Problem Restoring Old Items

Support Customer Support
1

The items in question are old Naxx items that can’t be farmed from WotLK Naxx.

I lost several unobtainable items when my account was accessed by an unauthorized user back in ~2008. It took until 2018 to have my account restored back to me, and that’s when I had noticed the items missing.

I was told by a GM recently that,

We are unable to restore items that were lost upwards of 10 years ago, even if that was during a period in which the account was accessed by an unauthorized user. The problem here is two-fold. First in order to restore an item we must verify the loss of that item and second our logs only go back so far, which means that if too much time was allowed to go by before the restoration request then verification is impossible.

So yes, the items were lost upwards of 10 years ago. But I had reached out shortly after the incident happened, as well as in 2009, 2010, 2011, etc., to get my account back. I didn’t “allow” over 10 years of time to pass, as there should be archived tickets close to when the incident occurred, asking for it to be unbanned. So I don’t believe the length of time it took for my account to be restored is necessarily my fault.

Additionally, I can’t provide any extra information on the matter because screenshots aren’t sufficient enough evidence to suggest that I had those items. The only real hope I have in restoring these items back, is if a GM can bring up logs from that long ago.

I’ve written numerous tickets via in-game support, but was told that trying here might yield different results.

If I had deleted these items myself, I can totally understand the refusal of restoring these items. But since it was during the time when account security was limited, is there anything that can be done?

And just to clarify, to avoid any account security questions… Authenticators weren’t available when this happened (introduced in 2008-06-26, a few months after this all went down), I’ve never bought gold, and have never given out my account details ever.

Please, if it’s not too much to ask, help in restoring these items. I understand the limitations on item restorations. But if there’s ever an exception to the rule, please consider using it here.

I have recently been interested in coming back to WoW to try out Shadowlands, but find myself unable to let this one issue go before I start paying for the game again.

Thanks for taking the time to read this. I also appreciate any feedback you may suggest.

P.S., I intentionally didn’t specify what items I’m missing here because the GM that takes an interest in helping me, can find out exactly what it is I want restored from reading previous tickets I’ve written. Sorry for the extra work :sweat:

1 Like
2

Unfortunately data logs go back months not years and some of those items quite possibly dont exist anymore nor the code. As well as some of the quests probably no longer exist thanks to the deathwing so no way of proving you earned those items.

Now as to the GM telling you to post on the forums he probably meant general not CS as this is more of a player to player support forum with blue moderation with no contact to the devlopers.

5 Likes
3

Oh, okay. Thanks for letting me know. I think I’ve made the same mistake before. Cheers.

1 Like
4

Thats fair you can edit your post and move it to general.

1 Like
5

May I ask you how to do that? I don’t see the option to move to general from the edit options.

6

Click the pencil icon on first post select CS support forum and type in general.

7

Is it normal to have “No matches found” when typing in general? I suppose I can flag this and just paste it on to general if I can’t figure it out. Thanks for taking the time to guide me through this. I never post on the forums :stuck_out_tongue:

8

If it makes you feel better ive never had to move a topic my self either lol.

9

All good. I can’t seem to actually create a new topic on the general forums. But looking into solutions for that. Thanks again for all the helpful info. I’ll be sure to never make this mistake again! I hope you enjoy your week!

10

Thats probably the reason you mentioned in your first post you need game time to post in the other forums and why you cant move it.

11

That’s a real shame. I guess, uh, I’m out of luck :man_shrugging:

12

Even back in 2008, Blizzard always did a pretty good job of restoring items missing after a hack provided they had the means to identify them.

If they didn’t do it at that time, it’s highly probable they either couldn’t ID the items back then or some method to remove or destroy them was used by the hacker that they weren’t tracking at the time.

2 Likes
13

Darth and Nok have covered much of what I would have wanted to add. Our Game Masters do their best to help recover accounts when reported and to undo any damages to characters that they can find. If they’re not able to recover absolutely everything, they still try to make sure that the characters are in a playable condition.

Unfortunately, the age of this does hinder our ability to assist - as the Game Master noted. That’s no ones fault necessarily, just the facts of the matter. We used very different systems back in 2008 to track customer contacts and Game Master interactions (we used to have an email inbox that anyone could write into, for example). Unfortunately, records from then are no longer available to reference.

Kalviery trivia: 2008 is when I joined Blizzard as a Game Master… the tools are so much better now :sob:

10 Likes
14

That makes sense. Thanks for the input!

2 Likes
15

I’ve heard similar stories but with happier endings. Good luck!

16

Understood. However, if I continue trying to get my item(s) back, is there any advice you can give me to maybe help persuade them to consider restoring it?

I know the likelihood of them blindly restoring an item without greater evidence is low, but I can’t think of anymore information I can provide.

My priorities have significantly shifted in WoW. I no longer have the time to raid and do all that fun stuff with guildies. The reason I even consider coming back to WoW, is to enjoy the current transmog system. But without the items I farmed quite long ago, it kills any motivation to pick up the game. I know that sounds silly, but those items are a memento of the past. It reminds me of a totally different time in WoW that I cherish.

I know people can understand my frustration, as I’ve done all I can for more than 10 years. That’s a long time to be this dedicated. Unfortunately, I’m too stubborn. I keep thinking to myself that there’s some missing piece to the puzzle that I haven’t provided to them yet, and that it’ll eventually come out and help me with this issue. Is this just wishful thinking? Perhaps.

17

There’s not really much chance that they would restore it without verification of some sort. It sounds like they just may not have the information available anymore to do that.

It’s less about information that you can provide and more about what can be confirmed in the records, which at this point are non-existent :frowning: Unfortunately, a lot of folks would abuse a “good faith” item restoration service so we rely on that verification.

8 Likes
18

That’s extremely disheartening. If it wasn’t for people who, like you said, would absolutely abuse that sort of system, people who have a legitimate reason are often times left without.

That’s a huge disappointment, but I suppose I should really just give up now. It’s been a long journey in trying to get my items back, but I guess it’s no use.

Thanks to you and the other folks that took an interest in this post. I wish for their sake and mine that the system would be better in times when people are being truthful. But things have indeed changed from over 10 years ago.

I’ll continue to monitor this topic if anyone can provide anything that I can use to help me with my issue. But in the meantime… Farewell, friends.

1 Like
19

I just want to clarify that the policy hasn’t changed in over 10 years. If a player submitted a restoration request in 2008, it would still require the same verification that we do today.

What has changed is making these types of request easier for players to fulfill without needing to contact a Game Master - for example, recent losses can be recovered through the support website:

https://battle.net/support/restoration

This system does all of the verification for us, making the process a lot more convenient for players.

I’m sorry that your request couldn’t be completed though, Forums. Thanks for understanding, I hope you have a great week ahead of you regardless!

9 Likes
20

I have heard of items being restored in the past if they could be indirectly verified. e.g. if the missing item was a reward for an achievement and they have a record of you completing the achievement even if they no longer have a record of the item itself.

But you’d likely have to identify the specific item in your request as few GM’s have memorized every achievement reward. I don’t know what the current policy is on indirect verification but it’s probably on a case by case basis.

3 Likes