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The Daily Grind: Have you ever killed off an MMO character?
Eliot's last Storyboard column about killing off characters in MMORPGs got me thinking how rare that practice is outside of permadeath MMOs, both in RP and a literal sense. It's rare that I delete a serious character that wasn't just a bank mule or throwaway toon, and in fact, the one time I did so, I did it for roleplay effect, killing her off for a story and deleting her for good. I don't think it's too common among my friends, either. In fact, I remember a hung-over guildie logging in one morning, shocked to discover that in a drunken rage the night before, he'd deleted his alchemist. I think that moment in time made me covet my characters; I'm almost afraid to delete them even if I never play them, lest I change my mind later. In City of Heroes, for example, I frequently moved abandoned characters to remote servers just in case. But other folks delete to dramatize roleplay, to get attention, to ensure they can't return, or to ensure a clean slate if they ever do return. What about you guys -- have you ever killed off or deleted a "serious" MMO character? And can I have your stuff? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Facebook starts really, truly deleting removed photos
For those who haven't kept track, Facebook has had a years-long history of only maybe-sort-of-more-or-less purging our photos: they could be removed from a profile, but they would sometimes float around the site's content delivery networks for months or years, just waiting for a prospective employer to spot those embarrassing frosh week snapshots by accident. As Ars Technica discovered through experiments and official remarks, that problem should now be solved. In the wake of a months-long photo storage system migration and an updated deletion policy, Facebook now won't let removed photos sit for more than 30 days in the content network stream before they're scrubbed once and for all. The improved reaction time isn't as rapid as for a service like Instagram, where photos vanish almost immediately, but it might be a lifesaver for privacy advocates -- or just anyone who's ever worn a lampshade on their head in a moment of insobriety.
Apple pulls app for creating fake US driver's license
For over two years, the free "License" app by DriversEd.com has occupied a spot in the App Store. The app, which was meant as a way to create joke IDs on an iPhone or iPad, allowed users to put a digital photo and biographic information into a driver's license template for any of the 50 United States. Now US Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, acting on a complaint by the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License, has successfully had the License app pulled from the App Store. As reported by MacRumors, the concern from the Coalition for a Secure Driver's License was that someone could use the app to create a fake driver's license, then email the image of the completed template to a computer where it could be printed and laminated. Casey's letter to Apple noted that "I believe this application poses a threat to public safety and national security...it can be used in a way that allows criminals to create a new identity, steal someone else's identity, or permit underage youth to purchase alcohol or tobacco illegally." Casey went on to express his concern that in using a counterfeit license created by License, "a terrorist could bypass identity verification by the Transportation Security Administration, or even apply for a passport." The Coalition for a Secure Driver's License had sent a letter in April to Apple senior vice president for iOS software Scott Forstall asking for removal of the app. Apple didn't respond to that request, but quickly pulled the app when requested by Senator Casey.
Snow Leopard 'Guest Account' bug deleting user files, terrorizing children?
Think your Snow Leopard woes are finally over? Don't go logging into that Guest account, then. A flurry of reports have surfaced around the web explaining that even an accidental login to one's Guest account within Snow Leopard could lead to mass deletion of all user files on the primary account, and when we say "mass deletion," we mean "mass deletion." The problem goes something like this: if one clicks on the Guest account after upgrading their machine to OS X 10.6, and everything hangs, there's at least a decent chance that all of your data will be evaporated whenever you surf back over to the main profile. Apple has yet to address the issue (at least publicly), but we'd probably recommend disabling Guest accounts on your rig(s) until all of this gets sorted. You know, unless you actually enjoy watching your data vanish. [Via Neowin]
Reminder: Check out The Matrix Online before it decompiles
Ashes to ashes, decompiling sky to deletion. The Matrix Online is reminding us all that it's slowing coming undone as the system becomes more and more unstable with each passing day. Ashes raining from the sky, eyes being seen in the clouds, zombies, agents, angels, and demons all appearing out of the system's corruption to wreak havoc across the Mega City.This week is the last week for The Matrix Online and all former subscribers are welcomed to come back to play one final time before the machines pull the plug for good. The Matrix crashes on July 31st, so be sure to be logged in on that day to be assaulted by pretty much everyone and everything until everyone's RSI is smashed into a tiny, tiny ball.
Final Fantasy XI's character reactivation service lets you bring deleted characters back to life
Do you miss the home you use to call Vana'diel? Do you wish you never punched that "delete" key when you were signing off of PlayOnline for the last time? And, lastly, are you too impatient to wait for another "Return Home to Vana'diel" campaign to begin?Good news for you then! The guys and gals over at Square-Enix have finally decided to drop their timed campaign and bring in a new permanent solution for those of you who have deleted your characters from the system but would like to get them back -- character reactivation.The new service allows people who have canceled and deleted their Content IDs, people who have deleted characters and canceled their accounts, or people who have canceled their accounts and let the account sit for too long to go back in and restore old data to the account. This means when you now /ragequit Final Fantasy XI and press that delete key too hastily, you can now undo that mistake you made.Sadly, this method won't offer anniversary rings like the "Return Home" campaign did, but hey, you can get your character back anytime you want now! What's not to love?
MUD history gets a wiki for itself
When we last talked about multi-user dungeon (MUD) history here on Massively, it wasn't for good reasons. Wikipedia had been slowly removing some of the more memorable games from its archives, causing a response from a few of the resident experts here in the multiplayer genre. Since that story was published, many readers here offered a suggestion, "Why not go put the history on your own wiki?"Well, that suggestion has recently become a reality with the creation of MUD Wiki. MUD Wiki, a Wikia gaming wiki, will be holding all of the MUD history and information that Wikipedia has been slowly losing/removing. The wiki launched on January 11th, and is slowly filling up with all kinds of information relating to MUDs, including a growing entry for the recently Wikipedia-deleted Threshold RPG MUD. If you have anything to contribute, stop by and add what you have to the new home of MUD history.
286-day-playtime character deleted on Christmas
Whoever writes this blog is saying that his 3/8 Tier 3, full GM, level 60 human Warlock, with over 6,800 hours played, was deleted from his account by means of a stolen password, and on December 25th, no less. He tells a fairly compelling story. He contacted Blizzard as soon as he found his character missing, assuming it was an error on their part; they got back to him and said his password had probably been compromised via a phishing scam. Our protagonist looked back in his email and found a likely candidate from December 23rd that had asked him to "update his credit card info".Understandably ticked off, and apparently possessing considerable financial resources, he hired an investigative firm to look into the matter and track down whoever had done this to him. (On a side note, why would the scammer want to delete the character? I can see why he'd want to steal the character's gold, but deleting a character is just sadistic.) He now plans on finding a lawyer and suing this scammer for, presumably, whatever he can get out of him (the blogger hopes for prison time, but that seems unlikely to me; however, IANAL).
