Password Reset For Dormant Accounts

[Cordovan]

As part of our effort to keep people's game accounts secure we have reset the passwords for all game accounts that have not been logged into in more than two years. Your game account and all of its data remains intact! In order to log in,you will need to reset your password through the Forgot My Password reset procedure. To further help protect your account, we also recommend that you regularly update your password details, and never share your password with anyone. If you need further assistance, please contact Account Support through help.standingstonegames.com.

[Lauf]

Out of sheer curiosity, how is me not logging into my account for two years make my password less effective?

[Cordovan]

Out of sheer curiosity, how is me not logging into my account for two years make my password less effective?

The security issue is not about how often you log in, but rather about people leaving abandoned Internet accounts with old, no-longer-used passwords that eventually get out into the hackersphere and are then used by malicious actors to try to steal people's various accounts. So, the old old password sitting on your 10-year-old dead social media account that got a data breach in say 2012 is cracked when someone grabs that old old password and starts seeing what they can do with it. At least after today those passwords cannot be used to compromise these dormant game accounts.

[Lauf]

Thank you for the response, been around this game for many years now, on and off, and was wondering if I should be concerned about my account's password no longer being secure because of any off time.

[Mindos]

Will this affect accounts as they age out? If I have an account that's been unused for 1.5 years, will it automatically reset the password in .5 years? Or is this just this once?

[Seph1roth5]

I say if you haven't logged in in 2 years just delete their account lol. I took a break for a few years but had my friends log in and keep me up a bit.

It'll help with lag?

[rsking]

I say if you haven't logged in in 2 years just delete their account lol. I took a break for a few years but had my friends log in and keep me up a bit.

It'll help with lag?

issue with that is how many of those accounts are founder accounts let alone alpha and closed/open beta accounts. if I was unable to play due to say military reasons (had a friend who was being deployed and didn't hear a peep for about 6 years) and my account got deleted i'd be ****ed.

[rabidfox]

I say if you haven't logged in in 2 years just delete their account lol. I took a break for a few years but had my friends log in and keep me up a bit.

It'll help with lag?
Pretty sure there are TOS rules about not having friends log you in so that's not an actual option for maintaining an active account.


issue with that is how many of those accounts are founder accounts let alone alpha and closed/open beta accounts. if I was unable to play due to say military reasons (had a friend who was being deployed and didn't hear a peep for about 6 years) and my account got deleted i'd be ****ed.
Exactly, never delete old accounts; people take long breaks for a variety of reasons, but it's easy to lose them as customers forever the moment an account is nuked from orbit. I came back to my old account after many years away cause I wanted a break from LOTRO; if it hadn't been around I like would've just started some other game fresh.

[Annex]

I do not understand some things.

Are the forums and in game passwords different again?

If different, is this about game passwords and where do I go to change my game password?

Just a few weeks ago, players in either the DDO or LOTRO Forums states that the mechanism to change passwords is not secure. That discussion scared me away from even trying to change my password. Is the place for changing a password secure or not secure?

Is the procedure the same for Lord of the Rings Online accounts?

What happens if I lost access to the email account associated with a game account? Under your new rules, I cannot access them anymore? Are they gone forever?

This scares the heck out of me.

Edit: All my DDO game accounts remain accessible but if I am to change game passwords, I want to go to the right place. It appears I lost some LOTRO accounts. Will this be standard policy going forward, wiping passwords every so often? Is this a lag thing? Should I tell Customer Service to kill some old LOTRO accounts to help with lag over there?

[Erofen]

What happens if I lost access to the email account associated with a game account? Under your new rules, I cannot access them anymore? Are they gone forever?

This scares the heck out of me.
Yah, this is a terrible move.

[rabidfox]

Edit: All my DDO game accounts remain accessible but if I am to change game passwords, I want to go to the right place. It appears I lost some LOTRO accounts. Will this be standard policy going forward, wiping passwords every so often? Is this a lag thing? Should I tell Customer Service to kill some old LOTRO accounts to help with lag over there?

It's a security thing. Some people use the same password across multiple games/stuff. So lets say XYZ game gets hacked and the passwords stolen and the person used the same password for DDO then the DDO account is vulnerable to being used by the hackers. By having inactive accounts' passwords reset (and harder initial log where you have to re-setup a fresh password via recovery) when returning after 2+ years away, it means those players are more likely to return to their account still being as they left it with less risk of hackers having sold off/abused/etc. their account. If you use a different random password for every game/account you have then this password reset is a minor annoyance but for those who might have used the same password in multiple locations then this helps boost the security of their DDO account while away from the game for long periods.

[Annex]

It's a security thing. Some people use the same password across multiple games/stuff. So lets say XYZ game gets hacked and the passwords stolen and the person used the same password for DDO then the DDO account is vulnerable to being used by the hackers. By having inactive accounts' passwords reset (and harder initial log where you have to re-setup a fresh password via recovery) when returning after 2+ years away, it means those players are more likely to return to their account still being as they left it with less risk of hackers having sold off/abused/etc. their account. If you use a different random password for every game/account you have then this password reset is a minor annoyance but for those who might have used the same password in multiple locations then this helps boost the security of their DDO account while away from the game for long periods.

Thanks, rabidfox. I use a different, completely random password for each account, everywhere. My dad drummed that into me form an early age. However, I know I have not changed my DDO passwords for a while and I should link them to current email addresses. Earlier this year, my dad had me switch to a new, more secure email provider. I am fine with this change but I want to make sure I update everything correctly.

[mistress_minx]

As part of our effort to keep people's game accounts secure we have reset the passwords for all game accounts that have not been logged into in more than two years. Your game account and all of its data remains intact! In order to log in,you will need to reset your password through the Forgot My Password reset procedure. To further help protect your account, we also recommend that you regularly update your password details, and never share your password with anyone. If you need further assistance, please contact Account Support through help.standingstonegames.com.

I was in contact with support for a year and a half trying to recover an account. I was able to correctly give the account holder name and characters, but cant recall the username, email, or password. She said I was close on a cpl email guesses, but I believe I mistyped the email addy when creating the alt account. I gave up a year ago. How can I gain access please ?

[Fefnir_2011]

As part of our effort to keep people's game accounts secure we have reset the passwords for all game accounts that have not been logged into in more than two years. Your game account and all of its data remains intact! In order to log in,you will need to reset your password through the Forgot My Password reset procedure. To further help protect your account, we also recommend that you regularly update your password details, and never share your password with anyone. If you need further assistance, please contact Account Support through help.standingstonegames.com.

Thanks for the helpful explanation, Cordovan! Out of mild curiosity, I have an old secondary account associated with an email address I no longer have access to (I started playing DDO so long ago I used a college email). Should I write that account off, or is that something I could sort out with Account Support? I do have access to my main account, which is also curiously associated with the same email still.

[Cordovan]

Thanks for the helpful explanation, Cordovan! Out of mild curiosity, I have an old secondary account associated with an email address I no longer have access to (I started playing DDO so long ago I used a college email). Should I write that account off, or is that something I could sort out with Account Support? I do have access to my main account, which is also curiously associated with the same email still.

Account Support can and does frequently help people re-establish the credentials to their old game account. The process can take a while, though, especially if someone no longer remembers their old user name, password, email, etc. But yes, you can do it through help.standingstonegames.com.

[Big_Bad_Wolf]

They aren't worried about individuals' non related social media accounts left ripe for hackers. Naughty players fault... Blame the silly players.

It the huge Turbine breach of accounts data the bad-actors already have. Magnitudes bigger than the active accounts.

Yes this measure stops them in their tracks but to suggest it's something else entirely is morally corrupt or Cord is a bigger fool than we could imagine for dishing this tripe. Utter spin.

[Vehementi]

Pretty sure there are TOS rules about not having friends log you in so that's not an actual option for maintaining an active account.


Exactly, never delete old accounts; people take long breaks for a variety of reasons, but it's easy to lose them as customers forever the moment an account is nuked from orbit. I came back to my old account after many years away cause I wanted a break from LOTRO; if it hadn't been around I like would've just started some other game fresh.


Deleting accounts is why I can't bring myself to invest time into Final Fantasy MMOs. They deleted my FFXI account while I was in college and couldn't afford a sub.

[Dark_Helmet]

Out of sheer curiosity, how is me not logging into my account for two years make my password less effective?

Besides password reuse from other sites, there were (allegedly) hacks during the Turbine days (e.g. 2013 to name a well known one).

[fork_aka_spoon]

I say if you haven't logged in in 2 years just delete their account lol. I took a break for a few years but had my friends log in and keep me up a bit.

It'll help with lag?

I mean, I came back after an 8 year break...2 years isn't a very long break from a game, have had longer from multiple games

[mistress_minx]

Account Support can and does frequently help people re-establish the credentials to their old game account. The process can take a while, though, especially if someone no longer remembers their old user name, password, email, etc. But yes, you can do it through help.standingstonegames.com.

I was going back and forth via email for over a year and a half trying to get back an account. She told me I got close to guessing the email used, but if I couldn't spell it exactly than she couldn't help me. So I should try again ?

[Cordovan]

I was going back and forth via email for over a year and a half trying to get back an account. She told me I got close to guessing the email used, but if I couldn't spell it exactly than she couldn't help me. So I should try again ?

I mean, you do have to provide information that allows us to re-establish your credentials, and we can't provide hints or anything, but if you now know what that email address was or have other information that can be used to re-establish your credentials then it would not hurt to try again.

[mistress_minx]

I mean, you do have to provide information that allows us to re-establish your credentials, and we can't provide hints or anything, but if you now know what that email address was or have other information that can be used to re-establish your credentials then it would not hurt to try again.

I was able to name 3 of the characters, which server, and what guild. I also emailed copies of all my ID's to verify who I am. She still wouldnt help me recover the account :'(

[Dreppo]

I was able to name 3 of the characters, which server, and what guild. I also emailed copies of all my ID's to verify who I am. She still wouldnt help me recover the account :'(

So if you emailed copies of your IDs, you have an e-mail address. Wouldn't that be the e-mail address used for your DDO account? Or if you have multiple e-mail accounts, can't you search them to see which one was used for DDO? I don't see how this could possibly be a hard problem.

[LrdSlvrhnd]

So if you emailed copies of your IDs, you have an e-mail address. Wouldn't that be the e-mail address used for your DDO account? Or if you have multiple e-mail accounts, can't you search them to see which one was used for DDO? I don't see how this could possibly be a hard problem.

Original email address was associated with school; no longer exists because graduated.
Original email address was associated with work; no longer exists because changed jobs.
Original email address was associated with CompuServe; just simply no longer exists.
Original email address was associated with AOL; still exists, but nobody wants to admit it.

Just four reasons off the top of my head why it may be difficult to impossible to "just search them". Many people have changed emails in the past decade and a half for any number of reasons, and some may have changed multiple times, or had multiple addresses for different things and can no longer access them for whatever reason.

[Zennez]

Original email address was associated with school; no longer exists because graduated.
Original email address was associated with work; no longer exists because changed jobs.
Original email address was associated with CompuServe; just simply no longer exists.
Original email address was associated with AOL; still exists, but nobody wants to admit it.

Just four reasons off the top of my head why it may be difficult to impossible to "just search them". Many people have changed emails in the past decade and a half for any number of reasons, and some may have changed multiple times, or had multiple addresses for different things and can no longer access them for whatever reason.

all they are asking for is the correct email address not that you still have it.

If you can't remember, maybe you can ask someone to whom you sent email.

CompuServe.com - Home (https://www.compuserve.com/) still exists and it is a subsidiary of AOL

colleges never seem to delete accounts because many people return, I still have one years later. One call to your old school with the correct identifying information will likely yield an email address.

it is not SSG's fault if a person can not remember their email address any more if people forget their Swiss bank account number.

and I bet if it was a paid account the correct credit card number would be enough for them.

They are just doing what they think is their due diligence to maintain the privacy of their users, the same way a bank requires an ID to cash a check if the teller doesn't know you. TBFY if that is inconvenient.

the bigger question is why SSG games have no 2 factor authentication option like some other MMOs.

Duo MFA is great but too expensive for SSG, but the code is out their ... and almost any coder that knows Kotlin or Java could whip up a smart phone app to do 2 factor for a game for just the hourly pay.

Those apps are great tools for marketing and keeping players current on sales, patches, new content, and events, but that is not how some game companies think.

/off rant

[LogiTinker]

I have multiple accounts (mainly from multi-boxing LOTRO) I no longer have the email's for, I also have no idea what the character names are or any idea about them other than the account names and passwords, I never thought anything more than this would be needed. I couldn't even tell you what paypal account or credit card were used or even what year each one was last used. Sounds odd but as soon as you say 'there is a problem' I want to activate them, all 12 of them an start multi-boxing these games again.
2 years is not a lot of time in real life unless you're a kid, pick up a few new games and another year rolls by and the grass is always greener elsewhere, last time I tried a pile of new games I only played this a few times in 2 years.
Found this post as I was looking to see if there is downtime today, please post this on the launcher to let people know. Hiding thigs away on the forums isn't really helping anyone.
Oh and strap yourselves in it'll be a bumpy ride!

and yes I do believe its because you've probably had something hacked and only just noticed lol.

[Zzpxpzz2]

This must be in response to the million accounts that have been hacked causing a more than 3 month wait time on any support request for compromised accounts.

I lost access to my account in March and still waiting.

[Cordovan]

This must be in response to the million accounts that have been hacked causing a more than 3 month wait time on any support request for compromised accounts.

I lost access to my account in March and still waiting.

We're having a bit of trouble finding your ticket based on this forum post. Private message me or post your ticket number and we'll look into it.

[droid327]

I was able to name 3 of the characters, which server, and what guild. I also emailed copies of all my ID's to verify who I am. She still wouldnt help me recover the account :'(

I mean that doesnt prove anything other than you know what characters are on an account, and also you have legal identity documents...an account has Username, Password, and Email. That's all that they collect on account creation, that's what uniquely identifies the account (DOB is not unique). Credit card info too if you ever bought anything, but that might be with a third party payment processor regardless. But they dont actually have our names tied to the account, where sending IDs lets them verify anything against their records...

[Macaboros]

issue with that is how many of those accounts are founder accounts let alone alpha and closed/open beta accounts. if I was unable to play due to say military reasons (had a friend who was being deployed and didn't hear a peep for about 6 years) and my account got deleted i'd be ****ed.

I hadn't played since 2011 and just came back about two months ago. If they deleted my account, I probably wouldn't have come back.

[Mindos]

I was able to name 3 of the characters, which server, and what guild. I also emailed copies of all my ID's to verify who I am. She still wouldnt help me recover the account :'(

I would try again. Maybe this time is the time!

[MoonRunner]

I say if you haven't logged in in 2 years just delete their account lol. I took a break for a few years but had my friends log in and keep me up a bit.

It'll help with lag?

I took a 5 year break, have spent close to $500 or more on the game since I came back. I would not have returned if I had found my 10th life (at the time) toon deleted. So you are correct, it really would help with the lag as they let the server become less and less populated.

[placeholderaccount]

i too am trying to play again, i have two accounts that i would like to find.

i still have access to the email and i know the usernames of the accounts. But when i hit the forgot password link, it says it sent an email to reset the password, but i never received it (even in the junk mail folder).

i submitted ticket 202569 around christmas. in reading the other threads, i might just have to wait awhile longer :(

anyone have any suggestions on how to restore the account?

[relmon]

What about those of us that have been waiting for Support for a year? How will this affect us?