Perhaps another option, depending on which would be easier in the coding, might be to make the tutorial bots not tradeable between accounts? 

In all honesty, if you are a *** like me, and try to squeeze that last mission before the servers go down and get yourself blown up, I think it is a fair punishment for stupidity to be able to grind out a new one.   Especially this early in the game.  If I had to grind out 400K with the noob bot just to get back to where I was and I'm still figuring out the game I'd probably just throw up my hands and say 'nice game' and call it good and go back to LOTR.

There has to be a way to teach players like me a lesson without making it such a *** that a person would just pack it in.  This early in the game people just aren't that committed to the game yet.  Later, when I loose my mega-bot (I know it will happen), I think I will be 'into' the game enough to do the work to get it back.