Return of Reckoning

Hi, I haven't played in about a year and a half. I quit right around when T3 was released and today i went and reinstalled the game, logged in, and my characters are gone. I'm not upset or demanding I get anything back I am wondering the reason for this though so I don't make the same mistake in the future.

There was a wipe of characters that didn't log in over 6 months, yes.