either someone else knows your login and password, or you deleted the characters in your sleep. Those are the only three possibilities.
|
Or it is a Nemesis Plot.
On-Topic Aside: As to the OP, this is the only instance I have heard of this, so I doubt it is a general bug. Good luck with your petition.
City of Heroes was my first MMO, & my favorite computer game.
R.I.P.
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True, we can not help you here, a petition is in order. However, may I suggest you check all character slots on Freedom, check every page to be sure they didn't get shifted. Also check every server, all slots and pages on those too to be sure they weren't bounced there. Compile a list, to the best if your reckoning, exactly what characters/AT/level/hero-or-villian/etc. and include it to the petition.
Hope you get some assistance and resolution. 
"You sir, have never been in a hammer fight, that much is clear."
-Blast_Chamber
*yeah, I quoted myself.
Quote:
I did check all pages...nothing there. I originally had 2 pages plus 2 slots filled (though a bunch were locked). My entire first page was unlocked...those are the ones that are still there.|
Originally Posted by Blast_Chamber
True, we can not help you here, a petition is in order. However, may I suggest you check all character slots on Freedom, check every page to be sure they didn't get shifted. Also check every server, all slots and pages on those too to be sure they weren't bounced there. Compile a list, to the best if your reckoning, exactly what characters/AT/level/hero-or-villian/etc. and include it to the petition.
Hope you get some assistance and resolution. |
I DID petition...first time since returning to PIP status. Got zero response at all. Stayed on for hours today waiting for a response.
As to the others comments...this is most definitely a bug. Just because it hasn't risen before doesn't mean it isn't one. There always is a first report of a bug.
It is IMPOSSIBLE that my password and user name were stolen. IMPOSSIBLE. The user name and password are not shared with any other service (for example, I do not have the same ones anywhere else), my computer is freshly reformatted as of two weeks ago, I have not had a virus in a very long time (so no key logger hack). I reformatted to switch from XP to Win 7.
No one in my house has access to my passwords either, except for me. I write all of my passwords in an address book and keep it locked up until I need it.
I even change my account and game passwords every month (most recently when I reformatted two weeks ago).
This is a bug. Probably the result of the most recent update.
[QUOTE=American_Angel;4301157]
I DID petition...first time since returning to PIP status. Got zero response at all. Stayed on for hours today waiting for a response.
In such Cases they wont appear ingame, waiting there is just a waste of time, u need to check the e-mail adress which is stored in the support account, or log directly into the support system to see their response. Following is the Link for the NA Account supports page: https://support.cityofheroes.com/
As to the others comments...this is most definitely a bug. Just because it hasn't risen before doesn't mean it isn't one. There always is a first report of a bug.
Well u are right if no one deleted them manually (aka via your Account) its an error, i wouldnt call it a Bug, cause then Create/Delete System would have Bugs and many more People would encounter it. I suppose there was an database error happening to your Account.
It is IMPOSSIBLE that my password and user name were stolen. IMPOSSIBLE. The user name and password are not shared with any other service (for example, I do not have the same ones anywhere else), my computer is freshly reformatted as of two weeks ago, I have not had a virus in a very long time (so no key logger hack). I reformatted to switch from XP to Win 7.
This is just a misbelief, your security measures sounds good which make it highly "Unlikely" that your Password was stolen, but as long your Computer has Internet Access there is never the Option of "Impossible".
Probably the result of the most recent update.
Its quite possible, for each Update the database needs to be checked, and the check maybe caused an error to your Account resulting in the described deletion of the Chars.
Greetings
SuggestorK
Quote:
You may certainly be right. |
Originally Posted by American_Angel
It is IMPOSSIBLE that my password and user name were stolen. IMPOSSIBLE. The user name and password are not shared with any other service (for example, I do not have the same ones anywhere else), my computer is freshly reformatted as of two weeks ago, I have not had a virus in a very long time (so no key logger hack). I reformatted to switch from XP to Win 7.
No one in my house has access to my passwords either, except for me. I write all of my passwords in an address book and keep it locked up until I need it. I even change my account and game passwords every month (most recently when I reformatted two weeks ago). This is a bug. Probably the result of the most recent update. |
However, in my dozen years or so of online gaming, I've seen numberless claims that "no one else has access to my account" turn out to be not as true as the initial poster believed. "Oh, uh, my brother admitted..." or "...And I've been getting malware popups ever since visiting that hack/cheat site" or "My girlfriend/boyfriend is jealous of my game time" being the big three ultimate causes, typically. Similarly, I've been an administrator on a game site and seen a surprising number of forum accounts compromised and in those cases it's always been a security lapse of some kind -- in one case, a keylogger downloaded from a gardening site, of all things.
Again, I'm not saying you're wrong -- I'm just explaining everyone's skepticism. In threads like this, it's "always" denied that any human agency could have intentionally done it, and it it seems like it "always" turns out to be sabotage, theft, meddling, or the four-year-old.
Your security precautions sound ironclad...except for the one thing. The fact that you take such extreme precautions, including changing your passwords regularly, makes me wonder if you have might reason to worry about the intentions of someone in your house or with access to your machine. A roommate of questionable character, an annoying sibling, what have you.
Just in case it does turn out to be human agency and not a bug, one thing you could do while you wait for an official response is to run the typical diagnostics on your machine (they're descibed in a pinned post somewhere, I forget the exact names) and post them here for the forum's technically-inclined folks to pore over -- sometimes they spot a keylogger or something like that. Might not help, of course, but it's something to do while you wait.
Best of luck, I know I'd be unhappy if it happened to me.
If we are to die, let us die like men. -- Patrick Cleburne
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The rule is that they must be loved. --Jayne Fynes-Clinton, Death of an Abandoned Dog
If your playerslot.txt file is corrupt, it can make characters vanish from your character select screen. Please read this thread and follow its instructions:
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=292457
Though the thread addresses a different problem, the cause is the same, and even if it doesn't help, following the steps listed in the thread will not harm your account in any way.
@Roderick
Also check ALL the screens for that server. I seem to recall cases where some of the middle screens contained no characters but they were showing up on a later one.
Mind of Gaia lvl 50 Defiant's first Mind/Storm 'troller.
Deadly Doc 50 Dark/Dark Corr
and lots more on Pinnacle,Union and Defiant
Quote:
This is CoH!|
Originally Posted by American_Angel
It is IMPOSSIBLE that my password and user name were stolen. IMPOSSIBLE.
|
*Kicks someone into the pit of despair*
Impossible just takes longer.
Sorry but there's no such thing as "impossible". Or perfect security on a running computer.
It's possible your system has been compromised by malware, or someone installed a keylogger.
Others have already given you the proper steps to take (contact support, check later screens in case your playerslot.txt file is corrupted, etc).
Clicking on the linked image above will take you off the City of Heroes site. However, the guides will be linked back here.
Quote:
I opened this file. It isn't even showing all the characters that are still on my server. It lists 11 characters, and my screen is showing 12 characters on Freedom.|
Originally Posted by Roderick
If your playerslot.txt file is corrupt, it can make characters vanish from your character select screen. Please read this thread and follow its instructions:
http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showthread.php?t=292457 Though the thread addresses a different problem, the cause is the same, and even if it doesn't help, following the steps listed in the thread will not harm your account in any way. |
The only thing I can think of other than a patch is I installed Beta Server Saturday, but I don't see how that would affect things.
Edit:
I deleted the file and am currently rechecking all files in the launcher. (crosses fingers).
Quote:
No, it's not. In the world of electronic security nothing is impossible.|
Originally Posted by American_Angel
It is IMPOSSIBLE that my password and user name were stolen. IMPOSSIBLE.
|
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by American_Angel
This is a bug. Probably the result of the most recent update.
|
I understand that this can be an enormously frustrating thing but please do not take out those frustrations on the people of the forums. They're trying to help you. You shouldn't jump down their throats for doing so.
My guides:Dark Melee/Dark Armor/Soul Mastery, Illusion Control/Kinetics/Primal Forces Mastery, Electric Armor
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I was offline for a day or so, came back, logged onto Freedom Server...and 10 of my 24 characters are gone. I am the only one that has access to the account.
