1. Data, such as mailbox and guild forum contents. I know how to save this stuff using WebIG and so does anyone else who has read my post on the subject or figured it out themselves, but no matter what there are still going to be a lot of people who come along later and find that personal messages and reminders of good times were wiped away if/when characters were deleted.
2. Special titles.
3. Items, because of sentimental value. The q40 staff crafted by Varo, the tokens from long-past events, the q110 autolauncher crafted by KasDimOjin, the swords crafted by Haldir, etc.
4. Character appearance. I have screenshots of most of my characters' appearance settings, and if not that then I have good screenshots of their faces, but I bet a lot of people don't and they will probably not be able to recreate their characters' exact appearances. That'd be an awful feeling, having to settle for a face that's not quite right.
5. Fame. That's hard to rebuild, especially for Marauders. And it is a significant part of many characters' identities.
6. Skill levels. I for one don't exactly care about the work I put into them. What I do care about is the fact that each skill level has memories attached to it and each skill means something to my character. Jelathnia was always a two-handed sword wielder first and foremost, but forest foraging was important too and so was the healing she learned alongside Soleca and Alurach. She learned gunnery from KasDimOjin. All her non-forest foraging levels were gained in group with guildmates and friends.
Now, you might say the thing about memories is that they exist in your head no matter what, but I know too well that that's not quite true. My memory is poor and every time I log into Ryzom I am fondly reminded of things I had forgotten. Some of these memories are brought forth by things that will not change as long as Ryzom lives, such as Atysian locations. But many others are only brought forth by things you propose to delete.
2. Special titles.
3. Items, because of sentimental value. The q40 staff crafted by Varo, the tokens from long-past events, the q110 autolauncher crafted by KasDimOjin, the swords crafted by Haldir, etc.
4. Character appearance. I have screenshots of most of my characters' appearance settings, and if not that then I have good screenshots of their faces, but I bet a lot of people don't and they will probably not be able to recreate their characters' exact appearances. That'd be an awful feeling, having to settle for a face that's not quite right.
5. Fame. That's hard to rebuild, especially for Marauders. And it is a significant part of many characters' identities.
6. Skill levels. I for one don't exactly care about the work I put into them. What I do care about is the fact that each skill level has memories attached to it and each skill means something to my character. Jelathnia was always a two-handed sword wielder first and foremost, but forest foraging was important too and so was the healing she learned alongside Soleca and Alurach. She learned gunnery from KasDimOjin. All her non-forest foraging levels were gained in group with guildmates and friends.
Now, you might say the thing about memories is that they exist in your head no matter what, but I know too well that that's not quite true. My memory is poor and every time I log into Ryzom I am fondly reminded of things I had forgotten. Some of these memories are brought forth by things that will not change as long as Ryzom lives, such as Atysian locations. But many others are only brought forth by things you propose to delete.