Greetings, folks.

Let's start with a little background. First -- there are multiple "janitor" systems. Some of them are within our control (the guy you see running through hunting areas, for example), and some aren't (leaving an item and moving away for just a second, but it's already gone when you get back). For the past several months, the versions that we CAN interact with have secretly been trying to collect lost bonded and registered items and stashing them away instead of outright deleting them.

For what reason? I'm glad you asked! As of about 10 minutes ago, the Lost and Found bin at the payment desk in the Crossing Carousel (vaults) has been updated to allow you to OPEN it and search for items the new, kinder janitor has been saving! No fees or hoops, just OPEN the bin, and if anything of yours was recovered, it will return it. Again -- please note the above and reference the in-game NEWS items on item replacement policies (5 4) and the janitor (5 5) -- we cannot guarantee your items were (or will be in the future) saved. But IF they were, you now have a means to retrieve them. A shot in the dark is better than no chance at all.

This should also be further incentive to register items that you care about. It's 10 seconds of your time for a considerable amount of peace of mind (but not a guarantee) down the line in case something unexpected happens. Don't forget that you can use REGISTER CHECK to see registered items on your character. Please check Elanthipedia for registration offices and more info on the system: https://elanthipedia.play.net/mediawiki/index.php/Item_Registration

Note that the system isn't psychic -- if you bought an item that was registered to someone else, we cannot help you. When buying items, please try to register it -- if it belongs to someone else, go back to the seller and try to get it unregistered. Please don't assist asking us to unregister something for you; the mechanics exist to allow players to sort this out in the vast majority of cases.

NEWS 2 29 has been released to cover information in-game, as well as providing additional reading on the janitor, replacement policies and item registration. If you have any questions, please post in the Lost And Found topic of the Surviving in DragonRealms - Elanthia area of the forums.

Good luck! This is live everywhere, though Platinum and The Fallen do not have any items to be recovered at this time. In Prime, there are 93 reclaims that can be made covering 144 total items (counting scrolls in cases, quest items in cloaks, etc).

SGM Zadraes
Premium Lead
Trader Guild Advocate

Either / or. The janitor will try to save items that are bonded OR registered.

SGM Zadraes
Premium Lead
Trader Guild Advocate

This is a really cool and great change.

Now I just wish there was a way to unregister items without going through the person that registered them in the first place :(

---

Thayet
Follow @thayelf on Twitter for absolutely nothing of any value whatsoever!

>>You rummage through the large bin, and find a light haralun throwing axe! You quickly retrieve it, grateful the janitor was merciful.
>>[We are happy we could help in this situation! While bonding and/or registering items can increase your chances of them being recoverable, it does NOT guarantee it. See NEWS 2 29.]
>>Roundtime: 7 sec.


That is awesome. Really. I lost this nearly 6 months ago and didn't think it would be caught by this change. I'm glad I checked, and thank you all for making this possible.

Oh, nice! Maybe I'll finally get off my lazy butt and actually get around to registering my stuff now.

---

Elanthipedia - https://elanthipedia.play.net/mediawiki/index.php/Main_Page
Epedia Admins - https://elanthipedia.play.net/mediawiki/index.php/Elanthipedia:Administrators

>>They are also able to SIGN FORM DECLINE in the event they do not wish to transfer the item, in which case the office puts it in the lost and found for them to claim.

>>This would allow unassisted handling of items given or found or bought that are registered to a person you can't track down or who doesn't play anymore - while simultaneously giving the owner a chance to reclaim something they lost.

Do you mean that the original owner could decline to unregister the item, then go pick the item up in the lost and found? That seems like a great opportunity for one person to register an item, sell it, and then get it back when the new owner goes to register it.

>>I was thinking the same thing. It would be nice to make unregistering/registering easier, but this particular suggestion wouldn't work as written.

We have ways of tracking this, so if it happens and someone asks us to look into it, we can find the people doing it rather quickly. I rather suggest anyone thinking this is a good idea to do, to not do it, because I doubt you'll get away without a warning.

---
NaOH+HI

>>Astarin2: Do you mean that the original owner could decline to unregister the item, then go pick the item up in the lost and found? That seems like a great opportunity for one person to register an item, sell it, and then get it back when the new owner goes to register it.

What I would suggest, instead, is a system that simply notifies the other player of a pending registration change without giving him the opportunity to retrieve the item. When you log in, you get a notice in monsterbold like this:

[Player] has requested to destroy the registration records of [item], which is currently registered in your name. If you wish to object to this change, come to the Town Hall Records Office (DIR REGISTRATION OFFICE in Crossing) and SIGN FORM OBJECT. If you do nothing, the [item]'s registration records will be destroyed in 30 days.

This would prevent players from wrongfully (whether fraudulently or innocently) retrieving items that they no longer own while still putting the original registrant on notice that something may be amiss.


>>Thayet: So wait, is there a way to unregister things without the intervention of the original player? I've got a number of items registered to people no longer around apparently, and I'd love to be able to register them myself.

Currently no. I think Naohhi was just warning us that if they ever do add such a system, players should not abuse it as a method of obtaining items that no longer belong to them.

---

Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall rank!

Vote for DragonRealms on Top MUD Sites: http://www.topmudsites.com/vote-DragonRealms.html

This is fantastic! What a great change, thank you so much.

Neat! I always wondered about those lost and found boxes..

Why does an item remain registered to someone who sells it then? Personally I have purchased an item from a Trader, gone to register it, and found it was registered to someone who's been locked out for something like 2 years (the person I purchased it from told me this). I cannot register it to my own character now so I just have to hope I never lose it?

Ok, so, they are definitely working on something, I had an item from an old character of mine that I sold, and that I haven't seen around in months and months. Well, the item was registered to my old character still so I assisted and talked to a GH, they said nothing they could do at the time but something was in the works and would be out soon. Sounds like just a little bit longer and we'll be able to deal with this ourselves, until then, it's really just business as usual (don't leave stuff on the ground, make sure to specify your pack/haversack/etc when you put stuff away).

Would this work if you registered/bonded ammo? Say a senci shard?

Helps if I respond to the right post with the right info...

Pretty sure ammo can't be registered. The way it stacks causes the info to be lost.

SGM Zadraes
Premium Lead
Trader Guild Advocate

I can't really say on that; in-game staff can't make those kinds of decisions or do anything to accommodate it. Ultimately the billing folks would need to make that call. You can write them at billing@simutronics.com (it's listed in the EMAIL verb).

SGM Zadraes
Premium Lead
Trader Guild Advocate