Waagh! I want my old stuff back!

[Danopix]

I am extremely grateful that City of Heroes is in my life again. One thing haunts me however... where's all my stuff? My friend and I bought CoH the week it came out. We were subscribers until the end. I actually purchased a lifetime membership and I think I saved money on that. I also bought ANOTHER account so I could have more characters, trade stuff and do super group stuff with ease. So basically, I had every extra account wide utility and power there ever was. Was it mentioned somewhere that someone has the original account files? Can someone look and see all the things I earned and pop them on my account? Please? Pretty please. I'll say what the account names were if this is possible.

I know this is a long shot but I had to ask. I spent A LOT of money and time getting that list of perks. Thanks. And thanks for bringing back my favorite game!

[HelenCarnate]

The game code was salvaged. The old character info is likely gone forever. 

 

Edit for clarity. Access to the old character info is likely never going to happen. It may be out there but odds of getting acess to it is somewhere between slim to none and is way closer to none.

Edited November 15, 2019 by HelenCarnate

[macskull]

24 minutes ago, HelenCarnate said:

The game code was salvaged. The old character info is likely gone forever. 

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that 1) there's a 100% chance the old database exists and 2) there's a 0% chance we'll ever get anything from it on Homecoming.

[Oubliette_Red]

10 minutes ago, macskull said:

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that 1) there's a 100% chance the old database exists and 2) there's a 0% chance we'll ever get anything from it on Homecoming.

☝️

 

The devs have already explained elsewhere that this is a huge legal can of worms that they have no intention of opening.

[Infinitum]

58 minutes ago, Danopix said:

I am extremely grateful that City of Heroes is in my life again. One thing haunts me however... where's all my stuff? My friend and I bought CoH the week it came out. We were subscribers until the end. I actually purchased a lifetime membership and I think I saved money on that. I also bought ANOTHER account so I could have more characters, trade stuff and do super group stuff with ease. So basically, I had every extra account wide utility and power there ever was. Was it mentioned somewhere that someone has the original account files? Can someone look and see all the things I earned and pop them on my account? Please? Pretty please. I'll say what the account names were if this is possible.

I know this is a long shot but I had to ask. I spent A LOT of money and time getting that list of perks. Thanks. And thanks for bringing back my favorite game!

Yeah there is not likely to be any recovery of old account items.

 

But

 

The great thing about Homecoming is its really easy to rebuild it back.

 

I now have 3 times as many level 50s than I had on live including rebuilding my the ones I had on live - which are now IOd out better than they were on live because its easier to obtain all the cool stuff to deck them out with.

[Danopix]

Thanks for the responses. Things are clearer. I'd love for them to open up that can just a teeny bit and let MY WORM out! heh heh. I'm glad they give us access to some good stuff straight away. Does anyone know, if I set up my own personal server (mostly so the game can never be taken away from me again) could I assign all those accolades on myself in a data file?

[macskull]

5 minutes ago, Danopix said:

Thanks for the responses. Things are clearer. I'd love for them to open up that can just a teeny bit and let MY WORM out! heh heh. I'm glad they give us access to some good stuff straight away. Does anyone know, if I set up my own personal server (mostly so the game can never be taken away from me again) could I assign all those accolades on myself in a data file?

You can do pretty much anything on a personal server, yes.

[Jeneki]

Think of it this way: If the old character database ever got into the wild (intentional or not), we'd all have snooping access to everyone's top-secret ERP costumes.  😛

[Dugunthi]

5 minutes ago, Jeneki said:

Think of it this way: If the old character database ever got into the wild (intentional or not), we'd all have snooping access to everyone's top-secret ERP costumes.  😛

This time with the correct account:

 

Sounds like a reason to do it to me! 😄

[merrypessimist]

5 hours ago, Jeneki said:

Think of it this way: If the old character database ever got into the wild (intentional or not), we'd all have snooping access to everyone's top-secret ERP costumes.  😛

Like the people with ERP costumes didn't 1) use mods, and 2) be fairly open about having/wearing them. :)

[srmalloy]

6 hours ago, macskull said:

You can do pretty much anything on a personal server, yes.

And I would be willing to bet that someone has written code to take a Sentinel+ character export file and load it into a server database (would likely need to be done server-side), so if you set up a private server and have Sentinel+ archives for your characters, you should be able to get them back as they were.

 

[boggo2300]

6 hours ago, Jeneki said:

Think of it this way: If the old character database ever got into the wild (intentional or not), we'd all have snooping access to everyone's top-secret ERP costumes.  😛

Thats ok my ERP costume is a Domino mask, fishnets and Briefs on a Huge frame,  noone WANTS to see that!

[macskull]

4 hours ago, srmalloy said:

And I would be willing to bet that someone has written code to take a Sentinel+ character export file and load it into a server database (would likely need to be done server-side), so if you set up a private server and have Sentinel+ archives for your characters, you should be able to get them back as they were.

 

This is already possible and I think some of the servers out there allow it, but the server has to be taken down each time to update the character database, and there's no way to check whether the export file was modified (so you didn't grant yourself, say, every badge in existence and 2 billion inf).

[Roderick]

16 hours ago, Danopix said:

I actually purchased a lifetime membership

That's actually pretty impressive, since there was never one offered.

 

Maybe you're thinking of Champions Online? They have a Lifetime Sub option.

[Razor Cure]

16 hours ago, Oubliette_Red said:

The devs have already explained elsewhere that this is a huge legal can of worms that they have no intention of opening.

I am honestly curious about that statement. If NC somehow 'owns' that data (which I assume is basically just a huge ass text document, with code ala Mids saying what items people have etc etc)...how is that information more of a legal SNAFU than what we have now..which is basically still using NCs game and code, but just with a new beginning?

A simple explanation would be appreciated 🙂

[Danopix]

1 hour ago, Roderick said:

That's actually pretty impressive, since there was never one offered.

 

Maybe you're thinking of Champions Online? They have a Lifetime Sub option.

You're wrong my friend. It was in the first couple of years. I did create a lifetime membership for Champions Online and Star Trek Online afterward because I knew I had saved so much money on that CoH account. I guess it's possible I'm wrong... is it impossible it existed and you didn't know about it?

[EmmySky]

3 hours ago, Razor Cure said:

I am honestly curious about that statement. If NC somehow 'owns' that data (which I assume is basically just a huge ass text document, with code ala Mids saying what items people have etc etc)...how is that information more of a legal SNAFU than what we have now..which is basically still using NCs game and code, but just with a new beginning?

A simple explanation would be appreciated 🙂

Proving that one person is the 'owner' of a particular toon or account with X items or inf or vet rewards would be nigh impossible.  This doesnt even open up the worminess of personal data like credit cards used to pay or physical addresses for mailing the comic books.  To release the right info to the right people wouldn't be a simple matter and would open up the legal can of worms that is privacy policies and such.

[FDR's Think Tank]

Teardrops in the rain. You have everything they could possibly give you to rebuild what you had... and THEN some. I think that will have to do, because it's totally impractical for them to dive into the legal, moral, and flat out time consumptive quagmire of toying with all that old user data. In fact, aside from your ability to duplicate it with a little effort, I would say the old stuff even further out of reach than any Copyrighted Character. At least there is the possibility that the infinite copyrights on these Superheroes could end if the companies succeed in their seeming quest to make them completely unprofitable.

 

I think the thing that I miss most isn't the stuff, it's the Ships... and since they never added vehicles for us to use, I am left with only longing for Friendships that vanished all those years ago!

[justicebeliever]

3 hours ago, Razor Cure said:

I am honestly curious about that statement. If NC somehow 'owns' that data (which I assume is basically just a huge ass text document, with code ala Mids saying what items people have etc etc)...how is that information more of a legal SNAFU than what we have now..which is basically still using NCs game and code, but just with a new beginning?

A simple explanation would be appreciated 🙂

Any potential intentional or unintentional mismanagement of personal data gets you into legal SNAFU’s with more than just NCSoft.  Now you have player data in the wild and that could mean legal challenges from players as well.

 

My thoughts here:

• Personal data like CC #’s and addresses aren't really a big issue.  It would be easy enough to remove those columns or tables of data from the database.
• Proving you are the owner of that account would be hard.  I don’t remember my CoH password from live.  I don't remember my old password from that shining new hotmail account I used to play it, but haven't used in the last 5 years.  So how would I prove ownership?
• The staffing to manage thousands of help tickets to get access to live player data would be staggering
• And if you only offered access to just the few that remember everything, then you will create a permanent schism between the have's and the have not's.

Beyond this, the Dev's have already stated this is a non-option for them. 

[GM Sijin]

On top of what @justicebeliever mentioned, there's also the issue that if not all PII, including email addresses, are removed from the database then GDPR and other regulations protecting PII apply to both the transmission and retention of the data.

 

If all PII is expunged the only points we have to verify an account belongs to someone is account name and characters. That is simply not secure enough to really validate an account is someone's. Passwords may not even be stored in the database, as I'm pretty sure the character DB and auth DB are two separate things, and having one doesn't necessarily mean having the other.

 

All things considered, it's honestly probably just best if the original character database stays lost/archived.

[Kyksie]

The contents of the data are irrelevant: the fact that it exists is all that matters. In the US and many parts of Europe, companies are required to notify past and present customers if any of their data is compromised, or face a lawsuit. The state that the customer lives in determines which laws apply, forcing companies to wade through a patchwork of state laws.

 

Up until now, the character data has only been in the hands of a shadowy group that no one can pin down, so NC can deny any knowledge of it. However, if the character data were to become public, NC would be forced to inform all their customers via email that they had been the victim of a data breach. Because NCSoft is an Asian company, a loss of face like this would force all the senior executives to commit seppuku or go on an honor quest or something. Even worse, if the main customer database has been thrown away (a reasonable possibility, since having it around would present a target to hackers) they would be unable to inform their ex-customers, leaving them open to lawsuits. Even though this data is completely worthless- no one cares how many LotGs Mistress Babyfurs had at shutdown or what color her panties were (ok maybe a few people care about that last one)- it could still lead to a huge and messy case.

 

The ideal solution would be for the Secret Team to reach an agreement with NC where they "give" us the character data (which might include extras like bases and AE missions) but I really don't see that happening.

Edited November 16, 2019 by Kyksie

[Razor Cure]

Ooh that makes sense. For some reason, I didnt even consider the Credit Card and other details..I guess I just assumed they wouldn't be released! Although, as people are saying..how else do you prove an account is yours?!

Having said that though..I took pics of all mine before shutdown, and could basically rattle off their exact build and slotting from memory. Which of course would not be fair to those who forgot stuff.

As much as I miss my old toons, I am enjoying making new ones now.

[Burnt Toast]

11 hours ago, Danopix said:

You're wrong my friend. It was in the first couple of years. I did create a lifetime membership for Champions Online and Star Trek Online afterward because I knew I had saved so much money on that CoH account. I guess it's possible I'm wrong... is it impossible it existed and you didn't know about it?

The most CoH offered were yearly subscriptions. There was no lifetime subscription. 

[Haijinx]

This request is out there.

 

People do know this isn't the same company that ran COH right?

[justicebeliever]

 

2 hours ago, Haijinx said:

This request is out there.

 

People do know this isn't the same company that ran COH right?

 

What request?  I don't follow...And what does the fact that NCSoft and HC are separate entities have to do with it?