If they honestly want to throw out another ~15$ a month for varying technology. . . More power to them, but I don't call that a hard advantage. . A single subscription player can acquire the same tech from another player. The multi just gets the task done a little faster, and without human interaction. . . I see no problem here.
Like I said, there are some things a multi-sub player can accomplish a little easier, but nothing I can see warranting another sub fee. To each their own, though. Some people have a nice discretionary income, and no brains when it comes down to how to use it for best effect. . .
No alts for me. I MUCH prefer an MMO that lets me do everything on one character (but not necessarily at the same time) like FFXI did and FFXIV will do.
FFXI allowed alts but you had to pay a small extra on top of your subscription fee to support it seeing as just one character would require as much database memory as a whole slew of alts on a class-based MMO. One thing FFXI missed, however, was having some form of inventory management (and the inventory capacity) to handle all the different equipment for different roles and setups. I'm expecting XIV will deal with that one though.
After reading up on the most stuff over at the Earthrise-forums, and after reading that massive 26-page thread there regarding alt-characters, I've come to the conclusion, that single characters only would do the game any good, if the developer finds a way to negate multiple accounts.
1. there seems to be the possibility of training up skills as a group -> toon on follow like in WoW
2. training up crafting-skills is possible without having to move your toon, i.e. multi-boxers can train up a crafting-alt pretty decently
3. training-times in Earthrise seem pretty fast. 2 or 3 month were mentioned to max out a skill-tree (skill-tree = class ?)
4. access to all factions at the same time is a big advantage, especially if you look at it in the aspect of guilds. Guilds having access to all technologies on their own, isn't possible without alts it seems.
5. criminals don't have to be afraid of consequences at all, if they have an alt, that can access all of the content.
So it looks like multiple accounts work like in EvE, where multiple accounts are the norm these days, as they let you basically circumvent all drawbacks.
Someone who follows the Earthrise-forums more closely may clarify on the points in question, but that's the impression I got there.
However I do believe there is a way of slowing it down and reducing those numbers of characters that multi-boxers are able to actually play.
Consider this, if you are a developer targeting a smaller market niche, perhaps it is more logical to design your game to encourage multi-boxing like CCP does with EVE rather than discourage it.
That's the way I'd go, more subs is always better, and it would be alot easier to convince 100K people to pay for 2 or even 3 accounts than to try and get 300K actual players. (and I suspect multi-boxers tend to subscribe for longer periods of time)
I've been multi-boxing for years, had 5 accounts in DAOC, 3 in WOW, and now 3 in EVE and always enjoyed the extra options they've usually afforded me, and dont feel they ever really gave me some great advantage over other players, just improved my personal enjoyment.
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
After reading up on the most stuff over at the Earthrise-forums, and after reading that massive 26-page thread there regarding alt-characters, I've come to the conclusion, that single characters only would do the game any good, if the developer finds a way to negate multiple accounts. 1. there seems to be the possibility of training up skills as a group -> toon on follow like in WoW Possibly, it's not clear how grouped players share XP yet. There are measures that could be taken, like giving no XP if the player does no actions during the fight.
2. training up crafting-skills is possible without having to move your toon, i.e. multi-boxers can train up a crafting-alt pretty decently Ya, that's a possibility. It depends on how long it takes to perform the act of crafting. I don't think it's like Wow where you have to sit down and go through piles of stuff. You put your recipes and resources into the factory and let it run. I don't think you'd save much time with an alt.
3. training-times in Earthrise seem pretty fast. 2 or 3 month were mentioned to max out a skill-tree (skill-tree = class ?) A single skill tree would not be enough to make a "class". For instance, "Assault rifles" could be it's own skill. But you'd also want other skills to complement it. As I recall, the 3 month figure was the time it would take to be somewhat competitive in PvP, only considering training. I think it would actually be more like the time you could get around 3 skills to medium- high levels, but not necessarily max. Keep in mind that skills don't give raw power so much as more options.
4. access to all factions at the same time is a big advantage, especially if you look at it in the aspect of guilds. Guilds having access to all technologies on their own, isn't possible without alts it seems. Technologies can be traded through the neutral market. You could cut out the middle man with alts, but is spending twice the time grinding rep more efficient than grinding one faction and using those techs to make money to buy the other set of techs?
5. criminals don't have to be afraid of consequences at all, if they have an alt, that can access all of the content. Quite possible. So it looks like multiple accounts work like in EvE, where multiple accounts are the norm these days, as they let you basically circumvent all drawbacks. Someone who follows the Earthrise-forums more closely may clarify on the points in question, but that's the impression I got there.
I would still argue that it's a minority of players that are willing to buy a second account, even in Eve (anyone have solid numbers?). So measures to reduce alt abuse on a single account would still improve the game. There's simply no way to prevent someone from using multiple accounts.
As for multiboxing, you might be able to have a crafter and a combat toon going, but it would be very hard to fight with multiple toons at once. ER uses third person shooter mechanics with no hard lock on, so it would be much harder than multi-boxing games like Eve or WoW where you can just lock on to your target and not worry about aim.
Someone who creates alts is someone who does not find immersion in a single character. By derivative, one can deduce that there isn't enough *depth* and *variety* of play within a single character to contain interest.
A game that can capture the attention of an individual within a single character succeeds at quality. By mandating no alts is irrelevant.
A game that doesn't capture the attention fully within a character doesn't succeed necessarily. By mandating no alts is clipping the gaming experience.
It can be done. And if done right, would be very interesting.
That is exactly right, and we're not saying NO to save WoW, because it is already a lost cause. We are saying NO to dissuade the next group of greedy suits who decide to emulate Blizzard and Cryptic, etc. We can prevent some of the future games from spewing this crap, but the sooner we start saying no, the better the results will be. So - Stand up, pull up your pants, and walk away. - MMO_Doubter
Istaria (aka Horizons) did this with humanoid character that could multi-class on the one toon.
When I played EQ, you could really only play one toon as it took huge amounts of time to level alternate experience. Only a couple of people ever reached the level cap for alternate levels when I was playing. I played a druid as a nuker backup healer for 3 years. Sony fundamentally changed the class by making raid mobs immune to druid nukes so you either became a druid healer or quit. I quit. I would never invest that amount of time in a single toon again if it was locked into rigid class systems like EQ.
In many games these days you can level to maximum level fairly quickly. Games like WoW, CIty of Heroes and Lord of the Rings Online do not have enough content and avenues of advancement for a single toon if you play a lot. A lot of the fun is in re-exploring the content with a different toon that has a different style of play. It also means that as the game changes, you can switch toons if you do not like the changes made to a particular class.
In a few games I have leveled toons half way to maximum level, only to discover I actually enjoyed playing a different class more. Sometimes the toon I prefer to play is dependent on what content is in the latest release. For example, in one expansion long range hitters may be powerful. In a later expansion with a lot of close quarters fighting due to the layout of the dungeons, a melee character may be a better choice.
In any game with no alts, I would expect as a minimum that I could change my build (and class if it has classes) without losing any advancement already earned on that toon.
IIRC, SWG did this, at least at first, and I hated it. One character per server unless you unlocked a Jedi, then you got a second slot. If I am mistaken on this, I am sure I will be corrected. In all fairness it has been awhile and many MMO's ago that I played SWG so I could be confusing it with another MMO.
I am an alt-a-holic to an extent.
I like to make other characters to use to discover different aspects of the game, to learn and explore more about the world I am in. In other words, I like seeing the world I am in from a different perspective occasionally.
Usually, I have two characters I work on concurrently in any game I play. Fantasy, one melee type, one magic type. In Fallen Earth, the world that is consuming the majority of my MMO time lately, I have one melee, and one ranged. Both roles play very differently, even in the same environment or encounter so you have new challenges to overcome.
As I said, seeing the world of my choice from different perspectives. One character would leave me wanting and feeling like I could not learn as much, or interact with the world around me as much as I wanted.
Einherjar_LC says: WTB the true successor to UO or Asheron's Call pst!
I guarantee I high player churn rate if you can only have one character. A main staple that keeps people interested is being able to do other things, so you roll an alt to fill different rolls, races etc.
Also rerolls play a large roll in player retention, having to delete your main in order to reroll is the exact opposite.
It really is a ploy just to get people to buy multiple accounts, whoever really likes the game will have multiple accounts so they can have multiple characters. But it drives off more people then it will bring in.
Of course, the concept of rolling alts is in some games and not others. In some game environments rolling alts totally destroys the integrity of the game, especially more forward thinking games that use skill systems instead of lame level systems. Having tons of alts is an artifact of certain games and in no way has any relevance on enjoying a game. I think most games should gravitate to a system that allows for integrity with about 2 alt slots, that's it though. Games like WoW that give you tons of slots are kind of dumb, and better left in those style of games where alts are a core element of the games longevity, as opposed to say, content being the means for longevity.
Tbh, I'm an EvE-player and I can have 3 characters on my account. And yes, I've made 3 characters ofc, but I don't use any other character then my main-character basically. The other two characters are there to sit in Jita and Amarr to check on the market-prices, or to do some AFK-hauling through empire, while my main-character remains in 0.0.
Aslong as you can't train more then one character on a single account I don't see any problem with having one or two alt-characters per account, and you can't play more then one character per account anyways, so you can't even trade between your characters.
A solution to prevent some abuse might be not to allow sending items back and forth between your characters, and god I hope hat there's no mail-system ala WoW at all. I hope that every item has to be transported manually and can only be picked up, where it was dropped, like it is done in EvE. So you can't go shopping with one character in the safe areas and send the stuff per mail to your second toon somewhere in the outbacks.
Think of other mechanics to prevent the abuse, but don't tell me that I'm not allowed to create a little familiy of toons... I like having my own family of toons.
yes and it was very healthy in SWG for economy and such. You could however shift and train/untrain any skills at any given time. Iam talking abour preNGE of course.
I voted maybe, however if the game had multiple races or set classes or each race or class had it's own set of quests, then the lure of wanting to explore more of the game would be stronger.
In a game with only 1 or 2 races or "sides" then a game that had an open-ended system like MxO had, ER/HoT plans to have then a single character could be a better way to play, I definitely do not think that a single character in any way shape or form actively prevents bad player behaviour, someone who is a griefer will be a griefer, just having 1 character certainly will not prevent that & in reality the size of the population that the game has is a much bigger factor.
In a game that's niche, low population then your reputation becomes that much more important, in a game with millions of people you could be an asshat in a group & likely never see those same players again, or if you did by then they'll have met a million other asshats by the time you nextr meet & they'd have forgotten all about you, just another in the faceless morasse.
In a game with many classes, many races, why not explore the possibilities & try out different personas & play as different personalities, is that not what role-playing essentially allows for doing?
Or, as I am leaning towars thinking thanks to a large amount of the replies to this post, thinking that this is just another sad example of wanting to make others play the game in the way that you want to, less about design & more about certain individuals desired way of playing, removing others choices just because they themselves do not feel inclined to play that way?
Really, if you want peopl to play "your" way, go make your own game that only allows that maybe?
I vote yes because SWG has this system and it is flawless !!!
Except when they start to have classes and such, so only non-classes game will be good for this type of system.
Also, is a must too that you can change your skills at any time only you need to spend more time to earn the new skill !!! just like the old SWG !!! which is awesome !!!
Anyway, SWG was simply unique with only one character and actually people paying 2-3 more subscription for that game !!
Again as many others stated, people would have to start picking up responsibilities regarding their action if they want to pursue something in the game' community.
+
For pure RP reasons, I'd love to see this implemented in every sandbox :P
I wouldn't especally if it was a pay to play title, I am a alt-a-holic and I tend to get bored of one playstyle rather quickly so I need mutiple chars, or a system like FF11 where you can change jobs whenever you want and are near a settlement.
"An MMORPG could be completely diffirent from WoW. Just look at games like Dofus, Wizard101 or EVE. But as it is, most of the Western MMOs are trying to succeed by out-WoWing WoW. It's like an army of 10 sports games made about same sports, and barely none about other sports. WoW clone is an accurate description of those games, it manages to convey much information with only two words." -Poster on mmorpg.com
Rift: World of Warcraft clone #9321 Nothing special to see here move along.
I wouldn't especally if it was a pay to play title, I am a alt-a-holic and I tend to get bored of one playstyle rather quickly so I need mutiple chars, or a system like FF11 where you can change jobs whenever you want and are near a settlement.
Just a reminder, we're on the Earthrise board here. This is not a valid concern for Earthrise since you can learn all skills on one character.
The answer for me is YES. I've only played one mmo without alts, preCU SWG and I felt much more a part of that gaming world. I built strong relationships with online friends because they became very real to me. In current mmos (WOW, LoTRO), I frequently wanted to play with a friend only to find on a given day he/she wanted to level up his "mage" or "priest". Loot roles could become a problem with ALTs. How many of you rolled GREED for your character but somebody in the group rolled NEED because he wanted some piece of armor for one of his 7 alts? I am sure most of you have experienced this.
I agree, having a single avatar with the ability to switch combat styles is a plus (again, preCU SWG). Having the ability to master some type of crafting, trading, diplomacy or buffing without using up skill points that could be used for improving your avatar's combat skills might also relieve some need to have an alt (this was NOT the case in preCU SWG or the current Fallen Earth).
There are many factors that create an "immersive" atmosphere and what works for me might not work for you. For me, having non-instanced housing, social tools, crafting, ability to dynamically affect the environment, player-driven economy/gear, and PvP with purpose were/are extremely important. However, having a consistent, single avatar is important to me, so much so, I did not roll alts (except bank mules) in the current crop "modern" mmos (WoW, LoTRO, Age of Conan).
I will certainly give Earthside a strong look if it alt-free play, and a double-look if the avatar is not limited in skill-building.
The discussion about single-character is some 30 pages in the Earthrsie-forums, but Masthead has not decided yet, what they're going to do.
Another discussion that is going strong in the Earthrise-forums is about multiple accounts, which can't be restricted technically.
As for characters themselves: every character in Earthrise can train all skills that are available in the game, there's no limitations to that, but time needed to train them up.
Wow, not too many people interested on no alt MMo's. I think it is however really cool how the majority likes the thought of having games that do not allow alts! Awesome!
Go to front to vote your option people!
Just keep in mind that your poll, as stated, is not an an "exclusive or" situation. According to your poll, a majority would be willing to play a no-alt game, but that doesn't preclude all of them from enjoying playing alts.
For example, I voted yes, because I enjoyed effectively playing a no-alt game in SWG (enjoyed being relative, I left during month 2 because of bugs but I digress...). On the flipside, I love playing city of heroes and have between 20 and 30 active alts, spanning various combinations of archtypes and powers. Each one is unique in my eye and I wouldn't want to hav a single hero who could slip in and out of different powers. To me, that worked best in the Matrix (or dollhouse, the tv show) because that was the reality of the world (learning stuff as necessary). Anywhere else, where you're allowed to totally respec to necessary skills is immersion breaking to me, as well as compromising the integrity of the decisions (your sacrifices) made to build that toon.
Honestly what good is an alt? An alt is primarily used to travel incognito, with the purpose of ripping people off, taking advantage of them, or otherwise evading responsibility for a set of actions on your main.
Dissatisfied with your guild? Roll an alt and join your rivals! Need some extra cash? Roll an alt and make some easy money! Want boobs instead of pecs? Roll an alt and tranny it up!
About the only thing alts have been good for is testing out other character archetypes. But in upcoming games, as well as games like Darkfall, Entropia, and even Ultima Online (Siege Perilous) alts have been done away with. This is a good move, by these designers. One I'd personally like to see repeated.
Hmm, i think more people would agree that the primary purpose of an alt character is to play another archtype.... Consigning its primary purpose to the various other activities you suggest seems to reflect the type of play you immerse yourself in (apparently pvp) or your bias.
Comments
If they honestly want to throw out another ~15$ a month for varying technology. . . More power to them, but I don't call that a hard advantage. . A single subscription player can acquire the same tech from another player. The multi just gets the task done a little faster, and without human interaction. . . I see no problem here.
Like I said, there are some things a multi-sub player can accomplish a little easier, but nothing I can see warranting another sub fee. To each their own, though. Some people have a nice discretionary income, and no brains when it comes down to how to use it for best effect. . .
No alts for me. I MUCH prefer an MMO that lets me do everything on one character (but not necessarily at the same time) like FFXI did and FFXIV will do.
FFXI allowed alts but you had to pay a small extra on top of your subscription fee to support it seeing as just one character would require as much database memory as a whole slew of alts on a class-based MMO. One thing FFXI missed, however, was having some form of inventory management (and the inventory capacity) to handle all the different equipment for different roles and setups. I'm expecting XIV will deal with that one though.
After reading up on the most stuff over at the Earthrise-forums, and after reading that massive 26-page thread there regarding alt-characters, I've come to the conclusion, that single characters only would do the game any good, if the developer finds a way to negate multiple accounts.
1. there seems to be the possibility of training up skills as a group -> toon on follow like in WoW
2. training up crafting-skills is possible without having to move your toon, i.e. multi-boxers can train up a crafting-alt pretty decently
3. training-times in Earthrise seem pretty fast. 2 or 3 month were mentioned to max out a skill-tree (skill-tree = class ?)
4. access to all factions at the same time is a big advantage, especially if you look at it in the aspect of guilds. Guilds having access to all technologies on their own, isn't possible without alts it seems.
5. criminals don't have to be afraid of consequences at all, if they have an alt, that can access all of the content.
So it looks like multiple accounts work like in EvE, where multiple accounts are the norm these days, as they let you basically circumvent all drawbacks.
Someone who follows the Earthrise-forums more closely may clarify on the points in question, but that's the impression I got there.
Consider this, if you are a developer targeting a smaller market niche, perhaps it is more logical to design your game to encourage multi-boxing like CCP does with EVE rather than discourage it.
That's the way I'd go, more subs is always better, and it would be alot easier to convince 100K people to pay for 2 or even 3 accounts than to try and get 300K actual players. (and I suspect multi-boxers tend to subscribe for longer periods of time)
I've been multi-boxing for years, had 5 accounts in DAOC, 3 in WOW, and now 3 in EVE and always enjoyed the extra options they've usually afforded me, and dont feel they ever really gave me some great advantage over other players, just improved my personal enjoyment.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
I would still argue that it's a minority of players that are willing to buy a second account, even in Eve (anyone have solid numbers?). So measures to reduce alt abuse on a single account would still improve the game. There's simply no way to prevent someone from using multiple accounts.
As for multiboxing, you might be able to have a crafter and a combat toon going, but it would be very hard to fight with multiple toons at once. ER uses third person shooter mechanics with no hard lock on, so it would be much harder than multi-boxing games like Eve or WoW where you can just lock on to your target and not worry about aim.
Voted yes, IF:
- It's a bit like pre-CU SWG in which you could re-template your character when ever needed
- Skill boxes/trees learnt then abandoned are faster to re-learn
- You can be be dual speced crafter / combatant and be efficient in both.
And yes as it promotes a good community.
Someone who creates alts is someone who does not find immersion in a single character. By derivative, one can deduce that there isn't enough *depth* and *variety* of play within a single character to contain interest.
A game that can capture the attention of an individual within a single character succeeds at quality. By mandating no alts is irrelevant.
A game that doesn't capture the attention fully within a character doesn't succeed necessarily. By mandating no alts is clipping the gaming experience.
It can be done. And if done right, would be very interesting.
That is exactly right, and we're not saying NO to save WoW, because it is already a lost cause. We are saying NO to dissuade the next group of greedy suits who decide to emulate Blizzard and Cryptic, etc.
We can prevent some of the future games from spewing this crap, but the sooner we start saying no, the better the results will be.
So - Stand up, pull up your pants, and walk away.
- MMO_Doubter
Istaria (aka Horizons) did this with humanoid character that could multi-class on the one toon.
When I played EQ, you could really only play one toon as it took huge amounts of time to level alternate experience. Only a couple of people ever reached the level cap for alternate levels when I was playing. I played a druid as a nuker backup healer for 3 years. Sony fundamentally changed the class by making raid mobs immune to druid nukes so you either became a druid healer or quit. I quit. I would never invest that amount of time in a single toon again if it was locked into rigid class systems like EQ.
In many games these days you can level to maximum level fairly quickly. Games like WoW, CIty of Heroes and Lord of the Rings Online do not have enough content and avenues of advancement for a single toon if you play a lot. A lot of the fun is in re-exploring the content with a different toon that has a different style of play. It also means that as the game changes, you can switch toons if you do not like the changes made to a particular class.
In a few games I have leveled toons half way to maximum level, only to discover I actually enjoyed playing a different class more. Sometimes the toon I prefer to play is dependent on what content is in the latest release. For example, in one expansion long range hitters may be powerful. In a later expansion with a lot of close quarters fighting due to the layout of the dungeons, a melee character may be a better choice.
In any game with no alts, I would expect as a minimum that I could change my build (and class if it has classes) without losing any advancement already earned on that toon.
A single toon is the best way to play a game. I wish it were standard in more games.
I voted no.
IIRC, SWG did this, at least at first, and I hated it. One character per server unless you unlocked a Jedi, then you got a second slot. If I am mistaken on this, I am sure I will be corrected. In all fairness it has been awhile and many MMO's ago that I played SWG so I could be confusing it with another MMO.
I am an alt-a-holic to an extent.
I like to make other characters to use to discover different aspects of the game, to learn and explore more about the world I am in. In other words, I like seeing the world I am in from a different perspective occasionally.
Usually, I have two characters I work on concurrently in any game I play. Fantasy, one melee type, one magic type. In Fallen Earth, the world that is consuming the majority of my MMO time lately, I have one melee, and one ranged. Both roles play very differently, even in the same environment or encounter so you have new challenges to overcome.
As I said, seeing the world of my choice from different perspectives. One character would leave me wanting and feeling like I could not learn as much, or interact with the world around me as much as I wanted.
Einherjar_LC says: WTB the true successor to UO or Asheron's Call pst!
haha...i voted no,but meant yes....anyway....i play to grow with 'a' style based on my preference and I have no time for alts.
I guarantee I high player churn rate if you can only have one character. A main staple that keeps people interested is being able to do other things, so you roll an alt to fill different rolls, races etc.
Also rerolls play a large roll in player retention, having to delete your main in order to reroll is the exact opposite.
It really is a ploy just to get people to buy multiple accounts, whoever really likes the game will have multiple accounts so they can have multiple characters. But it drives off more people then it will bring in.
Of course, the concept of rolling alts is in some games and not others. In some game environments rolling alts totally destroys the integrity of the game, especially more forward thinking games that use skill systems instead of lame level systems. Having tons of alts is an artifact of certain games and in no way has any relevance on enjoying a game. I think most games should gravitate to a system that allows for integrity with about 2 alt slots, that's it though. Games like WoW that give you tons of slots are kind of dumb, and better left in those style of games where alts are a core element of the games longevity, as opposed to say, content being the means for longevity.
Tbh, I'm an EvE-player and I can have 3 characters on my account. And yes, I've made 3 characters ofc, but I don't use any other character then my main-character basically. The other two characters are there to sit in Jita and Amarr to check on the market-prices, or to do some AFK-hauling through empire, while my main-character remains in 0.0.
Aslong as you can't train more then one character on a single account I don't see any problem with having one or two alt-characters per account, and you can't play more then one character per account anyways, so you can't even trade between your characters.
A solution to prevent some abuse might be not to allow sending items back and forth between your characters, and god I hope hat there's no mail-system ala WoW at all. I hope that every item has to be transported manually and can only be picked up, where it was dropped, like it is done in EvE. So you can't go shopping with one character in the safe areas and send the stuff per mail to your second toon somewhere in the outbacks.
Think of other mechanics to prevent the abuse, but don't tell me that I'm not allowed to create a little familiy of toons... I like having my own family of toons.
yes and it was very healthy in SWG for economy and such. You could however shift and train/untrain any skills at any given time. Iam talking abour preNGE of course.
I voted maybe, however if the game had multiple races or set classes or each race or class had it's own set of quests, then the lure of wanting to explore more of the game would be stronger.
In a game with only 1 or 2 races or "sides" then a game that had an open-ended system like MxO had, ER/HoT plans to have then a single character could be a better way to play, I definitely do not think that a single character in any way shape or form actively prevents bad player behaviour, someone who is a griefer will be a griefer, just having 1 character certainly will not prevent that & in reality the size of the population that the game has is a much bigger factor.
In a game that's niche, low population then your reputation becomes that much more important, in a game with millions of people you could be an asshat in a group & likely never see those same players again, or if you did by then they'll have met a million other asshats by the time you nextr meet & they'd have forgotten all about you, just another in the faceless morasse.
In a game with many classes, many races, why not explore the possibilities & try out different personas & play as different personalities, is that not what role-playing essentially allows for doing?
Or, as I am leaning towars thinking thanks to a large amount of the replies to this post, thinking that this is just another sad example of wanting to make others play the game in the way that you want to, less about design & more about certain individuals desired way of playing, removing others choices just because they themselves do not feel inclined to play that way?
Really, if you want peopl to play "your" way, go make your own game that only allows that maybe?
I vote yes because SWG has this system and it is flawless !!!
Except when they start to have classes and such, so only non-classes game will be good for this type of system.
Also, is a must too that you can change your skills at any time only you need to spend more time to earn the new skill !!! just like the old SWG !!! which is awesome !!!
Anyway, SWG was simply unique with only one character and actually people paying 2-3 more subscription for that game !!
I'd die for it!
Again as many others stated, people would have to start picking up responsibilities regarding their action if they want to pursue something in the game' community.
+
For pure RP reasons, I'd love to see this implemented in every sandbox :P
I wouldn't especally if it was a pay to play title, I am a alt-a-holic and I tend to get bored of one playstyle rather quickly so I need mutiple chars, or a system like FF11 where you can change jobs whenever you want and are near a settlement.
"An MMORPG could be completely diffirent from WoW. Just look at games like Dofus, Wizard101 or EVE. But as it is, most of the Western MMOs are trying to succeed by out-WoWing WoW. It's like an army of 10 sports games made about same sports, and barely none about other sports. WoW clone is an accurate description of those games, it manages to convey much information with only two words."
-Poster on mmorpg.com
Rift: World of Warcraft clone #9321 Nothing special to see here move along.
Just a reminder, we're on the Earthrise board here. This is not a valid concern for Earthrise since you can learn all skills on one character.
The answer for me is YES. I've only played one mmo without alts, preCU SWG and I felt much more a part of that gaming world. I built strong relationships with online friends because they became very real to me. In current mmos (WOW, LoTRO), I frequently wanted to play with a friend only to find on a given day he/she wanted to level up his "mage" or "priest". Loot roles could become a problem with ALTs. How many of you rolled GREED for your character but somebody in the group rolled NEED because he wanted some piece of armor for one of his 7 alts? I am sure most of you have experienced this.
I agree, having a single avatar with the ability to switch combat styles is a plus (again, preCU SWG). Having the ability to master some type of crafting, trading, diplomacy or buffing without using up skill points that could be used for improving your avatar's combat skills might also relieve some need to have an alt (this was NOT the case in preCU SWG or the current Fallen Earth).
There are many factors that create an "immersive" atmosphere and what works for me might not work for you. For me, having non-instanced housing, social tools, crafting, ability to dynamically affect the environment, player-driven economy/gear, and PvP with purpose were/are extremely important. However, having a consistent, single avatar is important to me, so much so, I did not roll alts (except bank mules) in the current crop "modern" mmos (WoW, LoTRO, Age of Conan).
I will certainly give Earthside a strong look if it alt-free play, and a double-look if the avatar is not limited in skill-building.
The discussion about single-character is some 30 pages in the Earthrsie-forums, but Masthead has not decided yet, what they're going to do.
Another discussion that is going strong in the Earthrise-forums is about multiple accounts, which can't be restricted technically.
As for characters themselves: every character in Earthrise can train all skills that are available in the game, there's no limitations to that, but time needed to train them up.
Just keep in mind that your poll, as stated, is not an an "exclusive or" situation. According to your poll, a majority would be willing to play a no-alt game, but that doesn't preclude all of them from enjoying playing alts.
For example, I voted yes, because I enjoyed effectively playing a no-alt game in SWG (enjoyed being relative, I left during month 2 because of bugs but I digress...). On the flipside, I love playing city of heroes and have between 20 and 30 active alts, spanning various combinations of archtypes and powers. Each one is unique in my eye and I wouldn't want to hav a single hero who could slip in and out of different powers. To me, that worked best in the Matrix (or dollhouse, the tv show) because that was the reality of the world (learning stuff as necessary). Anywhere else, where you're allowed to totally respec to necessary skills is immersion breaking to me, as well as compromising the integrity of the decisions (your sacrifices) made to build that toon.
Hmm, i think more people would agree that the primary purpose of an alt character is to play another archtype.... Consigning its primary purpose to the various other activities you suggest seems to reflect the type of play you immerse yourself in (apparently pvp) or your bias.