Character deletion – MMO Fallout

Warning: Scarlet Blade Randomly Deletes Characters

Every once in a while here at MMO Fallout I put out a community warning for specific games. Today I would like to put out a warning for gamers thinking about getting into the free to play MMO Scarlet Blade, or for those who have already started playing and are thinking about investing some cash. Word has come down to MMO Fallout via the online grapevine that Scarlet Blade characters are being randomly deleted, along with all of their items (including cash shop goods). Judging from forum posts, this may be a database bug that already existed in the Eastern version of Scarlet Blade and was brought over when the game was translated for the West.

An Aeria Games GM commented on the bug:

I know that this is a very concerning issue. Please know that we are working with the developers to solve this issue as quickly as we possibly can. We may ask you for what seems to strange information, or to create a new character with the same name. This will help the developers to identify and fix the issue.

Aeria Games has instructed those affected to submit tickets, however in searching the forums I did not come across any players confirming that their items and characters have been restored yet.

Given this information, MMO Fallout recommends that if you are going to play Scarlet Blade, that you do not invest any money in it for the time being. There is a growing number of people threatening to perform chargebacks against Aeria Games who spent hundreds or thousands of dollars into their accounts, so I suggest those of you who are considering doing the same read up on how to perform a proper and legal chargeback.

Age of Conan Downtime/Character Deletion Today

aocchardeletion_580 — What about the rights of that little girl?

If you are reading this and have not heeded my own, Funcom’s, and other’s warnings to save your inactive, low level characters from deletion, you are too late. As of earlier this morning, Age of Conan’s servers went offline for what will be a twelve hour downtime. Characters that have been inactive for at least seven months prior to today, and are under level 20 (and still in the tutorial) will be deleted as part of an effort to consolidate data, and in preparation for upcoming server mergers.

Naturally there will be players who will complain over this idea, and I did mention in the past article that this would end up being perceived as a grab for money by some, and a threat to others. However, in Funcom’s defense, setting up a separate database with unused characters is not worth the resources it would take to port them back into the game at a future date, especially considering it would likely cost the user money, at a price not worth spending on a character that has yet to make way out of the tutorial. I also noted that a lot of the criticism was coming from players who had no intention of playing either way, a group I have noted several times in the past whose feedback should be ignored at all opportunities.

More on Age of Conan, such as the upcoming server mergers, as it appears.

Conan Inactive Character Deletion: Barbaric Resolution

Those of you with inactive accounts that have characters below level 20 will have already received an email regarding this, or will be receiving one. In order to consolidate space and free up storage and names on the servers, due to an upcoming server merge, Funcom will be deleting inactive sub-20 characters.

That’s a nice tutorial character you have there. It’d be a shame if something were to happen to it. As I’m sure you’re aware, accidents happen all the time. You try to open a door, and suddenly you get struck in the head by a freak tire iron accident. Or those cars, we all know about those random explosions that occur when you try to start the engine. Just saying, a little protection money can go a long way.

Ok, so Funcom isn’t going to beat you with a tire iron if you don’t resubscribe, nor am I aware of any Italian mobsters who converse through cryptic dialog, but they will delete your unused, inactive characters that are under level 20. Those of you with inactive accounts that have characters below level 20 will have already received an email regarding this, or will be receiving one. In order to consolidate space and free up storage and names on the servers, due to an upcoming server merge, Funcom will be deleting inactive sub-20 characters.

More after the break.

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