Neocolours

I haven't actually done anything on Neo in quite a while, but I've been going back for the Advent Calendar and I decided to log into my only side that has permies on it to make sure it was doing OK and it wouldn't get deleted or anything.

Lo and behold, I couldn't get in -- the last known password didn't work. I sent lost password requests several times -- nothing. I sent a lost username request and that made it clear why I hadn't gotten any lost password emails -- that side was no longer associated with my email.

I have no idea how that could have happened -- I didn't change it. My first thought was that the account had been compromised, but all the pets are still there and the account seems to have been dormant for some time. So I'm not sure what's up.

Any thoughts? Also, any thoughts on what to do? I submitted a ticket with some info and screenies -- not as much info as I'd like as everything was such a long time ago. Then I missed recording the ticket number and I don't seem to have a receipt email. :headdesk: But I don't know if submitting a ticket is what I'm supposed to do or if there's someone I'm supposed to try to contact directly....?

Any words of wisdom? I haven't played the game for a while but still, I'd hate to lose the 2 permies on that account... a Maraquan Draik I morphed and painted myself, and an UC Faeire Pteri.

Actually, I'm in the same sort of situation right now. Can't get into one of my sides, no emails are coming, passwords aren't working. My UC Plushie Hissi is over there too I haven't sent a report in yet, but I have very little information about that account anyway.

Problem solved:

"A solution for your issue has been suggested.

We're sorry to hear you're having trouble logging in! Recently, we experienced an intermittent glitch in our database and some users had random digits added to their passwords and email addresses. It appears that your account was affected by this glitch.

We have changed the information back to the correct values for you. We hope this issue has been resolved, but if you continue to have problems logging in, please write back and let us know.

Thank you for your patience!"

I was able to log in this evening.

That might be what's wrong with your account too, Kari. It's worth sending a ticket, anyway... I did send as much information as I could, but they might not require that much since they didn't actually let me into the account, just set the email and password back to the correct value. So someone who wasn't really the owner of the account still wouldn't be able to get in anyway.

If there's anyone else out there who has sides they haven't logged into for a long time it might be worth requesting all usernames and passwords associated with your email, just to make sure all your accounts that are supposed to be on that email actually are!

Recently, we experienced an intermittent glitch in our database and some users had random digits added to their passwords and email addresses.

That's so reassuring. =P Accidentally locking out your userbase. Sounds like Neopets!

I'm glad it worked out Wings, and that it was a simple glitch and easily fixable. One of the best possible outcomes for a very scary situation.

Ugh, if that's what's happening, I wonder if they're still storing passwords in plaintext - I'm not sure you'd notice extra digits added onto a hashed value?

I'm glad you've got your account back, Wings

@Jazzy - according to someone on the /r/neopets subreddit, you can still log into your account by putting your username and password in a URL. So, yes.

Jazzy wrote:Ugh, if that's what's happening, I wonder if they're still storing passwords in plaintext - I'm not sure you'd notice extra digits added onto a hashed value?

That's a good point. I suspect they wouldn't ask you for recent passwords when asking for information to help prove you're the true owner of the account if they weren't in plaintext, either -- otherwise, how would they know?

This does not reassure me. Note to self: double-check to make sure the passwords I use on Neopets aren't passwords I use for anything anywhere else on the Internet.

The fact they can send you back your password as plaintext also confirms this.

Madge wrote:The fact they can send you back your password as plaintext also confirms this.

Good point, although that's also the only way I still knew the password to my old side after all this time...

Now I can't even check on the status of my ticket because whenever I click on the "My Support" tab in the Help section, it auto redirects me back to the beginning of the help section without letting me log in or whatever

Kari wrote:Now I can't even check on the status of my ticket because whenever I click on the "My Support" tab in the Help section, it auto redirects me back to the beginning of the help section without letting me log in or whatever

That's weird, since it sounds like we have the same problem and they got back to me right away.

Kari, try again. Clear cookies, change browsers, click repeatedly. I know their system often gives me trouble, but I usually can get through eventually (if I can't, it usually works the next day or whenever I try again). I have no idea what's the problem, but it isn't just you, I think they have a very poor handling of cookies. Hopefully enough repetition and you can break through.

What a great way to add annoyance upon annoyance.

Also check you don't have something like NoScript enabled, which might break things.

When I've used the support system I've always suffered a similar issue - I assumed it was a bug at their end. The first time I click on 'My Support' it just dumps me back to the beginning, but if I then click again it goes through correctly. It's always done that but I've always been able to get there on the second attempt (but then I have been logged in to Neo at the time, maybe that's the difference).

I disabled a few Chrome extensions and was able to get in, thankfully. Of course my ticket is still open...

EDIT: It was fixed as of yesterday, and I had the same extra characters problem. So happy to be back in that account!