Unauthorized Character Deletion, or "What To Do If Your Characters Get Smushed By IRL Baddies"

This hasn't happened to me, thank God, but it can happen to people who don't take proper security measures. I decided to look up what to do if it does happen to you and how "restored" restoration usually is.

Official Problem Notification

For us to be able to investigate your loss, please submit an in-game petition or send an email to WoWCharHelp@Blizzard.com with the following information:

• Account name
• Character names
• Realms the characters are on
• Level, class, and race of the characters
• Exact name of the items that were lost (if any)
• The time and date of the loss (as precisely as possible)
• How the items or characters were lost (if you know)

The first thing I learned: GMs aren't the ones who take care of your restoration -- they forward the job to "specialists."

Specialists like to restore everything on the first go but will work faster and more accurately with a comprehensive list of missing characters (realm, level, class, name, gender, race) and items. The better your list, the more likely you'll get everything back.

You can follow up with them if things are still missing after the restoration, of course.

If your character is restored but you don't see it in your character listing (I got this one from GM Vrakthris), create and delete a new character on that realm. It will reload the character selection list. If it still doesn't show up, contact the proper channels.

Most importantly to note, Auryk says, "I can't promise anything, as a restoration is never guaranteed, but I can assure you that our character specialists will do everything in their power to restore your characters to their former glory." (Emphasis mine.)

So the best way to get your characters the way they used to be? Don't. Get. Hacked. Don't give out your password to anyone, not even friends, and don't download anything you don't recognize. If you're very gullible, get an authenticator to minimize damage.