Alts are the devil!Follow

I like to play my alt when my vitality hits 0. While I can still get good exp with no vit in a group killing ^^ mobs, I don't get groups very often. Alts give people who are not in the top guild of there server somethign to do when they can't find a group.

I love having my alts, i play pretty often, and using the same toon all the time can get boring, adn there are a bunch of classes out there, why not try them all if you want?

:-P

Alts are wonderful... but then again I'm enjoying exploring the different classes I chose for my alts..

I've done a few delets.. maily because I was not quite happy with eye or hair color or style..

except for one in which I was disappointed with the class in a duo situation, since Juri static-duo's with a scout. Sorcerer + scout = dead sorcerer.. so I re-rolled as an enchanter and it's a FAR more capable duo.

and then of course I don't get bored doing quest over, I'm continually amazed at how different classes handle the same situation.

I like playing my alts when I get a bad group and get a bunch of debt and dont feel like getting my shards and going LFG again .
Just log , get an alt on , and forget the other character exists for about 3 days or so :) .
Yes its much slower to level , but it since i enjoy all my characters equally , it really doesnt matter which one i play .
Makes debt and hard-to-recover shards no problem at all .

your so wrong dacypher.

still havent grinded yet as of lvl 43.

and sure it can be fun playing an alt.

I made this thread only because now I have seen probably around 20 people hitting the wall. they stop finding stuff fun and they do it without seeing the higher lvls.

As I stated before, all are free to do what they want. Its just a little warning that many, infact all my friends that has rerolled rerolled and rerolled and playing alts have quit the game before hitting lvl 40.

If you guys needs alts then I suggest you atleast focus on one char if possible.

And stop trying to tell me what I think. This post was made ONLY because I care about all players and I shed a tear for everyone who guits without knowing what they are missing out on.
Post was brought with love only :)

its funny how I keep coming back and give advice etc when all people do here is rate me down for caring and wanting to help... :(

Edited, Sat Mar 5 22:36:53 2005 by BumbiRagnar

I actually switched to a Station All-Access pass for the additional 4 character slots.

It all depends on what you're trying to get out of the game. In my humble opinion, "game content" isn't merely defined by which "level tier" you're currently playing in. It's also defined by class, skills, spells, playstyle, tradeskills, alignment, etc.

There's SO MUCH in this game to discover and enjoy *at every level*, that I have a blast with my alts. But then, I played EQ1 for 5 years and took *that long* to get my very first character to level 65.

I've nearly filled up all 8 of my character slots, and if I could rent 8 more I'd do it in a heartbeat (although I think it's assinine to have to purchase additional slots, if you ask me). Remember that once you hit level 50, there is going to come a time when you've seen nearly everything, and consumed all the "game world" content there is to consume. At that point in time, you'd better be the sort of person who can get something out of playing a different class/race in the exact same location, otherwise you'll end up quitting the game for something new.

I have so many friends from EQ1 who hit the level cap after release extremely fast. That sat around for a YEAR moaning about lack of content, until Kunark came out. By the time Kunark came out, I wasn't even READY for it with my main! So I started an Iksar just to see it :) By the time my main was of a level to do much regularly on Kunark, Velious was already out. Suffice it to say, *I* never ran out of content to explore ;) I could return to EQ1 right now and find that about 80% of Luclin and 100% of all subsequent expansions are brand new to me.

Edited, Sun Mar 6 04:06:05 2005 by RussoEQ

Bumbi, I could not dissagree with you more. I currently have 4 characters all just below level 20 and I believe it is the ability to switch from one class to another depending on my mood and which of my friends are playing at any given time that is helping to keep the game fresh for me.

In addition, since I really love several of the tier one zones, running 4 characters through them allowed me to run the quests I enjoyed and kill my favorite mobs for much longer than I would have been able to had I just taken one character through the drill and then moved on.

Beyond that, all 4 of my characters are near or above lvl 20 in their chosen trade skill and being able to stock my trader with finished goods from 4 different disciplines is allowing me the luxury of not having to worry about adventuring income. Between a taylor, a carpenter, a cook and a woodworker, I can make lots of cool stuff for my characters to use and a huge selection of things to sell.

I will soon move on to Thundering Steppes and eventually beyond that and I am excited to be on the verge of that discovery, but with a tier 2 zone as large and complex as Antonica, how could I posibly get bored? Even while working my way through it 4 times, I still discover new areas all the time.

I know you meant well, and I wish you good fortune in your chosen style of play, but it just wouldn't work for me. In fact, limiting myself to one character and slowly grinding my way to 50 without any variety would probably drive me right out of the game!

One of the reasons (not the main reason mind you) that pushed my hand to quit EQ2 was the limited amount of character slots. I am an Alt player and its not uncommon for me to have up to 10+ alts at one time or another. The limiting 4 character slots was already hard to swallow, offering 4 more slots to those that paid more (All-Access) was a slap in the face.

I quit EQ a long time ago and never found any interest for the Star Wars game. There is nothing in the All-Access pass that is of any benefit to me besides the 4 additional characters. I simply refuse to pay for 4 character slots. If it came down to it, and I really enjoyed EQ2, I would simply get a separate account and dual box rather than pay for 4 additional characters.

I am currently playing WoW (no, I am not hijacking this thread) and I have 10 characters. 3 I no longer play since they are on a different server. Of those 10 my highest character level is 30. I have a 30, 22, 22, 21, 16, 14 and 12. Amazingly enough, each of those characters has crossed paths only a few times. There are so many different zones to level that I haven't really played in the same zone or done the same quests too many times. Of course, there are zones that I really enjoy and I will take the time getting to that zone rather than level up in the races starting zone.

Why so many characters? Well there are 2 main and a few minor reasons for this.

1) There are so many class and race combinations (especially in EQ2) that I refuse to limit myself to 1 character. There is so much thought and work put into each one of those races/classes that I am giving up a lot of the games features by limiting myself to 1 character. I understand that the Fury and Warden are both considered Druids and then they are considered Priests, but their spell lines and abilities are different enough for me to try playing each one. The game states 4 main classes but each one eventually grows up to have 6 choices. By selecting 1, and not playing the rest, I feel I am limiting myself from a lot of the content the game has to offer. Add to this that each class receives their own class specific quests and now there is more content that I am not enjoying.

2) Styles of play. If I were forced to play my Fury or my Enchanter or my Scout all the time, I would get bored of the game. Going from zone X to zone Y and finding a bear type mob with a different name doesn't really scream out NEW to me. There is only so much you can do with a zone to really differentiate it from its neighbors. The quests may be different as well as the creature types, but its pretty much the same thing. Now, killing a bear using a shield and sword and being "in its face" is so much more different than rooting a mob and eradicating it via fire and ice. Or being grouped and having to watch each characters health bar so no one dies to being in that same group and watching the amount of damage you do so you aren't in danger of pulling hate and dying. To me, different styles of play keep the game fresh and fun instead of making it feel like I am grinding.

In my point of view, grinding is not necessarily limited to sitting in one place killing the same creature for XP. Grinding is when I am no longer enjoying the game and doing something just because I have to in order to advance. This is regardless of my Fury going from level 23 to 24 in different zones, doing different quests or killing the same creatures. If I feel I should "stick to it so I can level" it feels like a grind. The way I like to play is, I am not receiving much enjoyment from my Fury, switch over to my warrior and change my play style completely. Now I am more concerned with managing the enemy and who it targets instead of my group and who is dying.

Ultimately its where we each find our enjoyment and what keeps us coming back for more. This may seem like the same type of grind to many of you, but its what keeps me interested in the game. The higher levels come at a slower pace that the characters take longer to receive new abilities and stay fresh. The zones do help a little but its mostly the characters that keep me coming back. Interesting classes and races that are actually different, and not only in name, is where I find my enjoyment.

Duchess Iaini,

I agree with you that paying $1 per character is ridiculous (SOE is charging $5 for 4), but I disagree on only playing 1 character. If FFXI did anything right, it was the ability to switch jobs while keeping the current character. With the same 'persona' you can be a RNG, WHM, BLM, WAR, NIN, etc. No need to start a new character, create a new name or go through all of the quests all over again. You simply select it and play it. Add to that the ability to use your previous jobs as subjobs and you have a great system.

But of course, nothing is perfect. This system was killed and butchered by the elitist that demanded only perfection from your job/subjob, equipment and style of play. This all played extremely well with the penalties of dying and the difficulty in coming across gil without farming for hours. The game may have started out fun and refreshing, but it was then turned into the most time consuming sinkhole I have ever played.

Anyhow, back to the topic on hand. If EQ2 allowed me to switch between classes using my current character, I would have no problem with 4 character slots. In fact, I would prefer to use the same persona for all the classes rather than 7. With the current amount of race and class possibilities, I do not enjoy being limited to 4 per account. Its not even 4 per server, but per account. Yes SOE, give us less options so we can have more fun.

If we continue with the same train of thought, why pay $22 dollars when you can gain access to the additional 4 characters but have other benefits by paying $30? At this point you would have the ability to dual box if you have a 2nd computer. You would also alleviate one of my other reasons for canceling EQ2 and have a full time vendor when not using one account.

I understand that this is a nonissue to many players. Unfortunately, I have been spoiled by RPGs and I love to 'roll' new characters. Its what keeps me playing a game for so long. I believe it was Wizardry that originally got me hooked to rolling characters during play. I would have high level characters and, depending on the game, have them far or deep in a dungeon. I would then roll a new set of characters and try them out. I would still continue playing the game and attempt to complete it, but I would use new parties to attempt new and different things.

I carry that same style of play to MMORPGs. None of them were too friendly to my style of play. From NeverWinter Nights on AOL to UO to EQ2 today. It takes so long to level up a character, that having Alts feels like a waste of time. I tend to feel punished for my play style and EQ2 is no different in that respect. They give me only 4 character slots to play my way. They have at least sped up leveling a bit so playing an Alt doesn't feel like I am being punished for not sticking to 1 character until they hit the level cap.

I still have an EQ2 account and it will be active until June-July but I no longer log on. There are still parts and pieces of EQ2 that I like but I can no longer bring myself to log in and play through the parts that I do not like. Maybe after a few updates/expansions the game will be more friendly to my play style.

I'm a noob to the game but already have first and last names picked out for all six slots LOL. I like the idea of trying out different classes/professions and experiencing the game from different vantagepoints.

I can appreciate your concern for keeping the game alive, but a) if someone wants to quit the game, you really can't prevent that and b) what drives one player doesn't drive all

'Alts are the devil'? Didn't they say that about Elvis and that music called rock 'n roll? LOL

Alts are not so bad. Besides, it makes the game more fun when you are away from a character for so long you forget how to play him (yea, like this never happened to you!) I actually think the opposite is true about alts, especially for the experienced gamer. I'm trying to preserve content hehe and besides, I can tell you from personal experience that investing too much time into one character is a big mistake in the long run. I made this mistake in everquest. I had a Bard that I really loved playing but my friends wanted me to level up my healer so I could group with them. Well, I never played my bard again after that. Sure, you'll level faster and have more fun at first if you don't have an alt but eventually you will hit a wall where there is no more game content. I did this very thing with my healer. I simply had no desire to play alts in that game once I achieved a very high level because I knew the game backwards and forwards in almost every zone. Now, I have three characters that progress at more or less the same rate and I'm loving it so far. Besides, there's a reason why you get multiple character slots.