First of all, the important stuff: I got the idea for this post from Mynxee’s blog – go and check it out, people, you’ll be happy you did. Anyway, in one of her posts, Mynxee says that:
someone responded to one of my forum posts with the claim that using an alt was a form of metagaming and that the use of alts was ruining the game.
She disagrees, and suggests that someone write a lenghtier post about it. I was dry on ideas for posts, so I’m going to turn pirate for a few minutes and steal that idea 
.
I’m all in favor of alts and wish I had one. I’m running EVE on an old laptop, so running two clients at the same time would probably kill it for good, but if it weren’t for that, I’d be running two characters all the time. Mining with a hauler standing right there is the best way to mine, you don’t have to fear ore thieves and you’re in a gang so you can finally make use of that Mining Foreman V skill you have just sitting on the shelf. Most of my corp mates have an alt (one of them actually has 8!) and those that don’t are thinking of getting one.
Now, I understand that for someone who doesn’t have the disposable income to run more than one character, someone else having two or more sounds very unfair, but I don’t see the problem. Sure they can mine faster, and yes, by having characters that specialize in different things they see more of the game than you do, but does this diminish your fun? No it doesn’t. You still get to do all the things they do, it will just take you a bit longer to get there, that’s all. And if you want it so bad, just cough up the cash and run an alt for a month or two. Give up smoking and you’ll find that your cash flow goes trough the roof (trust me on this one).
This isn’t WoW, where the fact that you didn’t have the latest Tier 14 gear meant that no one invited you to raids. This is EVE, folks! Tech I gear is still the most prevalent and cheapest way to fly and fight. Turning on the meanness, I think that people that complain about others having alts and that they are “ruining the game” suffer from the “They are having more fun than me!” syndrome. This is where a person feels that someone else is having more fun than they are (whether in game or in Real Life) and that that should not be allowed. Either we are all laughing our collective keisters off, having the best loot and the most fun or we are all doing “Kill Ten Rats” missions until the Universe explodes. A middle ground is impossible. Meanness off.
Tags: EVE Online
October 28, 2008 at 1:54 pm
If I ever get a second rig running my alt will be my wife.
October 30, 2008 at 12:39 pm
For pirates, alts are a very useful tool. They can be used for logistics support, such as resupply operations for lost ships and modules.
Scouts are also very important, especially when gate camping or preparing for a large engagement. Eyes in more than one system can determine if a fight is going to be a win or an epic loss.
As for the meta gaming aspect, I can see and understand the argument, but I have to side with Mynxee on this one. EVE is a game that is meant to be played in a group, not solo. Using an alt teaches you how important it is to work with a group.
Many people who complain about other players using alts are people, I suspect, hate that they can’t solo EVE as easily as a first person shooter game.
December 23, 2008 at 10:22 pm
I’m still a purist. I have one account, and only one real character. There’s another character with zero training time accumulated, but he’s only used for filing “stuck” petitions when I can’t log in with my main. That hasn’t been a problem in the last year, so I haven’t used my second character in a long time.
I’ve thought about getting a second account, and I don’t have a problem with people who do. Most, if not all, of my friends have at least two accounts. I’ve just never really been motivated to take the plunge.
My daughter is playing MMO’s now (the ones aimed and tweens and girls). She’s nearly 13 and she’s asked about playing Eve. If I ever do get a second account, it’ll be mainly for her to try Eve. I predict that she won’t like it if/when she tries it, so I’d end up with an alt account. Not sure if I’d want to pay for a second account long-term though. Sure I could use ISK to pay for the second account, but the idea of playing to pay to play sounds like selling crack to fund your crack habbit.