‘character-list-order.txt’ for World of Warcraft keeps resetting… But it’s not strictly a Warcraft issue. One ABSOLUTE reason for this, is that I have multiple accounts on both the US and EU servers. By Blizzard account defaults, any new sub-account on any realm apparently is designated as WOW1… even if there is already a WOW1 reference for the account on a different realm. I do addon development & needed to verify that server times/realms times/local timezones are referenced correctly. But periodically, the game will sync the character list from the US WOW1 with the EU WOW1. Sometimes it just appends(?) to the end of the file… but often enough, it will replace with the 4 toons I have on the EU account, and then completely flub when it gets to my US list of 40+ (WOW1). The current “solution” is to reinstate my own local copy of ‘character-list-order.txt’. (pushing limits of TOS… I know, I know). Same issue with US WOW2 & EU WOW2 (I personally don’t care about character sorting on those, but still, it’s an issue). I was not able to check the ptr when it was available, so I don’t know if this is addressed with the patch 11.1 changes. What I do know, is that this may be a likely source of issues on your end, not just the user end.
edit moved post from ‘Technical Support’ to ‘Ui and Macro’
UI and macros would likely be a good forum, or putting in a suggestion. Tech is mainly player focus on crashes and latecy.
Actually… the issue has nothing to do with addons… and a lot to do with the default Blizzard account naming structure. No way for use as players to rename the accounts, and apparently no way for the system to recognize an existing subaccount with the same name. This in itself maybe completely separate from the character sorting issue, as I’ve seen that report filed a couple times with no clear solution aside from patch 11.1 additions to better sort character lists. Maybe this will all solve itself on patch day… or maybe its a legacy issue with an account naming format that was designed 20 years ago. The only reason for mentioning addon development, was simply the particular reason for having accounts in both the US and the EU. Could be a non-addon developer with sub-accounts in both regions, and still have the exact same issue.
More like 16 years, bnet changed accounts since 2008-09, before account mergers and email logins, when it was username and password. Many still have personalized licence names, rather then wow#. I doubt the patch will change this, but that is development level, would still recommend editing the post to the ui forum.
Did not start until Cata, which puts me about 1-2 years after those account changes I was unaware of… much like Cata in game, irony 
Moved post to the ui forum. Started with an in game report, GM suggested I post over here, was guesswork as to where to post. Maybe there’s an account setting that I’m not aware of, maybe this is currently such a niche problem that will likely not get changed & I’ll keep working around it.