Originally Posted by
Dubanka
in most other games, character data of expired subscriptions is not deleted...They don't delete it, because usually they'll do 'win back' promo's to try to suck you back in at regularly intervals, and you usually don't win someone back by telling them they have to start over again.
the character data deletion w/ quit, actually really has nothing to do with the craptacular release...even if the game was running flawlessly...and lets say i get shipped out to afghanistan, for what turns out to be a year...i'm prob not going to maintain that subscription. The odds of me resubbing when i got back would be pretty good upon return, if i knew my account was still intact...odds of me resubbing if I had to start over? II might, but i might also spend more time looking at what else is out there.
Summary: It's basic marketing. Don't piss off your customer base. If they do stop being customers, have a plan to get them back to being customers. I'm not sure whats with all the drama in this thread...this is pretty basic, industry standard stuff.