ESP and alt-swapping

[Lysse]

I don't like alts. And I don't like swapping. So, I guess I don't like alt-swapping.

I think there should be a hard limit on how many alts you're allowed to have. Something like, three.

I'm sure that's an incredibly unpopular opinion though.

/agree

We can be unpopular together.

I'm not a fan of alts, myself. I've had them in the past, but what I've largely found is that by having several characters, I dilute how much fun I get from any single one of them.

I don't care for alt swapping, either. I'm tolerant of it, if your PC is off being unsocial and something crazy happens over Esp that doesn't involve your current PC, but I'd rather people didn't swap alts personally.

[Zoiya]

Just to put this in here, because I don't want people to panic and stuff..

I've been singing the limit alt's song for a while. I've also been singing the no having opposing factions alts.

It still happens and as far as I know, we would never yank your alts away from you.

Breathe.

[Fayne]

Well, I'll surprise the crap out of everyone and just say that I hate alts myself. "But Fayne, don't you remember before your hiatus/identity swap when you had a bajillion alts and were constantly swapping between them so that you would play about 3 or 4 different characters a day?" Yes, yes I do, and comparing my experience between now and then, I can honestly say alts take away more than they add after a point (meaning one or two might not, but a number of them will eventually).

I think plenty of people can say I did a good job with a few of the characters I had. I always kept their IC knowledge seperate, they each had their own personality that had very little sway, I had a couple who everyone loved, and I think the general thought was that my RP was pretty good (though anyone can correct me if I'm wrong). However, there are a few things that happen when you alt-swap or when you play a large number of alts: it exhausts everyone. You'll get exhausted and run dry for ideas, gameplay can seem very monotonous and boring, you actually get fewer opportunities for RP (believe it or not), and you just start to lose your drive and desire to play eventually. It also wears down on everyone else. People will start to groan every time you swap alts (whether they actually let you know this depends on how bad you are), you can put people in awful situations when you abandon an alt or put the aside for a while to focus on another character, and basically it turns into a guessing game of "Which alt will Billy Joe play today?"

Now, all that being said, I'm not against having 2, maybe 3 alts. It can help some people remain interested in the game when times are slow (though you should be using that time to work on increasing your skills inless you've been around for ages and have incredible akills already, or if you are satisfied with where your skills are already), it adds more characters to interact with (So that while we have an active playerbase of maybe 50 people, give or take, we actually have at least double that number active characters), and I thought I had a third point but I guess not. Alts aren't for everyone, and I'll never, ever, ever have more than 2 characters ever again. But some people benefit from alts, and are good at managing them. Just remember to alt responsibly: don't have one character suddenly know about that secret magical rainbow cave that grants wishes just because your drunken alt fell in it on his way home from the tavern 15 minutes ago (don't make them share any IC knowledge is what I'm saying), don't stumble upon something that be perfect for your alt, swap over, and "stumble" upon it, especially if it involves an event of any kind (not only does this take a bit from the first point, but many events are aimed at the specific people logged on at that moment, and they aren't always meant to include everyone. If it seems like Keth is getting invaded again simply because a GM was bored and wanted to entertain everyone, feel free to swap, but if it seems like it could be something more than that, stay on whatever character you are currently playing. That event id probably meant to involve one or two of the characters already on, and you could ruin it for them by swapping to your alt that is "perfect" for the situation), and most importantly, never play an alt that is work to play (this is a game after all, you should enjoy every minute of your experience. If you start to find that you're forcing yourself to play even a little, maybe it's time to step back and see what it is that might be making you not enjoy yourself.

(P.S. Sorry for the wall of text and extremely long post)

[rolph]

Hello everyone. I have to say I like having the ability of having multiple characters, and this is why. I have the character of rolph who is a dwaednwar, then I play another one named Billiam who is a rooke. The reason I like having the ability to make alts is that so many of the guilds sound like they are really fun and Honestly I haven't heard of one guild that I didn't like. So This has given me a chance to experiment with a few of them and find out which character I want to stick with and play for a long time. That being said, I wouldn't ever log in as one character and then if an event or fight pops up. I wouldn't then log in as a different character. That in my opppinion is not role playing the situation in the right way. That's like if someone died and needed to be brought back. If I was logged in as Rolph, I wouldn't then go and log in as Billiam to bring that person back.