Curse

Squall_final · Apr 25, 2006, 09:02 PM // 21:02

I agree with merging the accounts. My thoughts have basically already been written out in other's posts'.

/signed

felinette · Apr 25, 2006, 09:53 PM // 21:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by Starsky-sama

/transfering = account -character -content -slot and probably other criterias that will have an effect, even if you can choose and pick what to touch/untouch...there is still a lot of things to consider with handling it. it isnt a simple cut&paste of data. correct?

No, not correct, because I'm talking strictly about transferring characters. If you read the posts of people who want this, they mainly want to preserve their characters. It's a matter of having characters you've put a lot of time into and that you don't want to start from scratch.

If we stick to just transferring characters as a one shot deal, where you have to transfer ALL the characters/character slots from one account to the other and then the second account is cancelled/shut down/deleted/whatever, then it's really not all that complicated a problem. There would be no pick and choose what you keep and what you don't. All the slots would be transferred with any character-specific data maintained, global account data like guild, fame, etc. would be dropped, second account would be deleted, end of story.

Quote:

If it was that ez then they wouldnt have rejected "merging" when it was asked before

Sure they might have. When planning what goes into a product and what doesn't, it's usually more complicated than, "how difficult is it?" There's all sorts of things to consider. So they may never transfer characters even if it would be easy to do. I'm just responding to all the people who are saying how difficult it would be when they really have no idea. I'm also speculating that it wouldn't be difficult, but I've said that if an Anet developer explains why it would be difficult, I'd obviously bow to the Anet developer.

Essentially, I'm saying that rejecting the idea out of hand because it would be too difficult to do isn't a viable position because there's no evidence that it would, indeed, be terribly difficult.

Starsky-sama · Apr 25, 2006, 11:01 PM // 23:01

the OP was stating mainly about transfering "PVE characs". (that is pretty much "choosing".)

Quote:

Originally Posted by felinette

If we stick to just transferring characters as a one shot deal, where you have to transfer ALL the characters/character slots from one account to the other and then the second account is cancelled/shut down/deleted/whatever, then it's really not all that complicated a problem. There would be no pick and choose what you keep and what you don't. All the slots would be transferred with any character-specific data maintained, global account data like guild, fame, etc. would be dropped, second account would be deleted, end of story.

I apologize if I misread this, but doesnt that exactly what Undivine suggested except the ability to save some data, which exactly = "merging" = "All, but fame/etc." = again "merging". /just for clarity. /fenx.

EternalTempest · Apr 25, 2006, 11:09 PM // 23:09

/signed but..

It would cost 9.99 per character you are merging and all rank unlocks, etc would take from the count your adding to.

I could see merging the unlocks and taking the "highest" rank of the two not adding. It would also require the cd-key and invalidate the old account.

Undivine · Apr 25, 2006, 11:29 PM // 23:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by EternalTempest

/signed but..

It would cost 9.99 per character you are merging and all rank unlocks, etc would take from the count your adding to.

I could see merging the unlocks and taking the "highest" rank of the two not adding. It would also require the cd-key and invalidate the old account.

Why a $9.99 charge for each character? We have technically already paid for those extra slots. I don't mind paying an additional $9.99 to have all the characters of one account merged into another, but I'm not buying slots that I've already bought.

Undivine · Apr 26, 2006, 02:57 PM // 14:57

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trin Storm

This actually sounds like a good idea - You cover a lot of the potential hazards and have a limited time offer. - altough I might make it a shorter window - say 2 months from the time slots are available for purchase.

One thing you left out on your merge scree - just so it would be clear - a big ol' warning that says "WARNING: THIS ACTION CAN NOT BE UNDONE- ALL MERGERS ARE FINAL" -- even if there is an issue where someone scans a merge and there is a backdoor undo for the devs, there should be no expectation of this for the players

Finally, would you be willing to submit to a $10 transfer fee for such a system? I suspect Anet would want to cover some cost. Most MMOs have server transfer fees and account merger fess so this would not be unusal - especially since it isnt pay to play

I think the idea of making it a limited time offer is good, and I didn't really think about how long it should be. 2 months is fine.

The warning is a good idea too. Merging an account seems like it may be easy enough, but splitting an account... pfft. Don't bother. Perhaps ArenaNet will have the old account in backup, but I don't think they could track which items on Account X came from Account B and which came from Account A.

And the $10 transfer fee was implied when I said at the beginning "you pay ArenaNet to have..." I would not expect this service to be free.

kaya · May 02, 2006, 11:11 PM // 23:11

/SIGNED

w00t! i've been asking for this ever since i bought my second accout a year ago. I bought it to give myself the oppertunity to play all 6 professions. I did, and will keep my characters. But i'll tell you the truth, it's not fun at all trying to get somebody to help me transfer an axe from account B to account A just cause my warrior is on that account. I dont have the luxury of having 2 computers to make transfering easy. Anyway, again /signed. If a-net could possibly find a feesable way to provide this, that would be awesome.

dargon · May 03, 2006, 02:58 AM // 02:58

While i'm not opposed to merging accounts, I'd like to point out a small issue that could arise. Lets say you have two accounts, both with 4 characters, each of which has full cash and inventory, and the storage for each account is also full of both cash and inventory. If you merge these two accounts, what should happen to the excess?

The Ice Master · May 03, 2006, 03:04 AM // 03:04

Quote:

Originally Posted by dargon

While i'm not opposed to merging accounts, I'd like to point out a small issue that could arise. Lets say you have two accounts, both with 4 characters, each of which has full cash and inventory, and the storage for each account is also full of both cash and inventory. If you merge these two accounts, what should happen to the excess?

Make them designate which one will be moving towards the other one, and the account that is moving can be told to remove all items from storage (onto player inventory) for the merge.

Thallandor · May 03, 2006, 05:11 AM // 05:11

As mentioned, the main problem with merging accounts is not so much the technology but rather how to make this option balanced with the following in mind:

How do the server decide which storage box to keep and which to delete?

How do the server decide which unlocks for PvP rank to keep and which to delete?

The above two considerations alone is difficult enough for a player to decide least a developer. Seening the system as it is right now, merging accounts is a very tricky issue and if not dealt with correctly will result in a very big diasater for GW and all this keeping in mind of potential scams that may occur where you may lose your accounts all together.

kaya · May 03, 2006, 11:02 PM // 23:02

How about this solution... make a trade: my second account + any fees for the trouble of making the changes for 4 new character slots on my first account. If people have problems with loosing unlocks, or characters, then they could just keep their second account. But i'd be willing to bet that most people with second accounts wouldnt mind this. Not only that, but anet could delete the accounts they get which would probably free up some space, making things on their end a little easier.

Although i'm not a huge fan of getting rid of the characters on my other account, i'm willing to sacrifice to have all my character slots on one account.

This could be something that anet could accomplish pretty easy, but *wonders to himself* if anet is in the money making business (which most business are), they probably wouldnt give this option, cause they could make more off of selling new slots. And they know there's a lot of people like me that will probably just break down and buy extra slots for their first account.

anyway, now i'm blabbing on...

lishi · May 04, 2006, 12:36 AM // 00:36

I think it will be simpler in this way.

In my account B i have a warrior who i want put in account A

I pay 9.99$ + "some fee" to add in account A one character slot who will be filled immediatly with my account B warrior. obviusly the account B warrior will be deleted after the process. no fame , no unlock no anything else merge.

and please stop wondering how difficult the move it will be.

if the databese is structured in a certain way it will require only modify a field , if is not it require more. No one but arena.net developer can tell how hard it may be.

dargon · May 04, 2006, 02:36 AM // 02:36

Lishi, please don't make assumptions about how ANet has things setup, you plain and simply don't know. As far as it being a database, it's more likely that it's multiple databases, X for the character, X for the skills, X for the characters equipment, X for the accounts storage. I work with databases for a living, they really don't like having record A merged into record B, especially when info in A, would result in some form of overflow in B, tends to result in bad/incorrect data or in worst case senario, a corrupted database.

nugzta · May 19, 2006, 04:04 AM // 04:04

I think I need to bring this one up again. Anet has decided to have many expansions in the long run (ch. 3 already in development, expect ch. 4 in less than 2 years time?). I as an owner of two accounts, it would be huge disadvantage to be "forced" to buy 2 copies everytime an expansion comes out.

They should have implemented buyable extra slots in the beginning but now some GW hardcore players are already stuck with 2 accounts or more. So I also agree with this merging accounts idea.

/signed

Buoyancy · May 19, 2006, 06:08 AM // 06:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheLordOfBlah

So whats going to happen when you merge? Which e-mail will you log in with?

Whichever one you decide to have the merged account use.

Quote:

Then comes up another point... how do you prove that you own both accounts?

You have both passwords, don't you?

Quote:

There are so many differences between accounts, so how do you expect to merge them?

You do a simple > comparison for each numerical rating. Use the higher of the two. You perform an OR operation on the unlocked skills between the two accounts so that the merged account has every unlocked skill of the other two accounts.

Quote:

Sorry, but buying separate character slots is CHEAPER. ZOMG 1 account=$50

Please explain to us all how buying a new account and 4 new character slots is cheaper than buying only a new account and merging it into your old account.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Loviatar

WRONG AS NOTED BY PEOPLE WHO HAVE HAD THEIR ACCOUNTS LOOTED/STOLEN

OR ARE YOU REALLY SAYING IF I CAN GRAB IT I CAN KEEP IT?

If you gave your password to somebody else, then I have no sympathy whatsoever for you. If your password was stolen by a keylogger, then you need to fix your computer. If you can't demonstrate to Anet that you own the account that somebody has stolen from you, then you won't be getting it back anyways, and this argument makes no difference.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Thallandor

How do the server decide which storage box to keep and which to delete?

It doesn't. The player decides and the server follows what the player decides.

Quote:

How do the server decide which unlocks for PvP rank to keep and which to delete?

This is not a difficult problem at all, and the solution is obvious. The new account gets the higher of the two old accounts ranks and faction. It gets every single skill that was unlocked on the old account.

kaya · May 19, 2006, 03:25 PM // 15:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by nugzta

I think I need to bring this one up again. Anet has decided to have many expansions in the long run (ch. 3 already in development, expect ch. 4 in less than 2 years time?). I as an owner of two accounts, it would be huge disadvantage to be "forced" to buy 2 copies everytime an expansion comes out.

They should have implemented buyable extra slots in the beginning but now some GW hardcore players are already stuck with 2 accounts or more. So I also agree with this merging accounts idea.

/signed

just so ya know... they announced a long time ago that there will be a new chapter every 6 months. Ch. 3 should come in October, Chapter 4 will come in April of 2007, Ch 5 will be October 2007... and so on until they stop making new chapters.

Kool Pajamas · May 19, 2006, 05:36 PM // 17:36

If they did this I think there should be some delay before it actually takes effect, so that if someone does somehow get their account stolen they will have time to tell Anet before the thief merges the account.

makosi · May 19, 2006, 08:07 PM // 20:07

I'd pay simply to mege my two current accounts because it means I'd have the same identity and save time and energy logging in and out. It would also reduce the need for muling in which there's always a risk of the other party stealing your goods and ignoring you. HOW this would be done (in the technical sense) baffles me because of the separate email addresses, storage etc.

But... /Signed

I'd pay good money for this service and maybe even donate a kidney to anet

Zenmaster · Jul 16, 2006, 05:35 PM // 17:35

If u guys hv no 2 seperate accounts, U will not know it's too troublesome to transfer items.
(U hv to logout window(not logout GW), switch user(windows) to login another char than put in items & click summit offer
than switch windows again to ur another char to click accpet trade than switch user again back to log out ur the other char,
than switch user back to ur char to continue play! OMG!!!)

I hv 2 GWP & 1 GWF , the GWF is link to one of the GWP.

I will very need of the merging of my 2 GWP. I dont care if the rank stay. I even dont care if my 2nd GWP char if merge could access Cantha or not. (Is fare that it's not cause i didnt buy factions for my 2nd account).
Pls Pls PLs, for the sake of the many loyal supporters of GW. Pls let us hv the option to link our accounts.

/Signed

Loviatar · Jul 16, 2006, 06:47 PM // 18:47

thread necro of the week.

they said they CANNOT merge accounts due to the way the database is set up not that they are unwilling to do it.

the extra empty slots are giving them a problem which explains the delay so far.

imagine trying to merge an entire account.

not possible not that they wouldnt take your money if they could.

case is closed due to technical difficulties so drop it please.

and yes i have multiple accounts i shift around regularly so i know the small problems.

plan what you are going to shift and put it all together on one character and have another character empty.

join and zone.

drop all items you want to trade and have the other character pick them up.

avoid all the accept/trade switching.

if worried about a glitch do any number of items in multiple drop/pickups if you wish.

much faster