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The Daily Grind: Should multiple accounts be policed?

Jef Reahard — Tue, 19 Oct 2010 08:00:00 EST

Pirates of the Burning Sea recently amended its in-game rules to reflect an official stance on the practice of "alt-flipping," a tactic used by players with multiple accounts to manipulate the game's Conquest system. In a nutshell, Flying Lab devs have labeled certain uses of the tactic as griefing and stated that it will be policed as such (including possible bans).

Interestingly, Flying Lab also goes out of its way to state it has no problem with multiple accounts per se, saying that in most cases multiple accounts are a perfectly acceptable gameplay tactic. This seemingly opens up a can of worms over what is considered legitimate and/or acceptable gameplay, particularly when the game's design intentionally features a "cutthroat, competitive [...] system that drives players to find any edge they can get over the opposing forces."

Dual-boxing is nothing new in MMORPGs of course, and games like EVE Online even advertise it and run discount promotions for alt accounts. What about you, Massively readers? Do you dual-box, and more importantly, do you feel alt accounts should be policed?

Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of our readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's The Daily Grind!

The Daily Grind: Should multiple accounts be policed? originally appeared on Massively on Tue, 19 Oct 2010 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Daily Grind: Multi-boxing mayhem

William Dobson — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, The Daily Grind

The act of playing multiple characters across multiple accounts at once (known as multi-boxing) has remained a popular pastime over the years for a certain breed of MMO player. There are communities devoted to getting the most out of multi-boxing, and reading through their forums you'll quickly learn that the number of characters being played can vary from two at once (dual-boxing), all the way up to multiple groups. Sometimes it's done on one computer, but the more hardcore multi-boxers tailor a hardware setup for the purpose, involving multiple computers and perfectly arranged monitors.

The reasons for getting into multi-boxing differ from person to person. Some like the challenge of controlling extra characters, while others may enjoy being self-reliant when it comes to tackling content that would normally require more than one player. Others just like the process of refining the art itself, working on making the perfect group combination with the perfect hardware setup and control scheme.

This morning, we'd like to ask where you fit in the multi-boxing scene. If you haven't ever tried it, is it something that interests you or do you think you'll never get into it? For those that do (or used to) multi-box, how many characters do you tend to run? Is it for one of the reasons above or something else? Make sure to share any particularly crazy multi-boxing stories you have!

The Daily Grind: Multi-boxing mayhem originally appeared on Massively on Wed, 16 Sep 2009 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Perspective on the widespread use of alts in EVE Online

James Egan — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Game mechanics, Opinion

There are over 250,000 active subscriptions to the sci-fi massively multiplayer online game EVE Online, but have you ever wondered how many players that figure actually represents? The exact number of people that comprise the game's playerbase is unclear due to the common practice of playing with multiple accounts. While the end result is likely the same to CCP Games in a financial sense -- all of those active subs add up to a steady flow of income month to month -- the fact remains that the game doesn't necessarily have 250,000 different people logging into New Eden from month to month. At least, not yet, although the number of subscribers is growing. (EVE set a peak concurrent user record last Sunday of 48,065 players.)

Unlike some massively multiplayer online games, EVE is based on real-time skill training rather than using the system of leveling up central to other titles. Each EVE account has three character slots, but skill training can only be active on one character at a time. And as with most MMOs, a player can only be logged into one character per account at a time -- even if multi-boxing. If a player needs to skill up specialized alts, he or she must either sacrifice valuable skill training time on their main, or run a second (or third) account to really advance. A recent EVE-Mag article by Silene Derbhan, "Alternates: Are We Schizophrenics!?", looks closely at how alt play impacts the game. Derbhan states, "I would like to delve deeper into the game mechanics, to see why players are compelled not only to play different characters, as in any other MMO, but also to pay for every one of these added characters."

Continue reading Perspective on the widespread use of alts in EVE Online

Perspective on the widespread use of alts in EVE Online originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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One WoW player controls 36 characters simultaneously

Shawn Schuster — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:00:00 EST

Filed under: World of Warcraft, Fantasy, Culture, Raiding, Grouping

If your family or friends ever tell you that dual-boxing is insane and you need to get a life, show them this story. A World of Warcraft player aptly-named Prepared owns 36 accounts that he can actually run simultaneously through his 11-computer set-up shown here. We'll overlook the logistics involved in actually accessing 11 computers at once for just a moment to focus on the cost of such ...dedication. "It costs me exactly $5711 in subscription costs per year with 36 accounts on the 6 month pay schedule. Not bad considering I'm looking at it like it's a hobby and there are more expensive hobbies out there than World of Warcraft," Prepared says. This doesn't even include expansion costs, as he figures Wrath of the Lich King will set him back about another $1500.

So how does he do it? Is it all for show, or can he actually be a one-man raid? According to him, they are all fully-functional with the help of certain add-ons and macros. While this isn't the first time someone has done something like this, with some players reporting as high as 50 accounts, controlling everything simultaneously is where Prepared's rig set-up really shines. Just wait until you hear about his nine level 80s on WotLK's Murmur PvP server.

One of Azeroth's millions of citizens? Check out our ongoing coverage of the World of Warcraft, and be sure to touch base with our sister site WoW Insider for all your Lich King needs!

One WoW player controls 36 characters simultaneously originally appeared on Massively on Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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CCP re-launches Power of 2 EVE promotion, supporting multi-boxing

Samuel Axon — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 09:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Business models, News items

CCP is renewing its Power of 2 promotion for EVE Online. The promotion encourages multi-boxing by allowing existing subscribers to add a second account at the discounted rate of $49.95 for six months. After the six months expire, the account will switch to the normal $14.95 per month rate. Last time CCP gave players the option to sign the account up for another $49.95 deal after a while. No guarantee it'll do that this time, though.

The promotional e-mail sent out by CCP says that the account can not only be used for training skills on two pilots at once (impossible with two pilots on the same account) but also for "extra firepower on missions" or "an extra hauler for miners." So, legitimized multi-boxing it is, then. Cool. EVE just has to be different in every way it can, doesn't it? It's a compulsion.

The offer's available until October 10th, so you've got a while to mull it over.

CCP re-launches Power of 2 EVE promotion, supporting multi-boxing originally appeared on Massively on Thu, 11 Sep 2008 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Rogue Signal: The wonderful world of alts

Phillip Manning — Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sci-fi, EVE Online, Guides, Professions, PvP, Making money, PvE, Rogue Signal

With EVE Online's time-based skill system of character progression, multiple accounts are pretty commonplace amongst the hardcore and even semi-casual player. CCP even occasionally holds special discounts for the opening of new accounts, called the Power of Two program. EVE is unique in the way that it handles alts, in many ways. Since only one character can be training at a time, and, unlike other MMOs, there is no real end to the training a character will do, if you want to start something new from the ground up, you're going to need to either scrap your existing character, or open up a new account. Today, we'll take a look at how to go about creating an alt.

Continue reading Rogue Signal: The wonderful world of alts

Rogue Signal: The wonderful world of alts originally appeared on Massively on Sun, 29 Jun 2008 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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