PSA: HQ items cannot be restored through item restoration if not discarded

[stuscott]

How do you "accidentally" desynth something that has a confirmation screen? Double check what you are doing before you confirm it.

[randysquirrel]

These threads seem to be becoming more common... "I desynthed something by accident, please fix", "I accidentally withdrew three times from popped duty, please fix", "I accidentally greeded on a weekly lockout piece and won it, please fix", etc etc

I must be awesome, somehow managing to play without doing this stuff. If I did, prob wouldn't go on the forums and aware everyone to how dumb I'd been

[Enkrateia]

Greetings!

It seems there may have been a miscommunication that I would like to clear up, and I will be looking into the contact with the GM to see if there are ways to improve how this information is conveyed to our customers. The GMs have the ability to recover HQ items and items with materia on them as part of the item restoration policy. Thanks to certain changes with items, we are able to restore a number of items that may not have been restorable in FFXI or earlier versions of the game, and we try hard to find ways to expand this policy to cover as many items as possible.

That being said, if an item was used properly in the game, then it would not normally be eligible for restoration through the policy. This would include turning in an item for a quest, converting an item into materia, or failed synthesis, among many possible variations of this guideline for the policy. This is in place to prevent abuse of the item restoration policy to try to improve the rewards that can be obtained.

That being said, many cases like this are escalated to the SGMs and myself for consideration as an exception to the policy (both for how the item was lost or if the policy was already used by a customer). When considering an exception, we need to balance the context of the situation, fairness for all customers, and the workload for the GM team. You are always welcome to request the use of the item restoration policy, although these exceptions are not guaranteed.

I hope this explains things a bit better, and provides a bit more insight into the policy.

LGM Enkrateia

[Liinko]

Greetings!

It seems there may have been a miscommunication that I would like to clear up, and I will be looking into the contact with the GM to see if there are ways to improve how this information is conveyed to our customers. The GMs have the ability to recover HQ items and items with materia on them as part of the item restoration policy. Thanks to certain changes with items, we are able to restore a number of items that may not have been restorable in FFXI or earlier versions of the game, and we try hard to find ways to expand this policy to cover as many items as possible.

That being said, if an item was used properly in the game, then it would not normally be eligible for restoration through the policy. This would include turning in an item for a quest, converting an item into materia, or failed synthesis, among many possible variations of this guideline for the policy. This is in place to prevent abuse of the item restoration policy to try to improve the rewards that can be obtained.

That being said, many cases like this are escalated to the SGMs and myself for consideration as an exception to the policy (both for how the item was lost or if the policy was already used by a customer). When considering an exception, we need to balance the context of the situation, fairness for all customers, and the workload for the GM team. You are always welcome to request the use of the item restoration policy, although these exceptions are not guaranteed.

I hope this explains things a bit better, and provides a bit more insight into the policy.

LGM Enkrateia

Thank your for the reply, It definitely gives more insight as to how the policy is handled and it is understandable that there is something in place to prevent abuse of the policy, even if it is limited to once per account.

I'm glad it is being looked into and hope that it is better communicated to the players in the future, because it was made clear to me that it was not possible to have to have crafted items restored in my situation which made it seem like a system limitation. While it is clear that GMs can't offer to see if an exception can be made to everyone, they can at least make an effort to listen to the player's side of the story and see if it merits escalating to a SGM. For example in a case like mine where any reward that could have been obtained from desynthesis would not come remotely close to the original value of the item.

[Enkrateia]

While it is clear that GMs can't offer to see if an exception can be made to everyone, they can at least make an effort to listen to the player's side of the story and see if it merits escalating to a SGM.

Any GM can escalate any concern for review for an exception, and a player can always ask for an escalation. That being said, the GMs are well versed in the types of exceptions that may be granted, so a GM's reluctance to escalate is usually due to prolonging an investigation that has a low chance of being granted an exception. This is usually due to wanting to provide a customer with an immediate resolution instead of a resolution that may take time, depending on how quickly it can be reviewed and a response sent back to the customer to inform them of the results. Escalations can also be used by GMs to expedite contacts with customers, allowing a SGM or myself to review the concern for a final decision while letting them assist other customers quicker.

LGM Enkrateia

[BigPapaSmurf]

LGM Enkrateia

Please grant her her item back! Please approve it! Just ask she discard the item(s) she had obtained from the Desynthesis.

If she no longer has the specific items anymore, for any reason, allow her to re-obtain those items only to discard them again for purposes of fairness.

She's been very good & patient, I think she's earned the opportunity to have her item returned. But that's just my lowly 2 cents...

BUT ALSO! Please grant us an Item-Restoration Token per every 6mo-1yr. period instead of "once in a lifetime".

Mistakes happen... once in a lifetime is a harsh policy IMHO that needs reevaluation.

Of course, if the Token isn't expended before the period in which another would be obtained, it's simply lost (in other words, nobody can ever possess more than one Item-Restore Token).

What do you say Enkrateia? Can you please lift that request to the Development Team?

[Alistaire]

That being said, if an item was used properly in the game, then it would not normally be eligible for restoration through the policy. This would include turning in an item for a quest, converting an item into materia, or failed synthesis, among many possible variations of this guideline for the policy. This is in place to prevent abuse of the item restoration policy to try to improve the rewards that can be obtained.

...except the policy explicitly says items converted to materia can be covered.

So is the policy going to be updated to take that line out? If you don't cover it, it's probably a bad idea to specifically say that you do cover it.

Edit: if abuse is actually a concern just require them to drop whatever it converted/desynthed to. It's a one-time thing; it's not going to guarantee they get the wanted result, or even as good a result (unless they got the worst of course), the next time.

[Alistaire]

Still very concerned this hasn't gotten a response.

We have a senior GM come in here and say something that directly conflicts with SE's written policy. (edit: sorry, "LGM", which idk, is lead GM?) Regardless of seniority of the GM you don't want your employees contradicting written policy, or incorrect policies to be out there, whichever the case here may be.

From http://support.na.square-enix.com/fa...la=1&kid=68222 :

However, there is a possibility that an item that has been "dropped," "consumed," or "converted to Materia," can be restored through the item recovery service. This service is only offered once per Square Enix account.

But then Enkrateia comes in and says

That being said, if an item was used properly in the game, then it would not normally be eligible for restoration through the policy. This would include turning in an item for a quest, converting an item into materia...

These are exact opposites. As someone who has worked in QA for company policy you'd want to send out either a retraction of what Enkrateia has said here or amend the policy.