This actually is one of my pet peeves in other MUDs I've played - if someone knows the basics, it's a waste of my time and theirs to recap it for them and truenewbies get robbed of novice aide energy, when they are the ones who really need it. I've always preferred the alts to just act like smart kids. That is, people don't need to play dumb, but they don't need to tell everyone "I'm an alt" either - just make it quietly clear that the basics are understood, freeing up everyone's time for either those who need it more, or focus on more advanced concepts.


Hey, not all of us young folks are alts.

I've maybe had one or two alts during my time as Tael. My usual belief is that if I want to explore an org, I take Tael there. Mostly because the hassle of proving yourself again is annoying as is learning skills (especially in Lusternia), people who metagame, bashing, etc.

I did enjoy an Aquamancer I had and was getting pretty decent at demesne control and Mage combat. Reminded me of my old Sylvan days in Achaea, except Demesnes >>>>> Groves on so many levels. I'm half tempted to create another so Celest has another decent Aquamancer, either that or test out Geomancer.. The Ebonguard have been half-tempting but if Forging has taught me anything, it's that I never want to go through this again.

EDIT: One thing I have learned from making those alts. Explore the enemy org that you intend to join before you join the org. >.>

Asking that you say hello to the Commune once is nowhere near the same as requiring that you do that thing every time you log on / hear someone else do it. Again, I never said anything of the sort to you (or to any other novice). In fact, whenever they asked me I always told them it wasn't a requirement. It has never been forced.

Or is Skein telling you to greet your Collegium using CGT (often with suggested phrasing relevant to your current question) now a requirement that you have to do it every time you log on, somehow?

(By the way, the scroll is CHELP GLOMDORING, and it says pretty much the same thing now as it did then. "If you want to say hello / respond, this is the proper way to do it.")

I find that alts detract from your main. I have tried making a couple of alts but eventually they suicided. Even if they gain levels a lot quicker, the time that I spend on them could be better spent on my main getting Demi.

Let me clarify:

Making alts and purposefully using them for your main is bad.

That being said, I have 1 alt who I think I have played maybe 4 times (kinda surprise they still exist, to be honest), but otherwise all attention goes to Aison.

There are plenty of people who mix ic/ooc and information between characters.

Whoa, hey. I was joking...laugh.

There may be some folks who would posit that it takes a certain sort of -player- to enjoy playing what a large number of Magnagoran characters seem to be.

There may be some folks that are narrow-minded and judgmental, too... >.>

I have often heard it said that such and so person from Magnagora is a decent sort, honourable, does the right thing, doesn't abuse the spirit of the code, etc. Once in a while, it is even true that such a person held in this regard is well-known and highly ranked in Magnagora. It is not this sort of character (and therefore player) to which I was alluding before. I do not say that such a players/characters don't exist in Magnagora. Which would be narrow-minded and judgemental of me, I agree.

That being said...

There still remains a sense among the playerbase as a whole that, barring a few (very egregious and unpleasant exceptions), -most- of the individuals who are vilified and widely-considered griefers/borderline code abusers tend to be located in Magnagora. That it is common knowledge that such individuals are more likely to be of higher rank in Magnagora than they might hope to aspire to in some other organization. Which would seem to indicate that, at least to a certain extent, that sort of player congregates in Magnagora, and since there tends to be more of them there, they tend to value those qualities more, and have more ability to promote each other than might otherwise be possible in other organizations.

Obviously this is not a generalization that applies universally. There are some magnificent buttwipes who have resided all of the other organizations (I'd name some but I don't wish to be that specific). It would appear on casual observance (as opposed to an actual, exhaustive study and evaluation), that there are more of them in Magnagora. Which, to my mind, makes some modicum of sense since the RP rationales for the Magnagoran world-view make it much easier to smooth over and ignore the OOC things that contribute to rampant buttwipery than it is when such buttwipery occurs in organizations like Celest and Serenwilde (though, obviously, as I've noted before, no organization in Lusternia is truly free of buttwipes).

I do not believe it is narrow-minded or judgemental to make an observation that a certain sort of organization, because of its world-view, might attract a specific sort of player as long as one does not follow that with the claim that therefore everyone in said organization must be that sort of player.

I wasn't upset. Just pointing out that it's possible to be a novice without being newbie. More fun for everyone.

I actually tend to see more of them from Serenwilde than I see from Magnagora, but that's mostly due to whole "what you experience" thing. A large chunk of the game is Celenwilde, and you all tend to associate with one another / share experiences with one another, so... it's not entirely surprising that you do reach that perception and think it's game-wide

Magnagora is, however, an organization that tends to believe "the ends justify the means." Which doesn't help much.

It is somewhat telling that you think of Magnagora before Glomdoring, though, despite us being Serenwilde's "primary enemy," though.

Glomdoring-who? I mean, I've heard of Magnadoring, and even Magnagora, but what's this Glomdoring?

We're the ones you gave a Wildnode to.

:burn:

When I make an alt, I don't act like a total newbie, but I DO ask questions, just to make sure the other person feels like they've done their job.

And when I teach someone, personally I hope they act like they are new. If I train someone I know is an alt, it takes all the fun out of it for me.

Oh right, the much, much, lesser evil.

Exactly!

(I think that was actually my point...)

If you tickle us, do we not laugh?
If you harm us, do we not cry?
If you grief us, do we not slay your college mobs?

Oh, wait. That's Serenwilde.

I've made a couple of alts (one in Celest, and one in Magnagora), and while I enjoyed both of them while I played them, my lack of credit-buying inevitably means that 1. I get bored, having no real skills to play with, and 2. they disappear if I don't log in for a while.

My typical strategy, though, when going through the initial, "Hi, do you need any help?" stages, is to request a quick tour if they have the time, ask a few questions about laws and codes of conduct, and then try to finish up the collegium as quickly as possible. Usually, it's faster for me to just read the help scrolls, but I don't want to make it too blatant, or offend the novice aide. Often, I do actually have questions, but I really prefer (being a professor and undersec) not to waste anyone's time pretending to be clueless. I know I'm happier if I can spend time with actual newbies (to the game, to the guild, or to the commune) instead of leading around an alt who already knows everything I'd tell them anyway.

EDIT:



Unfortunately, any such behavior is usually seen by outsiders/victims as accepted (or even condoned) by the commune or city in question if they don't take action against it. Every group has that problem, in that every member of that organization is (to the rest of the world) a representative of that organization. If there's a Harbinger skipping around, acting like a court jester and being ridiculous, we're responsible. If we don't do anything about it, other people start to think that we're okay with it. If someone kills collegium novices, or quest denizens, or desecrates holy sites, or runs around drunk in public while waving their naughty bits at people, and isn't punished, it's assumed that their orgs think it's just dandy.

Ah, this makes me all nostalgic. Some things never change! This particular discussion is even older than Nerf Trueheal.