Nope, I dislike the concept of alts entirely. I think it has done a lot of damage to games over the years in terms of what is expected in content design. I remember one of the biggest complaints about exp in EQ (overall, hell levels, class/race exp penalties, etc..) was people claiming that it made alting very difficult. So naturally, over the years games catered to alting where people can have entire accounts filled with numerous characters and content is designed around the cycle of alting character progression (I have seen WoW devs talk about alting being a major component of their design).
So, not a big fan of it as an approach to actual play. I understand it for the sake of just getting off your main toon, messing around, trying something different, but I do not like it being considered as a "play style" or being catered to in the development of the game as it specifically requires a single character progression to be harmed by it attendance.
agreed. in mmos classes are like a various sort of musical instruments. one can play a bit of everything, but the essence of that vibration is dissolved. mastery of one for all is a thing of beauty. i can also appreciate the all for one. they tend to make for good mentors.
Well, wasn't really trying to start a fire with my post or a debate of alts vs no alts. Was just curious as to the reasons others made them. Very often I've seen people complaining about X class doing something they thought was so dumb, but really had no clue about because of the way the X class abilities work. Plus, it's always fun for me to see different parts of the whole story from another race's or class' point of view.
Percipiens said:Well, wasn't really trying to start a fire with my post or a debate of alts vs no alts. Was just curious as to the reasons others made them. Very often I've seen people complaining about X class doing something they thought was so dumb, but really had no clue about because of the way the X class abilities work. Plus, it's always fun for me to see different parts of the whole story from another race's or class' point of view.
No fire, just simple opinoins. There are some negative effects that alting has had on some types of game play, I was just pointing that out.
As for others not knowing the class of another, one thing I realized in a game like EQ is that I learned the other classes by how they interacted with me. This was learned over the course of long term play. It was not uncommon for one class to know many details, limits, and functions of another class "within" the capacity of their interactions. That is, a defensive character learned all about the defensive buffs, various healing abilities, mitigation ones, etc... of other classes. Other classes were your tool set and a good class knows how to use what is available to them. This however was learned through discussion with those classes and communication to your needs as your class.
As a monk, the most useful information I gained in pulling was from a rogue and thier perspective on mob behavior due to their skills being limited to the nature of their class. That is, some of my best pulling techniques came from them and this is something that took time in learning about other classes (through interaction).
We don't need people to play other classes to understand their role in the world, we need to interact with those classes to learn such. Those who make assumptions about another class while continuing their ignorance aren't going to become good players by alting. They are the way they are for different reasons.
I am an unashamed altaholic. I get bored playing the same character forever. I like seeing visual variety in race/class combinations. I like experiencing story differently (even if it's just in my head haha). I like the process of leveling. If I find I really enjoy a particular class, I'll also often make multiple alts of that same class. I'm also a roleplayer, so I make alts purely for RP sometimes. There are so many reasons to roll alts!
I like to have alts. Not because I want to have them all to max level, but because sometimes I just want to embrace something different, from another perspective, or simply have access to different roleplays. Only if their gameplay passionate me more than my current main, would I consider getting them to max level, and I only had a lot of max level alts in game it became astonishingly easy to do so. (IE : EQ luclin/pop era with super zone bonus exp, Wow WOTLK with heirlooms and LFD tool, etc...).
Before thoses nerf in global experience, most of my alts remained around 30-40 in both games, beeing played once every few weeks.
I never got bored playing with a character per-say but I liked the chance to try the different classes and well once up against the hard cap on levels sometimes it was good to go check out other start points in the world with different classes.
learning the dynamics of what it takes to play another class is and was a bit humbling. Stand in the other guys shoes so to say..
I enjoyed that experience but in the end I came back to my Ranger when things opened up again and well it never seemed to stop up until I quit the game. My alts were then relagated to a not in use level .
I love to have alts, as many as possible. I see no reason to restrict myself to one toon, boring. I also like crafting if it's something like Vanguard,not such a fan of the turn 200 copper chunks into 100 copper bars kind of crafting. So I make alts to craft all tradeskills on too. I also like to have one secret alt, usually a Monk type I can just log on when I don't feel like grouping ! :)
Only reason I have them is illogical artificial restrictions like 1 tradeskill per character, but not limited to 1 tradeskill per account.
My personal preference is to only have one main per account, given two boxing is approved. But for Pantheon, I may end up with one alt per tradeskill, given I don't want to get screwed over by paying 10 times the actual value for interdependency mats.
However, being in my guild may afford the opportunity to be a harvester only, and just feed mats to guild tradeskillers, which would be ideal for me.
Yup. Renouned alt-o-holic here. Started for artifical reasons, mostly bank mules for guild banking when a shared bank is not/was not an option. Then, discovering it's fun to learn how the other races and classes interact with the world. Also, for roleplay options on occasion. I had two accounts in EQ2, because back in the day you could only have 12 slots and there were 24 classes and the classes used to be alignment locked.
I don't know if I would call myself an alt-o-holic here, but I do like playing 3 to 4 characters. I will usually level my main first until max, and then mess around with 2-3 other toons later on. I like different play styles and different rolls. Since this game is based off the quaternity I will probably do 5 characters: Druid(Main/Healer), Paladin(Tank), Monk(Melee/Puller), Necro(Ranged dps) when it comes out, and Enchanter(CC). I always have a tendency of trying to make the characters I have max lvl and strong, so I usually keep my alts to a minimum. Given how long this game will be though I probably won't get to 5 fleshed out and geared characters and will stick to 2 or 3.
I like having alts. For me, character development is a very important and enjoyable part of the game. If you only ever play one class you are missing out on A LOT of the potential of the game.
I do usually have a single high level main (at least to begin with) but also, it is rarely the traditional end-game that I enjoy most, so when a characters life becomes raid after raid I tend to switch to another alt.
Absolutely not, no. I think alts have done tremendous damage to games. I do not want another watered-down game. ONE ALT MAX if I have one. But don’t count on it. I likely will not have one.
Keno Monster said:I'm more than a little surprised at the answers here, but I am with most of you so far. I run one toon and I GO. There was always something to do in EQ, for example, to make your main better, so I never rolled any alts.
Grimseethe said:I never make alts.
I can think of nothing worse than having to do every quest, acehivement again.
For me, at least, this is a big part of the fun. There may be some overlap as far as quests go (I know this was the case in WoW), but I suspect for Pantheon it will be primarily a new set of them for understanding a new race/class and a different side of the greater story. I was in a power guild in EQ. We were at the forefront of the new content, always raiding, pushing through the new and end game stuff first, night after night. It got old. I don't want to log on every evening after work and have a second job. To me, that isn't fun.
I am an altoholic of the most extreme type - I like having many classes. I like having a choice of dps, tank, support or healer to provide as needed.
Dorotea Rent-a-Toon. The class you need at a fair price (TM).
I will have all crafts and all harvesting abilities if the game allows me to. No matter how many characters this may take.
I enjoy developing a character - gaining skills and gear - far more than I enjoy life at the maximum level. With enough alts I can spend years and years enjoying Pantheon at lower levels though I may well speed-level one character up in order to support a growing family of toonlets.
I am answering a legitimate question - not arguing that my way is best. This is so subjective. I will have far more flexibility than someone with only one character. But even if I get one to level-cap she will be significantly inferior to the "mains" of the one-character players. I just won't care enough about any one character or spend the time on her to make her nearly as good as she can be. Plus I won't play her as well as someone that will focus on how to get the most out of the class when my focus is getting her to be "good enough".
And I have an irrational, but real, enjoyment of redoing content I already know if I don't have to do it over and over. I find it relaxing. Doing it a different way with a different class with different abilities adds enough change for me. I certainly understand why Grimseethe feels otherwise but Percipiens answer reflects my own attitude *very* closely.
Grimseethe said:I never make alts.
I can think of nothing worse than having to do every quest, acehivement again.
No kidding. Seriously, let’s get a challenging, hard game where you ACTUALLY take your chosen class and race seriously plz. Not some watered-down WoW/ff alt-everywhere playstyle.
Percipiens said:Just curious here. Do you make lots of alts? Why? For me, it's a different perspective of the story and a way to learn and appreciate other classes in groups. What about you?
If the game itself is enjoyable enough that I want to re-experience content through the eyes of a different class then yes, I'll make alts and I'll level get them to the level cap and do whatever class/epic quests are available. Usually though I'll end up multi-boxing at least 2 accounts quite regularly.
Yep. I like to have every role filled for the end game. If we're raiding and we're short on heals, damage, tanks, or CC, I want to be able to hop on my alt to fill that spot. This will obviously take a lot of time, but I consider it a long-term career goal. This also helps maximize the value I get out of the game I pay for by allowing me to explore a different race's starting city or even a different continent.