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Why do MMO's have alts
Cryomatrix
Member EpicPosts: 3,223
Hey guys,
Something i've been thinking about is why do MMO's have alt characters? What's the purpose of alts?
Is it so the person can try out different characters to see what they like without losing what they have already done?
I personally would prefer not to have alts available as I feel that having alts eliminates teamwork and socialization within the game. Take SWG for example, if you have a combat character you can get an alt character and make it a crafter and then use the alt character to find stuff and the crafter to benefit from it. This eliminates the trust and teamwork and socialization that the person would have to get in order to complete what they want. Of course they can get another account and if you're gonna pay for 2 accounts, then by all means, enjoy the benefits that it comes with. When I played EVE i had my main trader guy in 0.0 space buy up all the good stuff, i then payed a corp mate to ship it up at which point i transfered the stuff to an alt who sold it on the main market hub. This was great but the problem is that if i didn't have that option, i would have had to do one of two things.
Either get a person i trusted to do my market work? Or I could clone jump to the Jita market and then be prevented for 24 hours returning to 0.0 (thus incurring an opportunity cost). I just feel that alts kind of take away from the game. EVE only allows training on one account so it does mitigate alts to a certain degree, but they are still extremely useful.
But how do you balance this with the players that enjoy to try out different characters or like to have A fully decked out tank and/or healer and/or whatever else. In conclusion, i do wish there weren't alts just to foment teamwork but i do realize how it may be detrimental to others, so i don't know how it will all work together. What are your thoughts.
Cryomatrix
You can see my sci-fi/WW2 book recommendations.
Comments
If there is more than one way to play the game, then that is when they give you alts (classes / skill-builds), or an option to do it all on one character (FFXI, Darkfall, etc). In fact, the only game I have ever seen that truly gives you one character and makes you play the single role is Face of Mankind. Every faction has a "job" in a sense, and the only way to change your daily habits is to switch sides.
Writer / Musician / Game Designer
Now Playing: Skyrim, Wurm Online, Tropico 4
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Alts are a broken answer to broken systems. When you create a system that limits the player people get bored and create alts to do something new.
When games reflect more real-time interactions people will no longer be pigeonholed by their online avatar's characters, but by their own knowledge and skill.
Of course, in FFXI you still need alts to hold all your stuff :-). Also, you can only max out one craft on a character, so you may need crafting alts.
Of course!
1. For trying out different builds/classes
2. For storage purposes
3. For obtaining different crafting or harvesting professions for personal benefit and sometimes guild benefit
Many reasons to have alts.
1. For god's sake mmo gamers, enough with the analogies. They're unnecessary and your comparisons are terrible, dissimilar, and illogical.
2. To posters feeling the need to state how f2p really isn't f2p: Players understand the concept. You aren't privy to some secret the rest are missing. You're embarrassing yourself.
3. Yes, Cpt. Obvious, we're not industry experts. Now run along and let the big people use the forums for their purpose.
The biggest reason why mmo's have alts is because, the games today are less world simulation and more class based instead of skill based. Classes locks you into a certain preset design of powers and such that can't be mixed matched with anything else, leaving the player with no other choice but to create an alt if they want to experience other type of combat/crafting in the game. A skill base/point system will allow you to drop and change differant skills or proffessions at will, negating the need to ever having to create another toon from day one.
The skill based/point sytem i believe lets a player become much more attached to that toon without ever having the want to create another. The time invested in one main toon feels more of an accomplishment than a class system to me personally.
Pretty much.
Your game play options are usually limited to:
1) grind levels
2) grind end game
If you don't like grinding end game, you're only other option is to roll alts. Personally, I'd prefer a single character server, but the game needs to be designed around that idea.
Darkfall has no alts and it works fine one character that stays for all time with you as long as you play if you wanne play other race you must buy new account.
So im stick with my WOLF now for a year.
Only beta i tryed all races becouse it was posible then.
Games played:AC1-Darktide'99-2000-AC2-Darktide/dawnsong2003-2005,Lineage2-2005-2006 and now Darkfall-2009.....
In between WoW few months AoC few months and some f2p also all very short few weeks.
If I understand you right, you want to encourage people to have one character but still allow for people to experiment with abilities and such.
Well you could allow players to learn everything but they can only use X number of skill points at a time. Of course this has issues in that your character is technically several alts rolled into one. And I think having a character that can learn everything is just poor characterization and makes your character seem more like a tool rather than a actual character, could you imagine somebody writting a character into a movie that could do everthing, just not all at once.
Don't you worry little buddy. You're dealing with a man of honor. However, honor requires a higher percentage of profit
Alts are simply a compromise that the game companies allow so people don't get bored or upset with their game. Simple as that. Do you really think they want people leaving their game because they grew tired of remaking their character for the 10th time?
I personally wouldn't play a game that doesn't allow me to have alts. Such games sound to me like the company saying "yeah, of course you can have alts. Just buy the game several times, pay the subscription fee several times, create several accounts, and there you go. Just do it once for each alt you want." And that's just pure greed.
I like trying out different builds, classes, factions, starting zones, all that stuff. In my opinion I paid for the game, so I want to see everything. And that's why I need alts. And that's why I won't play a game that doesn't allow me to have alts.
Let's play Fallen Earth (blind, 300 episodes)
Let's play Guild Wars 2 (blind, 45 episodes)
QFT.
I will not play an MMO that doesn't allow me to have more then one character.
I like to have different combat characters, crafting characters, etc. I don't want to be stuck playing the same guy everytime I log in.
I'm an altaholic. I normally level a main and keep 3-4 alts going as well mainly because to me end game is kind of boring.
I prefer games with very little characters slots, even better, only one. Why? Because when I blacklist someone, I only blacklist them and not them and their alt army.
"The question that sometimes drives me hazy: Am I, or the others crazy?" - Albert Einstein
MMOs have alts because they're games, and games are meant for relaxation. You see, on an alt, you're a whole new person. Maybe your closest friends will know it's you, but if you don't tell them, they won't. You can be Goody Two Shoes on your main and Douchey McDouchebag on your alt. For most people, going nuts on an alt with the shield of anonymity is relaxing; it helps relieves the various stresses of the day by inflicting hurt or just annoying others. Therefore, alts are an essential part of life, because stress is bad.
Or maybe it's one of the other reasons listed here (different classes, storage, just the feeling of playing something new every once in a while) and what I described above is just a negative consequence. Maybe...
So your solution to alts is to all everyone to everything equally?
The game has to limit it's players to some extent or else everyone's characters do everything the same and you have a FPS.
MMORPGs have character development and as long as you character development you will have the ability to build characters differently and that will lead to alts.
--John Ruskin
I would love a game where your character can do any and everything, if you put enough time into it. I feel there should be an MMO where you have one character slot, and can do whatever you want without class or job restriction. It will make you responsible for your actions like real life. Someone said it is fine to be a nice guy on your main and a jerk on your alt...no, not okay. MMOs need strong communities and player bases to live. If everyone just uses it to vent and shout war and flame the game will go down hard and fast.
Global Agenda does this right IMO balancing alts, where all your characters share one name, but can make up to 8 alts (2 of each class).
FFXI was great, today I play a Black mage, tomorrow Warrior. FFXIV should be great also as if I wanna use a bow, put on a bow and be a ranger, wanna cast magic grab a staff and nuke.
Annnnyway. I really think there should be a MMO where you have to be a skilled, social person to get by, and do well, and to do that you need no alt options, skill based and restriction-less gameplay. One day...
Older games such as Asherons call, Anarchy Online, Istaria /Horizons were games that you could truely be whatever you wanted to be... your Avatar could choose some skills to all skills.. Fallen Earth has some of those aspects as well... I played that abit but it needed more to it and was easy to lvl... lacked content we harder content.. so I think many people play alts because they wish to see the games thru differnt aspects.. I have a paladin in EQ2 for tanking, I ahve a templar for healing and I will build a bruiser for heavy dps... so thats why I have some alts in this game...
I gotta have Alts because the end-game raiding/gear gating is so darn boring! At least to me it is:)
Plus, I have to have all the crafters covered with my crew. I like being self sufficient and trying to make all the gear I can, rather than taking the easy way out and buying at the AH. It makes the game harder (and more enjoyable) to me that way.
I think if a game like DDO and CO didn't have alts it would make no sense whatsoever. However I have no problem with a game like Darkfall not having alts.
I watched a snail crawl along the edge of a straight razor. That's my dream; that's my nightmare. Crawling, slithering, along the edge of a straight razor... and surviving.
Respectfully disagree.
Remember the RP in MMORPG.. if you are a roleplayer, you give your character(S) a personality. So an alt can be a character with a totally different personality.
In a RP setting your main character can obviously learn new stuff etc.. but to have characters with different personalities that actually are different "persons" you will need to create alts.
Games like SWG who had only a one character system, where you could freely respec and do whatever you wanted still had loads of people bying second accounts.
Its just like RL.. if you have a great car. You will still want another one eventually.
So its not a matter of broken systems. Its just the way it is.
The purpose of alts?
Freedom.
Freedom over the imposed developers imposed design.
They want people to specialize?
Make alts for it and take advantage of whatever you can.
Anything you can do while AFK, or that takes time? Crafting, Harvesting, Building, anything.
Buffs or heals on main character from the alt. Instead of relying on others for what you want because developers forced you into it? No, make an alt and benefit from it regardless.
Solve any kind of "grouping pre-requisite" for anything the player wants to do alone. All benefits from grouping you can share from yourself without others human downtime. Xp, loot, power bonuses.
All kinds of trades and economical tricks. Such as artificial auction house limitations.
Ability to be omni present. On character on each interesting spot.
Ability to have spy if the game has multiple factions. Same apply for multiple guilds.
Storage Space.
Raw Power.
In this time and age, where Linearity reigns, artificial limitations are imposed to further advance game companies item shop's agenda and everything is designed to scam you and treat you like a criminal, having alts is the minimum you can do reivindicate some power.
Use virtual box programs and proxies.You emulate a complete new hardwares and new ips. Or just use another computer. If you cant, too bad, others can.
To prevent it, make people buy other boxes (i.e. cd-keys)? People will do it anyway, but atleast the company benefits from it.
But then, people wont even touch it, because they will say it sucks for a hundred unrelated reasons. So no, you cant stop alts.
Unless you make your game in such a way that, none of the benefits mentioned above apply. And this would make me very happy, because this would means: no stupid forced grouping, no storage limitations, no auction house limitations, no stupid specialization/classes...
Got it? The whole MMORPG design we currently have would have to change, just so I wouldnt be able to exploit it with alts.
If a game was skill based and you could just switch out skills to do something else, I would still want an alt to have a certain kind of gameplay with a different race, a new persona. I like to roleplay the type of race/class I have whether it is skill based or class based. Have the huge berserker type rush into battle, or the small sneak thief attack from the shadows.
I can't really play that if I just have one character changing skills because it wouldn't fit the role for me. A lot of people do that, some without even realizing it. Imagine having a giant troll as a warrior type, then deciding to switch over to mage abilities, hah, that just doesn't work for me. I'll want an alt. In a skill based, I'd probably have less alts, with maybe 1 for melee, 1 for casting, depends how the game is set up and if the lore will work with what I have in mind.
If you don't allow alts, only the people willing to purchase two or more accounts will have alts.
This has happened in one of the old MMOs, I forget which.
Well shave my back and call me an elf! -- Oghren
Thx for what you have explained