"Lock Character" option!!

Yosh

Yosh

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Feb 2007

California

Zero Mercy

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by HawkofStorms
/notsigned

There are too many impulsive people who would lock a character, and then realize they want to delete him.
There has to be some way to reverse it, otherwise a.net would just get flooded with hundreds of report tickets saying "I locked a character by accident when I was a n00b and now I want to unlock him." And if there is such an option, then a botter or account theif could reverse it as well.
QFT

Not being able to unlock will cause more problems then it's worth. Then we will have people coming on here complaining that they want to unlock their characters.

On a different note, if Anet has said they won't do something, making a thread about it won't change much. Putting or begging is more annoying then helpful.

/not signed

Day Trooper

Day Trooper

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Mar 2006

Guild With No [NAM???]

E/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by Yosh
QFT

Not being able to unlock will cause more problems then it's worth. Then we will have people coming on here complaining that they want to unlock their characters.

On a different note, if Anet has said they won't do something, making a thread about it won't change much. Putting or begging is more annoying then helpful.

/not signed
Here's the deal - I have worked on my main for almost 3 years now. I want to LOCK him so there's no way possible to ever have him deleted. The only way to do this is to have the option be permanent.

If you think there's even a slight chance you may want to Unlock the character later - this option is not for you. But, when you've worked months/years on your 'main', I'm pretty sure most folks know without a doubt that they want that character locked permanently.

And really, what's worse? A hacker locking all your characters? Or, a hacker deleting your main character that you spent 3 years on?




Oh, and /beg

cellardweller

cellardweller

Likes naked dance offs

Join Date: Aug 2005

The Older Gamers [TOG]

/signed before /signed again

Yosh

Yosh

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Feb 2007

California

Zero Mercy

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Day Trooper
Here's the deal - I have worked on my main for almost 3 years now. I want to LOCK him so there's no way possible to ever have him deleted. The only way to do this is to have the option be permanent.

If you think there's even a slight chance you may want to Unlock the character later - this option is not for you. But, when you've worked months/years on your 'main', I'm pretty sure most folks know without a doubt that they want that character locked permanently.

And really, what's worse? A hacker locking all your characters? Or, a hacker deleting your main character that you spent 3 years on?




Oh, and /beg

Still more trouble then it's worth. Hacker threads will just be switched with locked character threads.

So you would fix a problem, and start a new one? I don't see the point.

Jenn

Jenn

Resigned.

Join Date: Sep 2006

/sign........

The God Of War

The God Of War

Academy Page

Join Date: Feb 2008

Amsterdam =]

The Rune Dragon [HDFF]

D/Mo

/signed ....

Riot Narita

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2007

/signed, I want it.

Do I:
a) want to protect some noob who was so dumb that they filled EVERY character slot and then locked every single one of them? Despite the inevitable warnings that would come when applying a lock? And then cries because they want to unlock one now? Or

b) want to protect the people who played their characters for years, have many titles, and loads of stuff in their HoM, and made A-Net the success that it is?

It's b) of course. Noobs who locked all their chars would still have viable options - buy a new character slot, and don't be so dumb next time. They don't lose anything but a few RL dollars.

Players who had their long-term main characters deleted... have NO such viable option. Seriously, who would start a new char, re-do all their titles maybe to level 5 or 6 KoaBD, re-fill their HoM, etc? The reality is, delete their main and they're ****ed, game over, end of story.

If you MUST protect noobs from themselves, (apart from the big "WARNING!" message when they're about to lock a character)... then make the lock only available to level 20's, and/or KoaBD rank 1, or SOMETHING.

I can't understand people who don't sign this. It doesn't hurt them, they don't have to use it, it doesn't hurt noobs unless they are very VERY dumb in which case they are going to "hurt" themselves plenty anyway in regular GW play. Saving a few idiots from themselves hardly seems a good reason to deny large numbers of "normal" players a feature like this.

"What if some jerk locked all my slots?"
Well, if your account is compromised, that's probably the least of your worries - since all your loot will be gone. And besides, you still have options: buy a new slot, and play any characters you'd locked yourself.

"Not needed, just use a strong password"
Well, If you're so sure that a strong password is all the protection you need... then you don't have to worry about some jerk getting into your account and locking all your slots, do you?! And it doesn't hurt you if locking is available to others, even if you don't use it.

"It would swap one problem for another"
Well if there's a problem before and after, there's no change by adding locks. SO WHY NOT DO IT? It's better if people come here and cry that they want to unlock, and are told to buy a new slot... than people come on here and cry that their 3 year old main was deleted... and are told "too bad", "your GW days are over, Age of Conan looks good".

Lord Galdir

Lord Galdir

Academy Page

Join Date: Aug 2005

The Netherlands

P/

What if a "hacker" locks all your character slots with pre searing lvl1 mesmers?

Riot Narita

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by Lord Galdir
What if a "hacker" locks all your character slots with pre searing lvl1 mesmers?
Engage brain, and I'm sure you can think of a solution to that yourself. eg.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hissy
then make the lock only available to level 20's, and/or KoaBD rank 1, or SOMETHING
And you would still have the options to a) buy new character slots, and b) play any characters that you'd locked before you were robbed.

Karel

Academy Page

Join Date: Jul 2007

[DoE] Dutchmen Of Emania

N/Me

/signed


(;

sixofone

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2007

P/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rainbow Ftw
When would you choose to "lock" a character, if I was the "hacker" I'd lock all of your characters to be an ass. In empty slots create new ones and "lock" them...
The above poster makes a good point! Making toons "lockable" just presents a different kind of problem. A hacker could create new characters, fill up all my open slots, and lock them so I can't delete them. And lock characters I wasn't ready to, or wanted to, make un-deletable.

/notsigned

Davy

Davy

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Jan 2006

Europe

Mo/

/signed

Make it available for lvl 20s only. No way a hacker will spend hours just to lvl ur character to 20 and then lock it just to screw u over.
On the noob thing, after u get to lvl 20 u just might have enough expertise to know whether or not to lock ur character.

Id sure hate to see my Monk get deleted by some lifeless punk.

BTW even the toughest password can be cracked if the hacker really wants to get in.

Th Fooster

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Apr 2008

Twice Dawns The Day[WoT]

Mo/

well what if this lock character option only bacame available after say, 500 hours or after 2 or 3 maxed pve titles, that would give a noob time to decide if they like that cahracter or not. if you are still around after 1000 hours...

thats 1000 hours of play time in a map not 1000 hours since character creation.

my question would be.. what if someones acount gets suspended due to an offensive character name and the guy locks it? with no way to undo it?

now if theyre remains a way to undo it... then a hacker can undo it as well.

so that means acounts that have cahracters locked that get suspended for offensive names... are perma banned. my solution:
as soon as a character reaches 500 hours or even 1000 hours, then the server has an automated scanning system taht looks for offensive names
taken from a database. if your name is found offensive, anet then places a temporary suspenstion and gives you the one time optin to change it.


this would also prevent a hacker from locking your slots with all pre searing chars. since a criteria must be met first before the lock option is available, the worst damage they can do is sell all you have and destrout your armours and give all your gold away. and leave you naked and broke,
but still titles intact and your favorate chars still there.

upon login in again, the account will have a red flag on it by then and be re scanned for the new name. if it clears the criteria, then the option to lock the character is then offered, with a warning that if a character with an offensive name is locked, this will result in an ireversable suspention.
then a referance to the user agreement, click the i understand and agree button, then the final option to lock is given. click yes and there you go.

i never could find the post where this request was declined before so can anyone post the reasons this was declined by the dev team before?

all i would lose then is items and gold and stuff that can be replaced but some of the grinding titles... like light bringer. sunspear... cartographer and vanquish.. man i would hate to have to start that over.

Anets only other option is to ban the hacked acount. so if the hacker gives it back, great. pm anet and tell them otherwise after 3 days its banned.

so this presents the problem, since the hacker can no longer delete everything he jsut simply wont give your account back. ever. let it rot and be bannned. This may be why anet hasnt implemented a lock the char system before. At least the way it is now you micht get your account back after the hacker has hand his thril and little power trip.

if he cant have his fun, he wont give you your account back jsut out of spite.

jsut last night i was in UW with a guy and all of a sudden he types in chat...

that his frinds account was hacked as we speak and this hacker pmed all his firends and mocked them first, before eviserating the account. so the phsycology if the hacker is some guy with real problems....and tells me that he wants to be caught eventualy. so that whoever he is mad at "wil know" how smart he is.

Day Trooper

Day Trooper

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Mar 2006

Guild With No [NAM???]

E/Mo

Quote:
Originally Posted by sixofone
The above poster makes a good point! Making toons "lockable" just presents a different kind of problem. A hacker could create new characters, fill up all my open slots, and lock them so I can't delete them. And lock characters I wasn't ready to, or wanted to, make un-deletable.

/notsigned

When I originally thought of this idea I was thinking about level 20 'main' characters that many of us have grinded for years. Not brand new characters.

However, as others have stated, one simple solution here is to not be able to lock the character until it's level 20 (heck, or maybe even level 12?). I doubt a hacker would level up your characters to the required 'lock level' just to lock them.

Also, PvP characters could not be locked, since they can be created at will anyways and all PvP titles are account-based (thus no need to lock a PvP toon). However, I suppose there should be a way to lock the character's name, but that's for a different thread (as again, what's worse - losing a character name? or losing a character you've grinded for 3 years??? I think we know the answer.)

Finally, as the poster above me mentioned, if you have an offensive name then I think it's safe to assume ANet would give you the option to change that name regardless of whether the character is locked or not...

Riot Narita

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Apr 2007

Quote:
Originally Posted by sixofone
The above poster makes a good point! Making toons "lockable" just presents a different kind of problem. A hacker could create new characters, fill up all my open slots, and lock them so I can't delete them. And lock characters I wasn't ready to, or wanted to, make un-deletable.
/notsigned
WTF is with you people? "Oh there's a problem if we do this... kneejerk-notsigned"

How about you THINK a little? About whether the basic concept is useful or not... and if there are problems with it, then think about how to keep the original idea but iron out the problems?

Jeez, did simple problem-solving die, and nobody told me?

Th Fooster

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Apr 2008

Twice Dawns The Day[WoT]

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Hissy
WTF is with you people? "Oh there's a problem if we do this... kneejerk-notsigned"

How about you THINK a little? About whether the basic concept is useful or not... and if there are problems with it, then think about how to keep the original idea but iron out the problems?

Jeez, did simple problem-solving die, and nobody told me?
lul i agree. i presented soloutions to the problems that caused the reflex rejection with no thought. they didnt read it. since when did reading become so difficult?

Yosh

Yosh

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Feb 2007

California

Zero Mercy

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Th Fooster
lul i agree. i presented soloutions to the problems that caused the reflex rejection with no thought. they didnt read it. since when did reading become so difficult?
We reject the solution because it was the one the OP mentioned. I don't think locking characters is a good idea so /notsigned. If I ever come up with a good solution for the problem, I will post a new thread. If we go on about all the possible solutions in this thread, we would be getting off topic.

TurtleTurtle

TurtleTurtle

Lion's Arch Merchant

Join Date: Nov 2007

Turtle Island

The Turtle Club [HONU]

Rt/

/signed

possible solution to getting all your slots locked: minimum 5 character-only titles or this alternative found here: http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...=1#post3980644

Th Fooster

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Apr 2008

Twice Dawns The Day[WoT]

Mo/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Yosh
We reject the solution because it was the one the OP mentioned. I don't think locking characters is a good idea so /notsigned. If I ever come up with a good solution for the problem, I will post a new thread. If we go on about all the possible solutions in this thread, we would be getting off topic.

so "we" meaning.. what..you? are you schitzophrenic? speak for yourself! and if you dont sign fine but, there is nothing wrong with my suggestions. or "we as in all those that dont wanna sign?
or are you just here to troll? as for a good solution to the problem, i thing htis is a good one.
At least untill anet closes this loophole.

and as for getting of topic, whats off topic about discussing the issues with character locks?

Zena Starlight

Zena Starlight

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: Mar 2007

CBE

Mo/

/signed.

Possibly make it only possible to lock characters at least one month old?

gasconron

Frost Gate Guardian

Join Date: May 2008

TOWN

E/Me

/signed

as a previous owner of 28 title holder, and owner of a full set of profession specific elite armors, plus a huge collection rare-items well surpassing the worth 8-12 million (pre zaishen depreciation) ..which got hacked into and deleted. i support this notion to prevent players such as you to experience same shock and sadness i felt when i experienced this.

TheRaven

TheRaven

Desert Nomad

Join Date: Sep 2006

Virginia

Spirit of Elisha

W/

/Signed

I know Anet has vetoed this in the past, but it really needs a second look with all the hacking going on now. (Also Gascon, I saw your other locked thread. Please keep us updated on the outcome of that)

The idea needs a few provisions to make it safer and more "unabusable" however.

1. Locked characters can be unlocked at any point. A character that is unlocked will become deletable after a 1 month waiting period.

2. Pvp only characters can never be locked. Period.

3. Newly created characters can also not be locked. A character must be at least 1 month old and also have at least 100 hours played on it before becoming eligible for locked status.

Hopefully with these provisions in place Anet can see this as a viable option which wouldn't result in a lot of kiddie calls to support for locked chars.

Leetwalrushunter

Academy Page

Join Date: Dec 2007

Buffalo NY

Wandering Eye (Perv)

Me/

Quote:
Originally Posted by MMSDome
/notsigned

you should either know enough not to delete it yourself accidently (unless your near passout drunk but then again you can barely spell at that point).

Also take common tips of using a tough password and not something that can be easily figured out.
yeah except that most hackers proably use brue force so the only thing to make ur pw harder is to make it longer

sixofone

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: May 2007

P/

Quote:
Originally Posted by Day Trooper
When I originally thought of this idea I was thinking about level 20 'main' characters that many of us have grinded for years. Not brand new characters.

However, as others have stated, one simple solution here is to not be able to lock the character until it's level 20 (heck, or maybe even level 12?). I doubt a hacker would level up your characters to the required 'lock level' just to lock them.

Also, PvP characters could not be locked, since they can be created at will anyways and all PvP titles are account-based (thus no need to lock a PvP toon). However, I suppose there should be a way to lock the character's name, but that's for a different thread (as again, what's worse - losing a character name? or losing a character you've grinded for 3 years??? I think we know the answer.)

Finally, as the poster above me mentioned, if you have an offensive name then I think it's safe to assume ANet would give you the option to change that name regardless of whether the character is locked or not...
If the lock was more conditional, then maybe. I appreciate your listening to concerns that implementing such a change might bring about.

And I understand what a drag it is to lose a character you've been building up over time. I finally got my first Legendary Survivor, on a Rit, doing it by playing the game and not faction farming or Kilroy's punchout and I wouldn't want to lose it. (Nor my E/A with her Daggers of Xuekao!)

The lvl20 solution would certainly help. It's the un-reversible nature of the solution that makes me leery. (And, of course, if it is reversible, then you're back to where you started.) Would a second password - to lock/unlock a character - make it any less likely to be hacked? Though, I suppose if a hacker bothers to hack one, they'll hack the other as well.

(And Hissy: while "just buy a new slot!" is a solution, it's hardly a preferable one. Just fyi - the /notsigned wasn't reflex or kneejerk. Its because the solution, as it had been presented, was not one I supported. Account security is needed, but the non-reversible nature of the "lock" didn't seem the best option to me.)

Age

Age

Hall Hero

Join Date: Jul 2005

California Canada/BC

STG Administrator

Mo/

This has been mentioned before and I still like the idea but I am not willing to pay for it.

http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/s...ractor+lock s

travis ranger

Krytan Explorer

Join Date: Jul 2006

Get Money

W/A

/signed why not add a special password that can be emailed to you to unlock characters?

Witchblade

Witchblade

Polar Bear Attendant

Join Date: May 2005

suggested it, posted a msg on wiki, never got a reply

/signed, it aint hard to implement a "would you like to permanently remove the delete button from this account?"