Where did my character go?

I was crafting, got disconnected, tried to log back in on the same character, and got a message saying there was no configuration data for that character. I exited the game, rebooted, logged back in, and it has no configuration data about my system (video settings and such) and is currently running the opening cinematic as if I had no toons. What broke and how can I fix it?

Nevermind. After the second time through the cinematic I'm logged in now. I'm assuming the missing configuration data was all my graphics settings, gamepad settings, screen layout, etc. Has this happened to anyone else? If so, how can this be prevented?