I actually like the fact that regular sharpies fade over time. They also clean off easily with acetone. This is great for trading discs away, since I can clean off my name and contact info and send it on looking fresh to a new owner. Nothing annoys me more than getting a disc in a trade that has huge marker all over the back.
Before tourneys, I make sure to re-sharpie any discs that are getting too worn/faded, but that's not too often.
In 11 years of play, I've only had one person ever contact me about a disc I've lost on the course. So I have no expectations of discs ever coming home. When I lose a disc, I just let it go and hope it will be found by someone who needs it more than I do. At least its easy for them to cleanup and resell and for someone else to buy and enjoy guilt free.
I'm sure most people on here are die hard about expecting plastic be returned, but I've long ago given up believing discs will come back to me. So now, I just try to wish them farewell and good luck to the finders, whomever they may be. I just try not to throw expensive/favorite plastic on high risk holes, and figure that if I do lose a disc, ohwell, 98% of all the disc golf rounds I've ever played are free, and I've found my share of discs over time that had no name/contact info and were impossible to return, so I figure we all break even over time. And it's still one of the cheapest/best sports out there, even with a few lost discs.
I've also learned that if I'm too attached to a disc and lose it, it messes up my mental game worse than anything else that can happen on a course. So I play a little safer around water, or if I go for it, I make sure I won't miss the disc. I've got a great mental game for leaving discs behind when I have to, and I think that's kept my head together for a lot of tourney rounds that otherwise might have fallen apart.
