Me, Myself and I..meet the Alts

Most Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (MMORPGs) handle character creation in a similar fashion.  You can usually create as many characters as you want, provided each character is on a different server.  There are many practical reasons for this, the primary being server load and capacity issues.  However, many players get around the limitation by opening entirely different accounts, thereby allowing them to create an additional character on the same server. Again, there are many reasons for doing this, the primary being it opens up many possibilities for how you play the game.

Earlier this year I attended the first ever Star Wars Galaxies Fan Fest in Anaheim, CA.  During the dinner reception on the final night the developers gave out prizes to the attendees who had the most accounts.  The grand prize went to a gentleman who had not 5, 10, even 15, but 20 different accounts for SWG!  A few of us at my table joked, that he probably had his own guild, otherwise known as player association, for all his characters.  That is certainly the extreme example, but there are those who prefer to play as a self-sustaining unit.    Perhaps, their desire is the online role playing aspect of the game rather than the massive multiplayer.  Shyness is a huge factor as meeting other players can be very intimidating; especially when you are a new player (aka: n00b, newbie).  By creating multiple characters on the same server, a single player can outfit herself with all the necessary supporting services.  For example, the primary character could have fighting skills, and the supporting character could have medic and crafting skills to keep the first player healed and well stocked.  In Star Wars Galaxies a player can be relatively self-sustaining with two characters and pretty much completely taken care of with three.  It is not uncommon to see a straight line of three to four characters running through the streets of Coronet or Bestine, one after the other, with the odds being that it is one person with each character set to follow.  In fact, a fellow guild member of mine had been out hunting with three of his toons (characters) when he noticed three female toons stop to watch.  He began chatting with his observer somewhat embarrassed to be the only person behind his hunting party, only to find within minutes that the same could be said of his new companion.  Six toons driven by two people out for a pleasant afternoon of hunting and gathering, and the rest is history.

I have to admit I was extremely skeptical about the creation of alternate characters, as it seemed a huge waste of time and money to me.  Little did I know that within three short months of that Fan Fest I would be driving an additional toon of my very own.  My main character is primarily a combatant who spends time taking missions for player vs. environment play (PVE) and defending our bases for player vs. player combat (PVP).  A necessary element for combat is armor, which requires a certain amount of physical and mental enhancement to wear.  These enhancements, or buffs, are only given by doctors and entertainers; and can often be both difficult to find and costly when you do.  In order to avoid the usual frustration, I took it upon myself to create a second character and level her to Master Doctor and Master Musician so that I would always have guaranteed buffs.  I didn't realize all the other incremental bonuses that would come with having an additional character such as more storage, another source of income, and a place to "get away from it all" when I didn't feel like playing my main (primary character).  And once again I find myself sinking deeper and deeper into the world of the type A gamer (stay tuned: Type A Gamers is the topic of my next article).

A lot of players often create two vastly different toons, not in the interest of being self sustaining as mentioned above, but in order to fully enjoy different aspects of the game.  A common combination in SWG is the fighter main/crafter alt, the fighter main/entertainer alt.  In other games crafter and entertainer is often replaced with healer or magician as the alternate character of choice.  It allows a player to experience both the combat and social aspects of the game.  Another reason for having two characters is to play different races, alliances, and sexes in the game.  In the case of SWG I know people who have both rebel and imperial characters, since there are some features of the game that are only available to you based on your character's faction.

Whether initially intended to or not, many players end up role playing their alternate characters.  My alt for example, is the sister of my main, and although my in-game friends know that there is a single person behind either character they tend to treat them as two different individuals.  I don't require that, however there are people that do insist that their alts be treated as separate individuals.  I knew someone in SWG who had one of the most well known weapons crafters on our server.  When he would log in that character he would get a flood of tells and in-game emails asking for weapon's orders and special request items.  If he logged in his main character, a rifleman, he would sometimes receive similar requests directed to his alt.  His response would be something along the lines of, "I have no idea what you are talking about; you need to talk to Joe."  The point being, he kept a very distinct separation between his crafting toon and his fighting toon.  He once explained that he occasionally received grief for playing this way, but it allowed him to enjoy his combat in peace.  I also have a good friend, a woman, who has two different toons, both female.  She role-plays each character as an entirely different person with her own personality.  In this case there is neither a main nor an alt, but two distinct main characters.  Both of her toons are married, and the best part is each of the husbands is driven by a different player.  She does such an amazing job of not breaking character, as far as I can tell there is no jealousy in this love "triangle".


The Darkside of Duplicity
There are always those who like to take advantage of a situation, and in the case of MMORPGs having multiple characters on the same server opens up a great deal of opportunity.  I am speaking of the spy factor; especially in games that rely heavily on PVP for their game play.  An alt often serves as a great way to infiltrate enemy player associations and deliver a steady stream of intelligence to the opposing faction.  This is probably the trickiest type of role playing of all, and is not for the faint at heart.  In some games having an alt on the opposing side may just mean access to general information, however, when that alt is used to interact with other player characters the person playing that character must be not only extremely crafty but a hell of a good actor as well.  I salute those that are willing to get down and dirty to lead their team on to victory, but I definitely prefer to spend my extra $14.99 a month on free buffs for life. 

Do you play an MMORPG and have alt?  I invite you to share your stories with me, Miss B. by either posting in the comments section below or sending me mail to bethgo@gmail.com  - Next month's topic:  The Curse of the Type A Gamer.