Waagh! I want my old stuff back!

[justicebeliever]

4 hours ago, Kyksie said:

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.

How does this solve the issues about people being able to properly “acquire” the correct account if they don’t remember their credentials?  

[Haijinx]

12 minutes ago, justicebeliever said:

 

 

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

The request that the OP wants their NCsoft COH stuff back.

 

And it has everything to do with it.  

 

Why would they even bother with the old COH accoints?

[justicebeliever]

9 minutes ago, Haijinx said:

The request that the OP wants their NCsoft COH stuff back.

 

And it has everything to do with it.  

 

Why would they even bother with the old COH accoints?

Sorry, I'm just not following your syntax here.

 

The request to get their old NCSoft stuff is out there, yes...made a few times on these forums.

 

You are saying that's not a helpful request here?  On these forums?  Because HC isn't NCSoft?

 

If so, then I'd just add that Leo and the SCoRE group had the character database at one point I believe, and dumped it due to the risks involved, so it's not a bad assumption that whoever is running the code would have access to the character database behind it as well.  It's still never going to happen, but I understand why one would reasonably ask HC about it.

[Widower]

15 minutes ago, justicebeliever said:

How does this solve the issues about people being able to properly “acquire” the correct account if they don’t remember their credentials?  

It doesn't, but frankly, that question is irrelevant. You'd need every person who ever played CoH to consent to the data transfer to Homecoming, and it's exceedingly unlikely we'd get that.

 

11 minutes ago, Haijinx said:

The request that the OP wants their NCsoft COH stuff back.

 

And it has everything to do with it.  

 

Why would they even bother with the old COH accoints?

If your question is "why would they care?" then the answer is probably "they don't want to run afoul of the GDPR (again), it's very unpleasant and costs far more in legal fees than they really want to spend, and if we force them into that position they will blow us out of the sky, so we're not going to poke the bear."

[Haijinx]

4 minutes ago, justicebeliever said:

Sorry, I'm just not following your syntax here.

 

The request to get their old NCSoft stuff is out there, yes...made a few times on these forums.

 

You are saying that's not a helpful request here?  On these forums?  Because HC isn't NCSoft?

 

If so, then I'd just add that Leo and the SCoRE group had the character database at one point I believe, and dumped it due to the risks involved, so it's not a bad assumption that whoever is running the code would have access to the character database behind it as well.  It's still never going to happen, but I understand why one would reasonably ask HC about it.

Its just a pointless request.  

 

Why the Homecoming team even want to get involved in that mess?  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Haijinx]

Thanks.  I think its pointless even without the legal ramifications.

 

Adding in legal issues.  Wow. 

 

 

[Mageman]

On ‎11‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 8:48 AM, 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 also bought ANOTHER account so I could have more characters, trade stuff and do super group stuff with ease.

I and a friend also played from I1 (or is it I0?). We're actually more concerned about these servers shutting down over regaining our "stuff".

Quote

I actually purchased a lifetime membership and I think I saved money on that.

I don't think Paragon ever offered a lifetime membership - I know that Champions Online offered one. I probably would have purchased one and sued NCSoft for shutting down a game that I had purchased a lifetime subscription to. Obviously I'm still alive, and I can't access it.

Quote

I spent A LOT of money and time getting that list of perks.

Again, same as me. I also had Prestige Power Slide on both of my accounts, and so did my friend on his two accounts. You could only get this by purchasing the special DVD edition.

 

P.S. I think it's insane to spend 1,000,000 INF to purchase Rocket Board for a single character. To me, this is a "nice to have" low-level travel power. By the time my characters can afford it, I have a regular travel power and don't need it. Now if this purchased an account-level unlock, then it would be worth it.

[Infinitum]

15 hours ago, Haijinx said:

The request that the OP wants their NCsoft COH stuff back.

 

And it has everything to do with it.  

 

Why would they even bother with the old COH accoints?

Not only that, but honestly, I am better set up now on homecoming than I ever was on live, and have been since June really.

 

I have more level 50s

 

Bigger bases

 

Bigger SG

 

About 15 billion influence - probably 25 if you factor in my wife also.

 

More themed characters.

 

I would feel threatened if someone told me I had to go back to my live stuff. lol

[FDR's Think Tank]

27 minutes ago, Mageman said:

 

 

P.S. I think it's insane to spend 1,000,000 INF to purchase Rocket Board for a single character. To me, this is a "nice to have" low-level travel power. By the time my characters can afford it, I have a regular travel power and don't need it. Now if this purchased an account-level unlock, then it would be worth it.

You can get that kind of influence just sitting in a farm, easily. The Rare drops easily gain you that cash. Perhaps you'd be more comfortable with an official travel power that goes faster, but I like the option of having a halfway measure that allows me to load up on other pool powers, if I desire.

 

On the otherhand, those prices were set because longtime players near the end of CoHs had ABSURD amounts of influence, more than they could ever spend in their life and CoH had removed any reason to splurge on a base beyond vanity.

 

Maybe they could make it cheaper if they do a system where it's a recipe for a device you invent, then the price is largely dependent on the salvage required to built it. This would also feel really thematic, although maybe people would feel it adds a obnoxious step in between. 

[Lost Ninja]

On 11/15/2019 at 6:04 PM, 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?

I know it won't happen. But I'd love to gain access to my old characters (even if it was just in a text file type thing), because unlike many when sunset came a long I didn't have easy access to the majority of my characters and I didn't save anything... I figured the game was going and saving stuff would only make me miserable hankering after things I couldn't have.

 

Having a "print out" of my old characters, especially builds and bios (though I have many of these saved as I wrote them out in a text editor prior to placing them in the game), would be really neat.

[Outrider_01]

1 hour ago, Lost Ninja said:

Having a "print out" of my old characters, especially builds and bios (though I have many of these saved as I wrote them out in a text editor prior to placing them in the game), would be really neat.

This.  I remember there being a website themed of Crey keeping tabs on heroes, you just submit the backround yourself.  I did see it maybe 4 or 5 years ago but can't remember what is called right now, was cool remembering the bio of some of my characters but sadly my 2 favorite I never did put on that site yet accidently deleted all my back up files about 2 years ago  =(

[srmalloy]

On 11/15/2019 at 9:02 PM, macskull said:

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).

The bar is elevated, but not impossibly high -- the Sentinel+ files have a checksum/hash code built into them -- the line like

<!-- VKEY F0B0E92E -->

just under the <character> tag at the top of the file, which can be used to verify whether the file has been tampered with. As I say, it's an elevated bar, not a panacea, because if you have access to the source to Sentinel+, you can reverse-engineer how it creates the value for that comment, then make whatever changes you like to your file and process it through such a 're-code' utility to generate a 'legitimate' tamper check.

 

 

Edited November 18, 2019 by srmalloy

[AboveTheChemist]

6 hours ago, Outrider_01 said:

This.  I remember there being a website themed of Crey keeping tabs on heroes, you just submit the backround yourself.  I did see it maybe 4 or 5 years ago but can't remember what is called right now, was cool remembering the bio of some of my characters but sadly my 2 favorite I never did put on that site yet accidently deleted all my back up files about 2 years ago  =(

The website was Crey Industries. That link is via the wayback machine, as that site went the way of the dodo a while ago. I loved writing little stories/reports about my characters from the Crey perspective.

Edited November 18, 2019 by AboveTheChemist

[Lost Ninja]

11 hours ago, AboveTheChemist said:

The website was Crey Industries. That link is via the wayback machine, as that site went the way of the dodo a while ago. I loved writing little stories/reports about my characters from the Crey perspective.

I don't really remember it myself but unless I miss my guess it was one of the sites that if you wanted your character on it you had to upload it?

 

I think really there are three ideas here.

1. To allow access to the original DB of characters for importing into HC. This won't happen. From a legal standpoint it's asking for trouble (even if HC gain legitimacy from NCSoft). And from a logistical standpoint it would be virtually impossible to make sure that a player only has access to his or her own characters. It's really not worth it for any servers this or others. They'd be better off just allowing instant 50s and giving enhancements/inf away.
2. Allow access to the original DB of characters purely for research into what you used to have. This could happen but I doubt under HC... in fact if it was possible to divest the original DB of player/account/billing information, so literally just Server > Character Name > Bio > Build. And have a searchable DB of that I don't see that any of the data protection laws around the world would have any issue with it. But I doubt that HC have the time/energy/need to do that.
3. Allow some API access to the existing character DB to allow fan made sites like a reborn Crey Industries. I for one would love to see an API like that, even though as a coder I doubt I'd use it for anything the many games that I have played that have this sort of access seem to have a more solid interaction with the players even outside of the game.

[AboveTheChemist]

5 hours ago, Lost Ninja said:

I don't really remember it myself but unless I miss my guess it was one of the sites that if you wanted your character on it you had to upload it?

It was simpler than that, really. There were no uploads that I recall, at least not of character data. It was simply a matter of specifying your character archetype, primary/secondary/pool powersets, origin, level, and perhaps another minor detail or two. Then one could add screenshots and text-based character descriptions to describe the character in as much or as little detail as desired. It was more of a way to flesh out a character backstory and/or document their ongoing story than it was a repository of build data about the character.

[GM Sijin]

26 minutes ago, AboveTheChemist said:

It was simpler than that, really. There were no uploads that I recall, at least not of character data. It was simply a matter of specifying your character archetype, primary/secondary/pool powersets, origin, level, and perhaps another minor detail or two. Then one could add screenshots and text-based character descriptions to describe the character in as much or as little detail as desired. It was more of a way to flesh out a character backstory and/or document their ongoing story than it was a repository of build data about the character.

It was essentially a Crey styled VirtueVerse. A wiki of sorts for character concepts from the purview of the totally legit corporation with no ulterior motives whatsoever.

[ShardWarrior]

I've actually re-created everything I had on live, and in some cases - like SG base - I actually have more/better options here.  I agree that old account data is best left untouched. 

[Outrider_01]

20 hours ago, AboveTheChemist said:

The website was Crey Industries. That link is via the wayback machine, as that site went the way of the dodo a while ago. I loved writing little stories/reports about my characters from the Crey perspective.

Thank you!  ☺️

 

I managed to find 1 Character bio 😂 .  God it badly needs spelling and grammar correction.  Sadly the other 2 I remember are gone, one scrapper and a defender who where sisters .  Thought I did a pair of corrupters which went with the one I found, but not sure if I ever posted it. 

 

Oh, found my main.  My god it was LLLLAAAAAAMMMMMEEEEEEEEEE!  Just wish I could find those other 2, finding the main requires changing the last numbers in the link and hope it hits  a match....but their are several thousand x10  😖

Edited November 18, 2019 by Outrider_01

[Lost Ninja]

17 hours ago, GM Sijin said:

It was essentially a Crey styled VirtueVerse. A wiki of sorts for character concepts from the purview of the totally legit corporation with no ulterior motives whatsoever.

But basically the being that the onus was on the player to "upload" or add their characters. It wasn't a trawl of the character database. If you didn't add anything to it, it won't be there... 😄

[Heraclea]

The only thing from old live that I bought and paid for and want back is my full complement of eight AE mission slots.  To publish new material I have to pull a current one and lose the ratings.  I asked a GM for more but whoever I reached apparently didn't understand how it worked. 

[Chris24601]

In terms of re-importing stuff... I still had my old install of CoH from live on my backup drive. It turns out all your AE missions and custom groups/mobs and your saved costumes are saved locally so they wouldn’t even be on the old servers to retrieve.

 

However, I just dropped the ones from the old install into the matching Homecoming folder and suddenly had access to all my old costumes and unpublished versions of my AE missions.

[Narfu12]

Waagh? WAAAAGH?! 

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!

[Megajoule]

(da red thredz go fasta)

[Tahliah]

On 11/15/2019 at 11:49 AM, Infinitum said:

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.

/This.

 

When we first got back, I was very much wanting my old toons and stuff just the way they were.  I did have some screenies of costumes so was able to create "legacy" costumes on some of my faves, and that was satisfying.  But as I've played and leveled/rebuilt my favorite toons from live, I've discovered that I am actually more happy with their "new and improved" versions than with them before. 

 

In fact, I suspect that it would have taken me a long time to respec my main, for instance, and her rebuild on HC feels so much more awesome and fun that I would have been missing out having her transferred over.   It sounds crazy, but rebuilding was a good thing for me and didn't take that long on my main.  I'm still working on rebuilding other favorites, but I find I am really enjoying the journey and discovering that I find different powers/IO sets/etc. more useful now than I did/knew then. 

 

At this point, I'd "take" them if they were on offer, but I doubt I would run them as often as I do my HC rerolls.  I'd probably stick them on some far back pages of our 1000 available character slots, where they would gather dust until I felt nostalgia to run them for a mish or two.

[boggo2300]

6 hours ago, Tahliah said:

/This.

 

When we first got back, I was very much wanting my old toons and stuff just the way they were.  I did have some screenies of costumes so was able to create "legacy" costumes on some of my faves, and that was satisfying.  But as I've played and leveled/rebuilt my favorite toons from live, I've discovered that I am actually more happy with their "new and improved" versions than with them before. 

 

In fact, I suspect that it would have taken me a long time to respec my main, for instance, and her rebuild on HC feels so much more awesome and fun that I would have been missing out having her transferred over.   It sounds crazy, but rebuilding was a good thing for me and didn't take that long on my main.  I'm still working on rebuilding other favorites, but I find I am really enjoying the journey and discovering that I find different powers/IO sets/etc. more useful now than I did/knew then. 

 

At this point, I'd "take" them if they were on offer, but I doubt I would run them as often as I do my HC rerolls.  I'd probably stick them on some far back pages of our 1000 available character slots, where they would gather dust until I felt nostalgia to run them for a mish or two.

I'm currently rebuilding my old main from live,  I didn't even re-roll him for several months I've been making new toons, but the re-roll even though I've only got him to 31 so far is already a better build...