lost access to original e-mail account

[Mr. Apocalypse]

I have a second account that was for my kid/wife to play with me, I no longer have access to the e-mail account that was used for account creation. How would I go about correcting the issue so I can change the password in the future. I still have access to the game and all is good now, but just in case I need to make modifications at a later date.

[uninventive]

Can you login to the forums with the account in question?  If so, hit Account Settings and add your new active email address in it's place.  The forum will send a new email to confirm you have control of the email account.  Click the confirmation link, and you're all set.  (Alt accounts need a separate address from your main account.  Save for tricks like using + in Gmail, using the same email won't work for multiple forum accounts.)

If you CAN'T log into the forums with your alt-account info, That's Support ticket territory.  Put in a ticket (click this, or Support above, it's the same link) and ask GMs what your options look like. 

 

The presumption is "your email address is your access."  Lose control of the email account and you lose control of your game account, as your forum account controls your game password.  So if you can't log into the forums, someone who has your address can click "forgot password" and retrieve your forum account... then your game account. (Your game client password to log into the game can be reset by the forum account at any time with zero knowledge of your old game client password.)

But if you use free email services (even GMail 'tombstones' inactive accounts now, so nowhere is safe) you don't generally get told when a provider is wiping and reusing your email address for someone else.  If that is what happened, I'd plead my case and answer any questions to prove you did own the account.

 

But not in this thread.  Support ticket.  Those are confidential. 🙂

Edited November 30, 2023 by uninventive

[Mr. Apocalypse]

thanks, it was a gmail account that they deleted for inactivity

 

[uninventive]

That can happen.  I'd be no different, there's some email accounts I haven't checked in years.

[GM Crumpet]

Good advice form Unintentive. If you can access the forum account it's easy enough to change the email address in the account settings. If you can't access the forum as you've forgotten the password then send a ticket in from in game for the relevant account (that helps us to verify it's you) and give us as much info as you can. Account name, global name, an alt name you played recently that isn't the one you are sending the ticket from. Plus the old email address if you remember it and the new email address you want to change it to. Basically we ask for lots of information so we can be sure it's actually you. If you can't access the game as you don't remember the password then basically the same information from an account you can log in with.

We'll then check the IP address to see if it's the same for both accounts. And hope you don't use a VPN 😛 

Edited November 30, 2023 by GM Crumpet

[Mr. Apocalypse]

Thanks.  I can still log into the account and play on it regularly. I still know the original e-mail address, but had forgotten the PW for both the e-mail account and the forum account. when I tried PW recovery through gmail, it notified me that the account was no longer valid. so that was where the process stalled. 

 

If I remember correctly, It has to be a separate e-mail for each game/forum account is this correct. So I would need to generate a new e-mail account before going through the process?

[uninventive]

Yep.  Spin up a new email address. 

 

Since you mentioned Gmail, the plus trick might be faster:
[email protected] - Example Email account as your Main

[email protected] - Will deliver to the above account.

[email protected] - Same.

 

Anything after a + will still deliver to your mailbox.  (A more formal explanation: https://eit.ces.ncsu.edu/2023/02/gmail-plus-addressing-the-hidden-feature-that-can-help-you-get-more-out-of-your-inbox/)

 

You can then use Gmail's filters to catch the +HCAlt1 and +HCAlt2 messages and place them in a label you like, so for the above example you make a label called HCAlt1, filter messages from that address to gain that label (Example: any message with the "From" address of  [email protected], apply the "HCAlt1" Label), then when you click on the HCAlt1 label you get your alt account password reset emails, then repeat that setup for HCAlt2.  As far as the forums are concerned, they're three different email addresses.

 

That way your email (main account) is the only one you need to keep active.  Major downside to that is it's a good idea to keep your main email password well-protected (password over 12 chars, use 2FA other than SMS, change the password annually... or what people should do on any email account tied to financial access, same principle.)  If your main email is compromised, there goes all three characters.

Edited December 1, 2023 by uninventive