Should it be Prohibited or Encouraged?
Should there be a discount for alt accounts?
Instead of multiple accounts, should you be able to play more than one character on the same account simultaneously for a $fee?
The 'Search' funtion on these forums is not very good. However it does work for some things. For instance, if you type "multi-boxing" in the search box, it returns 22 links going back to 2015.
It has been VERY much discussed.
More than one of those threads was closed by the mods because boxing is such a controversial issue.
And welcome to the forums!
Jothany said:The 'Search' funtion on these forums is not very good. However it does work for some things. For instance, if you type "multi-boxing" in the search box, it returns 22 links going back to 2015.
It has been VERY much discussed.
More than one of those threads was closed by the mods because boxing is such a controversial issue.
And welcome to the forums!
Yea I did look. maybe half of those 22 were about boxing, and all the ones I clicked on that had been closed to new comments and questions. I even checked the FAQ to find the official stance that Kilsin mentioned and didn't see anything about it. Also the video clip he linked has been removed. If there is current-accurate info I would love to see a link to it, but my questions were more specific than some of the opinions that derailed some of those other boards pretty quickly.
I'm sorry if I misunderstood you. Your first question "Should it be Prohibited or Encouraged?" sure seems like an open invitation to discuss the subject, rather than a specific question about VR's position on the subject.
Yes, the new site doesn't have all the FAQs that were on the old site. Hopefully that will change before too long.
Telepath said: I really wanted to focus on the second two questions.
If people have one account that the whole family takes turns playing, that's fine with me. If they want to play together at the same time, I think it's reasonable to expect them to have a 2nd account to do that.
I think it would be just fine to offer a discount for alt accounts as long as they had SOME restriction to avoid abuse. Multiple accounts that are paid for by the same credit card would be reasonable assurance that it was a family group, especially if they all play from the same IP address. *IF* multi-boxing is not allowed, then all the discounted accounts should suffer the same penalty if evidence of boxing is found.
Here is the most recent info we have gotten from VR on multiboxing:
https://youtu.be/ccJw9KwzVy4?t=530
(it starts at 8:50 if the timestamp didnt save)
Jothany said:Telepath said: I really wanted to focus on the second two questions.If people have one account that the whole family takes turns playing, that's fine with me. If they want to play together at the same time, I think it's reasonable to expect them to have a 2nd account to do that.
I think it would be just fine to offer a discount for alt accounts as long as they had SOME restriction to avoid abuse. Multiple accounts that are paid for by the same credit card would be reasonable assurance that it was a family group, especially if they all play from the same IP address. *IF* multi-boxing is not allowed, then all the discounted accounts should suffer the same penalty if evidence of boxing is found.
Why ?
If multple accounts are allowed , why restrict it ?
There paying for a full retail version of the game, also what you suggested makes no sense , I have 8 credit cards so in essence nothing was stopped but you hindered someone else.
I think the mechanics of the game and specific features need to make it unworth while to multibox. Ie . No autofollow , combat that is engaging that requires you to be active and not be stationary as examples.
(( No autofollow ))
This doesn't strike me as a good idea. Autofollow is extremely helpful when grouping since it allows us to take quick afks and stay with the group. The alternative is that the entire group has to stand and wait whenever one member has a short interruption.
Telepath said:Should it be Prohibited or Encouraged?
Should there be a discount for alt accounts?
Instead of multiple accounts, should you be able to play more than one character on the same account simultaneously for a $fee?
No, if you're going to play multiple accounts to try and circumvent the entire point of an old school social mmo, then you pay for it.
Buy the game twice, pay the monthly sub twice, etc.
Eve made me truly hate boxing of accounts beyond any reasonable level. My take ever since playing that game is if you want to box accounts don't let them be in the same zone. Boxing just ruins so much of the gameplay. If you want to mine while waiting for spawns I don't care, but boxing a shaman while you camp a spawn is just BS.
I honestly like their idea of a server friendly to boxing to take people who want to use it. A macro / boxing friendly server to funnel those types of people into would be great. Like the old Battlenet split to allow hacking Diablo 2.
Discouts? No. It would be abused to save money (reduce income for VR)
Boxing is a mix bag for me. I definitely boxed in EQ but never in any other games. A lot of times I just played my friends account while they had to go to the bathroom or other reason to step away form the keyboard mid fight. Other times I would log them in to get them to a raid because they were still at work but would be there once the raid started. It was also very common to login ether a Druid or a wiz to teleport our group or to buff SOE was hard to live without.
Based on what I am reading about Pantheon I expect some of the same reasons I boxed in EQ will exist in Pantheon and so I will likely keep more than one account and make sure my teleporting and buffing classes are on the correct accounts. Boxing also just come natural when you have multiple people playing the same game on a computer next too you.
I see why people have issues with how I boxed but I personally do not think it did all that much harm. In a lot of ways, I think it made us as a group more likely to play and play with others. It defiantly gave us a lot more time to group and took a lot less time asking for teleporters or running long distances to meet up. But I could see a good argument both ways and we have seen it many times before on these forums.
I have also seen people at least on an EQ emu play a whole group or enough to claim a rare spawn. This type of boxing I do think is worth deterring. But at the same time think of the cost in other ways when you do. Auto follow for example.
To the original questions: Discounts for alt account or play more than once character on the same account simultaneously? While I am ok with there being boxing I do not think it should be encouraged so no.
randomrob82 said:If someone wants to 6-box, I'm all for it so long as they are paying for 6 subscriptions. I don't think there should be discounts for extra accounts. Force them to pay like the rest of us. I will only be playing for one account, and my wife will have another.
Agree with randomrob here. As someone who use to multi-box, I never expected discounts or anything. It was up to me to pay for the extra accounts and utilize the fact that I didn't have to wait on another player to get going on the content. I was able to tackle things when it was convenient for me. Still had to pay for that convenience though.
Xxar said: Why ?If multple accounts are allowed , why restrict it ?
There paying for a full retail version of the game, also what you suggested makes no sense , I have 8 credit cards so in essence nothing was stopped but you hindered someone else.
I think the mechanics of the game and specific features need to make it unworth while to multibox. Ie . No autofollow , combat that is engaging that requires you to be active and not be stationary as examples.
"Why" what? could you be more specific. I answered 2 questions and I'm not sure which one you are asking about.
If you are asking about multi-boxing, I'm not advocating for either side.
Also, as I mentioned in my first post, if this thread becomes a discussion of the pros and cons of multiboxing, it's very likely to get locked. Since the OP really wasn't trying to start THAT conversation, I'm not going to engage in THAT conversation.
This topic has been discussed multiple times. VR's stance has changed over the years from first being very open to it in a hands-off way, to considering the feedback of many players who have raised concerns over the issues multi-boxing inevitably leads to.
At its core, multi-boxing is antithetical to the spirit of MMOs and multi-boxers are paying for an advantage over other players. It would be my desire to see multi-boxing banned or relegated to a server where multi-boxing is allowed. Otherwise, I would be okay with a strict no-box server that is heavily enforced and monitored so players who wish to be free from multi-boxers are able to do so and play the game the way its designed to be played- with groups of other players.
RE: Jothany OP: I think it would be just fine to offer a discount for alt accounts as long as they had SOME restriction to avoid abuse. Multiple accounts that are paid for by the same credit card would be reasonable assurance that it was a family group, especially if they all play from the same IP address.
My response :
If multple accounts are allowed , why restrict it ?
This is in reply to the SOME restriction to avoid abuse.
There paying for a full retail version of the game, also what you suggested makes no sense , I have 8 credit cards so in essence nothing was stopped but you hindered someone else.
This is in reply to being paid with the same credit card , and why having restrictions makes no sense.
I think the mechanics of the game and specific features need to make it unworth while to multibox. Ie . No autofollow , combat that is engaging that requires you to be active and not be stationary as examples.
This is how I feel about the situation in general and some examples of how it can be handled.
I hope it makes more sense.
Xxar said: RE: Jothany OP: I think it would be just fine to offer a discount for alt accounts as long as they had SOME restriction to avoid abuse. Multiple accounts that are paid for by the same credit card would be reasonable assurance that it was a family group, especially if they all play from the same IP address.My response :
If multple accounts are allowed , why restrict it ?
This is in reply to the SOME restriction to avoid abuse.
There paying for a full retail version of the game, also what you suggested makes no sense , I have 8 credit cards so in essence nothing was stopped but you hindered someone else.
This is in reply to being paid with the same credit card , and why having restrictions makes no sense.
I think the mechanics of the game and specific features need to make it unworth while to multibox. Ie . No autofollow , combat that is engaging that requires you to be active and not be stationary as examples.
This is how I feel about the situation in general and some examples of how it can be handled.
I hope it makes more sense.
Well I understand you better now thanks, but I'm not sure if you're clear on what I meant to say.
The original OP asked "Should there be a discount for alt accounts?". That is what I was replying to. Not having multiple accounts, but having a discount. The line of your reply that I highlighted is why I'm not sure if we are clear on this yet. The reason for the restriction is that it isn't full retail price, so people being creative as they are, someone who is not qualified for the discount might try to get it. That is the abuse I meant.
Multiple accounts owned by the same person are certainly going to be allowed. If the OP's intention is for such a person to get a discount for multiple accts, then it shouldn't be trivial for any small group of friends to band together to get it for themselves. Thus my suggestion about one CC and IP as well for all.
In theory this could be applied to anyone that has multiple accounts for family members, ie I will probably have an acct active for my wife and maybe some for the kids. If there is a discount for the extra accounts it would make it a bit more appealing.
PS I don't really mind if someone wants to try to two box if they are willing to put the effort in to run both characters, I have never really enjoyed doing it myself as I don't feel like I can play the character/class effectively.
