Paid Restoral

[Celephais]

Expanded Paid Restoral Rules!
Posted on 7/24/2006 11:57:05 AM by the Webstaff
Starting on August 1, 2006, we will be expanding the coverage of our Paid Restoral Process to include characters that have converted professions. This means that any Paladins (or Savants or Monks when they are released) which converted from a Warrior or Cleric will be permitted to use the Paid Restoral Process to restore their character back to their original profession for the cost of $250. The following rules will apply:

1. Characters who converted prior to this change in policy will be given 90 days from policy release (10/31/2006) in which to request their character be reverted to their prior profession. Any requests to revert your character received after 10/31/2006 will not be approved.

2. Characters who converted after this change in policy will be given 30 days or until 10/31/2006 (whichever is later) in which to request their character are reverted to their prior profession. Any request to revert the character received after 30 days or 10/31/2006 (whichever is later) will not be approved.

3. Characters which reverted prior to this announcement, but were upon a closed account at the time of this announcement, will be granted 30 days from the date of reactivation or 10/31/2006 (whichever is later) to request their character be reverted to its prior profession. Any request received after this time expired will not be approved.

Characters requested to be reverted using this policy will be restored in the following manner:

1. The level and experience of the character will remain the same as the day they converted to their new profession. This means that any level and experience gains the character has made from the date they converted until the date they are restored will be nullified.

2. All inventory, locker and bank balances on the restored character will be removed and the current character's inventory, locker and bank balances will be transferred to the restored character.

3. All skills (Artisan or Guild, where applicable), house affiliations and society settings will be transferred to the restored character. Any experience gained from the artisan guild skill advancement will be added to the restored character.

4. All reverted characters will be provided 7 days skill migration grace time, 2 days stat adjustment grace time and one FIXSKILL attempt at the time of restoral.

We understand that customers may make mistakes with their characters at given times. This expansion in policy is to provide those customers who regrettably converted their character the ability to revert that choice. You can find this information and the Paid Restoral Request form on the website.

Any questions regarding this expansion of policy should be directed to restore@simutronics.com.

https://www.play.net/forums/redirect.asp?URL=http://www.play.net/forums/messages.asp?forum=102&category=2&topic=14&message=707

[Celephais]

Wait... could a high level warrior or cleric convert... then request an unconvert (within this 30 free period) and then use the 2 day stat adjustment to get a free stat allocation?

Am I reading that right?

[Bobmuhthol]

I don't consider $250 a free stat reallocation.

[Celephais]

Oh okay, so I am misreading it as saying that the 30 day is for it to be "free" and after that they can use the policy to restore at $250... right?

[StrayRogue]

I wonder if they'll start charging $500 for a full profession swap.

[Skirmisher]

$250??????

Thats insane.

[Leetahkin]

I know people who would pay that for an item return, if it was lost forever to the cleaners.

(That being $250)

[Celephais]

$250 ~ 18 mil.... people would pay 18 mil for a stat reallocation.

[Gan]

Nice revenue adder by SIMU. For profit FTW.

[Numbers]

It's a good idea. Doesn't unbalance anything, it's technically simple to do, will bring in some easy profit for Simu (which will most likely be burned on HJ), and people will definitely end up doing it.

[Soulpieced]

I bet a lot of people that converted to Paladins would definitely consider this an option.....

In otherwords, beyond having the highest AS in game, they stink.

[Axhinde]

I wonder if they restore all guild ranks the conversion process got rid of.

[Khariz]

My paladin will definately be comverting back to warrior. I'm so happy I could scream.

[FinisWolf]

As a converted Paladin, I will not be swapping back. I love being and playing a paladin.

I do think this is a great opportunity for those folks that hated paladin after they converted.

Good move on SIMU's part, a bit spendy for something that will take a few minutes to do, but hey ... way to make the money.

Finis

[Bobmuhthol]

<<I wonder if they restore all guild ranks the conversion process got rid of.>>

I'm pretty sure they will.

However, if you converted in November 2004 when paladins came out, enjoy losing all your non-artisan experience since then.

[Snapp]

$250??????

Thats insane.
Uh yeah, agreed. Especially since converting TO paladin was as easy as "check in."

[mgoddess]

Holy. Fucking. Coolness.

That just plain rocks. I know a paladin or three who'll definitely be taking part in this (at least one of them converted from a warrior to a paladin while he was drunk in RL...he regretted it the day after).

[FinisWolf]

I bet there are a lot of those day after regrets? :lol:

Finis

[Olanan]

So lame. They specifically stated that you would NOT be able to change back. Ever.

Agreed, become a sorcerer in 5 minutes for JUST 499.99!

[Bobmuhthol]

I'm sure they also said "You will never be able to get your character back if you go demonic."

[Khariz]

HMm, I wonder how many warriors did that? I know I did, but I doubt you are talking about me.

I was sure as hell drunk when I did it.

[mgoddess]

So lame. They specifically stated that you would NOT be able to change back. Ever.

They've said a lot of stuff over the years that changed six, twelve, twenty-four, blah, blah, blah months later down the road.

It happens.

:shrug:

[mgoddess]

HMm, I wonder how many warriors did that? I know I did, but I doubt you are talking about me.

I was sure as hell drunk when I did it.

Was thinking 'bout Odysyus when I posted that, but I'm sure others did as well.

[Axhinde]

I regretted converting from Warrior. So much so that I don't even play GS due to how much I hate being a paladin. The $250 pricetag is just a bit too steep for my blood, though. I could see $100, but not 250.

[Stanley Burrell]

A drag/drop from database storage by someone with the uncanny ability to do so.

Definitely $250 bucks' worth, broken rolleyes emoticon :rolleyes:

[grenthor]

I can't imagine that it would be anywhere near as easy to do as folks are trying to make it out to be. They are going to have to go through old backups which - while not exactly rocket-science IS going to be time consuming to find the last possible one before a conversion.

This part however, would have to be a major pain in the ass:


"2. All inventory, locker and bank balances on the restored character will be removed and the current character's inventory, locker and bank balances will be transferred to the restored character.

3. All skills (Artisan or Guild, where applicable), house affiliations and society settings will be transferred to the restored character. Any experience gained from the artisan guild skill advancement will be added to the restored character.

So they are basically going to copy half of the character and then build that into the restored character - making sure nothing gets screwed in the process. I know I wouldn't feel like tackling that. Again, it isn't gonna be rocket science but it isn't gonna be as simple as people are making it out to sound. It sure as hell isn't pushing a button or a drag/drop.

Is it worth $250? Not to me, but I don't see it as an unrealistic charge either. It's not meant to be a universal 'Oh crap I screwed up' button.

[Artha]

while not exactly rocket-science IS going to be time consuming to find the last possible one before a conversion.
Highly doubt it will be difficult at all.


So they are basically going to copy half of the character and then build that into the restored character
Copy/Paste job.

[DCSL]

It doesn't take a minute, that's for sure. I got a character restoral and, although I think I got something of a rush job because I begged to have my bard back before the Promise, it took a week or so.

Fortunately, the guy in charge of the restorals is awesomely patient. Antavian is the most patient, tolerant, and courteous GM I've ever interacted with on any level. I wish all the other GMs would take whatever customer service course he took.

[Ignot]

Antavian sucks ass

[mgoddess]

The couple of interactions I've had with Antavian (mostly for the Valentine's run of the WaveDancer), he's been courteous, knowledgable, patient, and fast in response.

[Axhinde]

Well, a bank account restoral AND society restoral along with being fun again is definetly worth my 250 bucks. I've had shit luck(aka bad decisions) since converting. Looks like I might be playing again. Wooo!

[Bobmuhthol]

Bank account restoral? You just keep the silver you have. Society restoral? You keep what you have now.

[Axhinde]

Alright, I read that wrong. Selective hearing/reading/whatever FTL.

[Rainy Day]

I agree Antavian is great. That copy/paste comment was ignorant. A regular character restoral is a lot more involved than that and these will be even more involved than a regular character restoral, but for the same price.

Hell, I don't even think they should offer character restorals at all. That they do bugs me. I think if people are stupid enough to demonic a character or change into a profession they know didly about they should have to live with it. But since they do offer it, the price tag makes sense considering that it does take time and it needs to be priced at a rate where people won't constantly use it as a do over button.

RD

[Beguiler]

I'm kind of curious. I've read and reread the notice about restorals. Am I reading this correctly? This is a one time only restoral that you have to request prior to 31 October? I don't see anything anywhere that says that this is going to continue past that date.

So...I guess I'm not too upset by it. I converted a perfectly good cleric into a paladin, and surprise! I haven't had fun with her since, and finally quit playing her. Am I going to spend $250 to restore her? Hmm..maybe (happy birthday to me from me?) But since it looks like it's not going to be an ongoing change opportunity, yeah, would probably make some folks happy.

When monks come out, I'm not even considering converting anyone, though I have several who would fit the 2x brawl requirement. Nah, I'll make a baby and raise it up from the git-gol

Just my take..

[Artha]

That copy/paste comment was ignorant.
So explain the process to me.

[Celephais]

So...I guess I'm not too upset by it. I converted a perfectly good cleric into a paladin, and surprise! I haven't had fun with her since, and finally quit playing her.
...
When monks come out, I'm not even considering converting anyone, though I have several who would fit the 2x brawl requirement. Nah, I'll make a baby and raise it up from the git-go

Why not save $250, fixskills your paladin to 2x brawl, and convert her to a monk come the time for it, considering you're not playing her anyway. (unless of course you do decide you really want your cleric back)

[Seran]

Artha, you're assuming that the character backups are kept in an easily accessible location. You don't know how often the character "images" are saved, nor do you know when exactly they're transfered from an active medium to a storage medium.

Feel free to explain the process of character backup as you perceive it, and I'm sure the rest of us can comment. Otherwise, don't be simple.

[Artha]

Uhm, seeing as they can restore corrupted characters to within a few days, I'd be willing to bet the images are at least weekly. If one wasn't made before conversion, then someone should be fired.

Considering Simu has one HQ, I'd also be willing to bet that the character back ups are at least in the same building, if not the same room, as every other server.

[Lucos]

Considering Simu has one HQ, I'd also be willing to bet that the character back ups are at least in the same building, if not the same room, as every other server.

Having one HQ doesn't mean squat. Considering that all of SIMU's revenue (other than selling Hero Engine and Hero Blade) comes from players paying to play their persistant characters, they would never house all of their data in one place. A simple fire/flood would bankrupt them in one day if that were the case.

I'd be willing to wager that not only to they have multiple backups stored off site, they also lease server time with another company in the off chance their building/servers are destroyed.

[Artha]

On the one hand, that makes a lot of sense, and I'll admit I hadn't thought of that. On the other hand, it's Simu.

[Rainy Day]

I don't know where backups are stored or anything, but it was explained once on the officials that it's a pretty time consuming process to find the exact right backup to get the character restored properly. In the case of paladins reverting, it's more than that. They can't just restore the character and call it done, they have to reset inventory, bank accounts, society, AG skills, possibly guild skills and maybe some other stuff they didn't mention or I'm forgetting. That's having to individually change a bunch of different details on a character. Some to what they used to be and some to what they are now. I dunno how long that takes or what exactly is involved with that either, but I feel safe in proclaiming it isn't copy and paste.

RD

[Artha]

If these back ups are kept in any kind of meaningful order, it really shouldn't be terribly difficult. Especially if you've done it a few times and know where to look for stuff.

Like, the file itself should contain something like
<name, level, race>
<exp>
<stats>
<skills>
<items>
<etc>

So I really don't think it would be difficult to open the back up and current character file, replace what needs replacing, and walk away with $250 extra dollars without much work (though possibly with much tedium, so really it's just like playing GS).

[Sean of the Thread]

Probally stored on dat tapes.. lots of them.. going back forever.. and frequent backups at that.. and would be tedious and time consuming to say the least.

Even if it's an hour which is quite possible I'd say it should pull $250 considering simu's limited resources and to deter alot of "restorals".

[Shari]

Lessee....I had Jesae restored. It took about a month total. I had no money or items on her, but she was reverted back to a COL master. I think I had her at a level 10 wizard or some shit and when I decided I wanted to restore her, I moved all my shit over onto another char and had them replace the char. So obviously at level 10 she had no COL ranks (that I can remember). I don't know if the same situation applies since clerics had the option of converting.

Do I think 250 bucks is steep? Fuck yeah it is. But since I've gotten her back I play her every day now so I find it justifiable. And since I got a nice tax return it was either that or clothes shopping spree. :shrug:

[Bobmuhthol]

Just because it took Simu a month really does not indicate at all that it would take a hardworking individual more than a few hours to do.

[Sean of the Thread]

And a few hours of data restoral/retrieval from dat tapes is worth $250.

[Soulpieced]

Your fault for eliminating the character in the first place. Can you back in time if you made a mistake? I think it's more than fair.

[Bobmuhthol]

With the ridiculous prices involving any technical work, yes, it is.

[Sean of the Thread]

With the ridiculous prices involving any technical work, yes, it is.

Time is money man.