RIP Hasslehoof & friends

#0 - Sept. 5, 2010, 12:32 a.m.

I just wanted to express my /sadface concerning my toons that were stolen about two years ago now. Up until today I was able to see their names/realms/avatars on the "select character" menu of the forums, but sadly they have now disappeared taking their memory with them. This was my first account, and would probably still be my only account had I known then what i now know concerning account phishing.

Right before the account was stolen, my druid had hit 80, completed the grind for "Ambassador" title and earned himself his very own Mechano-Hog. My first death-knight was up to lvl 70 and my first character in history (orc warrior) had made it to 71. One day I tried to log in and my email address and password linked to the account were no longer my own. It never crossed my mind that it would be possible for someone to reverse that and restore my characters so I never pursued it.

After some debating with myself, and a friend who wanted some RaF action, I decided to buy another copy of the game and its expansions so that I could begin the grind all over again. After choosing to roll a paladin, I was up and running again. Now after leveling a paladin, mage, and rogue my account was stolen once again. This time a friend filled me in on the customer service dept of WoW so I called to see what could be done. In no time at all my account was restored to me with characters in tact, and after the customer service rep told me about authenticators, I had one on order that same day.

Im sure there is nothing at all that can even begin to be done about my long lost toons after so much time has gone by, so with their disappearance from my forum character selection list, it's time to say farewell to them. So RIP Hasslehoof the druid, Druciffer the Death Knight and Orcasm the Warrior. I'll never know what happened to them (deleted/moved/etc) but they will be missed.

Vrakthris

#2 - Sept. 5, 2010, 12:44 a.m.

Q u o t e:

Im sure there is nothing at all that can even begin to be done about my long lost toons after so much time has gone by, so with their disappearance from my forum character selection list, it's time to say farewell to them. So RIP Hasslehoof the druid, Druciffer the Death Knight and Orcasm the Warrior. I'll never know what happened to them (deleted/moved/etc) but they will be missed.

Well, it really depends on the situation, Druciffer. If the characters were deleted we may simply be able to restore them, you will need access to that particular account though so you will need to contact our Billing and Account Services department and verify that you are the original registered user on the account.

You can call 1 (800) 592 5499 (1-800-59-BLIZZARD) 7AM-8PM (PST/PDT) for live representation.
Australian users should please call 1-800-041-378 if the standard 800 line does not work.

Now if the characters were transferred to another account, that may be a bit tricky. Usually we are only able to reverse such transactions if we are able to verify that the transfer was done during the compromise and malicious in nature. Our ability to do that is very much determined by time.

If nothing else it may be a good idea if you were to try and reclaim the original account, Druciffer. If you can give me the realm that the characters you mentioned were on I may be able to look into it further. I'm not certain how much information I'll be able to provide to you but I'll tell you what I can.

Vrakthris

#4 - Sept. 5, 2010, 12:45 a.m.

Q u o t e:
Forgot to mention, while retaking posession of my second account, the customer service rep linked my original account to my battle.net but no characters came back with it. In case you were wondering. /tear

So you were able to regain possession? Great. Was it this account?

Vrakthris

#8 - Sept. 5, 2010, 1 a.m.

Q u o t e:
Yes this account and the server of all three characters was Drak'Tharon.

Well, I do not see a Hasslehoof but I do see a Sorek, level 80 Tauren Druid - Deleted. Druciffer - Deleted. Orcasm - Deleted.

So, except for the name the characters appear to be available. The Druid and Paladin appear to have gear on them though the Warrior is a bit sparse. I don't believe we'd be able to recover any items at this point, but we should likely be able to get the characters.

Of course I am unable to guarantee that we will be able to restore those characters but our goal is to help in these situations so I really don't think it would be an issue. Go ahead and submit an in-game petition on this account and ask that they be restored.

Vrakthris

#13 - Sept. 5, 2010, 1:43 a.m.

Q u o t e:
Seriously? I would have never thought there would be a chance! Thanks a million, I'm opening a ticket right now!

Seriously. We always try to help as much as we can, especially in these situation. We are limited by what can be verified so in this case we may not be able to restore the characters as part of a compromise investigation, but since they are simply deleted they should still be able to be restored under our normal restoration policies.

http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?locale=en_US&articleId=20457

According to the latest tweet by @BlizzardCS queue times are currently around 1d:10h. You may play normally, switch characters or log out for the evening. As long as you keep that petition open it will be addressed as soon as possible.

Good luck, Druciffer!

Vrakthris

#16 - Sept. 5, 2010, 5 a.m.

Q u o t e:

I just got all three of them back! My warrior is the only naked one and everyone has their professions in tact! Im glad I posted something in here, thanks again!

Glad to help, Druciffer! I'm glad to hear it all turned out well.