Server Games & the dreaded 'Server Wipe'

[quietman1920]

Have you ever played on a server world where they don't allow local characters? Usually my experiences with this have been great...but I just found the fatal flaw.

The benefits are: harder game, everyone starts the same, no cheaters, the ability to make it as close to 3rd Edition rules as possible. I had a level 11 thief with two plus one swords and a plus one bow and I thought I was Rich (sure, took me 2 months to save up for them). Then I go away on vacation for a week.

I came back to find my character had been wiped! Actually everybody's had. Months of work...just Gone...

[Chewbacca]

Ouch! That's just lame. Have you contacted the admin? Maybe they backed up the server vault and are having technical difficulties putting it back up. If not they are stupid foosl for not backing up not only their own work but the love and joy of all those that played on the server.

Geez, I feel for ya, that sucks!!!!


Note to self- check any servers-vault games I play to see if those running the game back up thier stuff and mine!

[Larry_OHF]

Sorry man. That is rough. I have had no such experience. I guess I ahve only played games where anything is allowed, with obvious restrictions like Ziroc's Undermountain.

[Stratos]

Aren't the characters you create 'Server Vault'-only saved as a local character on your computer?

I've tried some PW which only allows server characters where you have to create one in the beginning, but when I've checked all the characters saved on my computer, the ones I created on a server are also there among the other 'local Vault' ones. I think the reason behind this is that I've pressed the 'Save Character' button on the menu screen which saves it as a local vault one. When I re-enter the PW I get to choose which one to play and only the one(s) created on the server pops up. But it's still saved as a local vault character i.e. I can choose to play it in the OC.

I can, of course, have been mistaken on this.

[ 08-04-2003, 04:59 PM: Message edited by: Stratos ]

[Legolas]

Personally I greatly prefer server vault over local vault games. They are just so much more balanced.
When you create a new character in a server vault game, it does indeed end up in your local vault list as well. This is only the standard level 1 character, however, and won't be updated. Still, you can always export him/her and play that one. Deleting the character from the local vault list is a bad idea, because that seems to delete your access to the up to date character in the server vault list.

I've recently had my characters wiped from my favourite server too, and won't be able to recover them. It's not as bad since I heard two weeks in advance it would be necessary in order to upgrade the module from a 1.30 to a SoU version, and there's some consolation in the knowledge that it happened to everyone else as well, and that none of the characters were much higher than level 12.
It's a shame, but I don't view it as months of work lost. I don't need to get to level 20 with a character before I can start having fun, I've enjoyed every minute of play.

The only thing nasty is that I left for two weeks just after the wipe, meaning all the other regulars got a head start and a few levels over me. Then again, last time around some of the players were months ahead of me when I started out...

[quietman1920]

Both Stratos & Legolas are 100% correct. The copy is saved to my local (for use in local char games & moduke games. But on my end I have no way to put it back on the server. As a long shot I sent the DM an email with a copy of the character showing where I was up to & that I'm not powerful enough to be a threat to anyone. (as I mentioned in another thread, any skill points that were in PP were a waste as I never use it) If I'm very lucky, he might add it back. (but I doubt it)

I've used the construct guidelines in yet another thread to start an elven ranger/wizard/arcane archer, but I'm only up to lev 5 (1 Wiz + 4 Rang). The familiar & summoned animals help a Lot. (And feeding a familiar is Free!)