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EVE New Citizens Q&A

 
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Main vs. Alt

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Hiroshige Utagawa
Garoun Investment Bank
Gallente Federation
#1 - 2013-08-13 15:16:18 UTC
Is there a practical in-game/account difference between a main and an alt character? Or is it just a matter of perception, i.e. my main character is the one I use/identify with the most?
Sin Pew
Ministry of War
Amarr Empire
#2 - 2013-08-13 15:20:14 UTC
Hiroshige Utagawa wrote:
i.e. my main character is the one I use/identify with the most?
This

[i]"haiku are easy, But sometimes they don't make sense, Refrigerator."[/i]
NightCrawler 85
Phoibe Enterprises
#3 - 2013-08-13 15:22:07 UTC
Normally someone will call the character they use the most as their main, or the character they are more attached to (in most cases their first character), but people can "switch" main characters as well so even if you feel that one of your characters is your main now, you might eventually find that you prefer another character you make/buy and start to call that your main.

Phoibe Enterprises

The Eve Reader -  Audio Recordings of Eve Chronicles
Solai
Doughfleet
Triglavian Outlaws and Sobornost Troika
#4 - 2013-08-13 15:53:03 UTC
More often, I think you'll find peoples combat-oriented character, or non-industrial character, their main.

...Which is fortunate, since when you're in fleets with others, it's more handy for people to be referring to you via your main's name, rather than using some different name for the person they know they're fleeting with.
Malcolm Shinhwa
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#5 - 2013-08-13 18:24:08 UTC
I'm pretty confused about that myself. I've finally decided that my alts are just advanced jump clones.

[i]"The purpose of fighting is to win. There is no possible victory in defense. The sword is more important than the shield and skill is more important than either. The final weapon is the brain. All else is supplemental[/i]."
Tau Cabalander
Retirement Retreat
Working Stiffs
#6 - 2013-08-13 19:32:21 UTC
This is my main character. It was my first, and has the highest SP.

However, it isn't the character I play the most.

My alts came later. I currently have 5 accounts and 9 characters.
Daniel Plain
Doomheim
#7 - 2013-08-14 00:22:38 UTC
i've got a few chars for missions, a few for pvp, one for trade/industry and one for shitposting on the forums (guess which one). i couldn't for the death of me decide which one is my "main"; they'all so pretteh!

I should buy an Ishtar.
Gloombot
Sebiestor Tribe
Minmatar Republic
#8 - 2013-08-15 04:09:35 UTC
Remember only 1 of your characters can be training skills at a time, unless you have sidekick paid for and enabled.

That being said, every account in EVE comes with 1 main character, and 2 spies.
Lugalbandak
Doomheim
#9 - 2013-08-15 15:14:58 UTC
i got a couple of mains , and call the 2 others on those accounts alts

eve takes rougly almost 2 decades of skilling all i belive, so have a account for pvp/pve , and one for industry.

The police horse is the only animal in the world that haz his male genitals on his back
Lia Danna
Perkone
Caldari State
#10 - 2013-08-15 21:43:25 UTC
I don't have a 'main' in the sense that I don't have a character I feel particularly attached too. I've always seen characters as tools, nothing more. However, most have a character that they identify with as their main; usually their first character.
Solai
Doughfleet
Triglavian Outlaws and Sobornost Troika
#11 - 2013-08-15 21:51:41 UTC
Funny how such a simple topic and concept is continuing to get bumped with answers. But as I read it, I had a thought. You can believe or disbelieve it as you choose.

A main isn't a toon. A main is a character's name. Your main is the name your buddies know you as, primarily, and the one that they call you by. A character you possess that doesn't correspond with the name others know you by is your alt.

Or not. Your call.

But I find it more realistic, because why bother designating 'mains' or 'alts' except for the for the sake of other players' interaction with you? It's a tool for the social sphere, so therefore it's based from social dynamics, not the game mechanics(in this particular MMO, at least).
SmilingVagrant
Doomheim
#12 - 2013-08-16 05:00:49 UTC
Hiroshige Utagawa wrote:
Is there a practical in-game/account difference between a main and an alt character? Or is it just a matter of perception, i.e. my main character is the one I use/identify with the most?


Depends on what you do with the pilot. For the most part my Main is the character I do 95% of my PVP on. My alt is my carrier pilot, also my scouting eyes, he's also my blackops battleship pilot. But if I'm killing someone, odds are it's on Smiling.
Mara Rinn
Cosmic Goo Convertor
#13 - 2013-08-16 05:28:56 UTC
This is my main. I have other characters that I end up using more often (a hauling/trade alt that logs in every day, for example), others which have more SP (60M on this one, my command/industrial alt has 80), and others I fly in lowsec and actually find fights with sometimes.

Some of my ingame friends call a different character my main, even though I play this one more often.

It is a crazy mixed up world.

Day 0 Advice for New Players
ISD LackOfFaith
ISD Community Communications Liaisons
ISD Alliance
#14 - 2013-08-16 20:33:54 UTC
It's mostly a nomenclature and perception thing. A main character is more "you", while an alt exists for a specific purpose -- hauling alt, market alt, forum alt, etc.


For example, while I spend significant time using this character, it is obviously not my main. I don't really identify with being ISD LackOfFaith as I identify with [name redacted]; it's just a mask/alias for the purpose of helping manage the Eve forum comunity.

ISD LackOfFaith

Captain

Community Communication Liaisons (CCLs)

Interstellar Services Department

I do not respond to Eve Mail or anything other than the forums.
Liam Inkuras
Furnace
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
#15 - 2013-08-16 20:36:19 UTC
Whenever I try to put my alt into a corp that "only accepts mains" I just say about this toon, "oh he's my second main"

I wear my goggles at night.

Any spelling/grammatical errors come complimentary with my typing on a phone
Zoyx Ruhroh
A-OK Logistics and Fabrication
StoneGuard Alliance
#16 - 2013-08-17 23:22:55 UTC
Gloombot wrote:
Remember only 1 of your characters can be training skills at a time, unless you have sidekick paid for and enabled.

That being said, every account in EVE comes with 1 main character, and 2 spies.


I like that perspective. I never understood the value of alts due to this limitation... but as spies? Twisted
NightCrawler 85
Phoibe Enterprises
#17 - 2013-08-19 08:12:25 UTC
Zoyx Ruhroh wrote:

I like that perspective. I never understood the value of alts due to this limitation... but as spies? Twisted


Spies, neutral haulers, scouts, trade characters, price checkers, corp holders (making the character a CEO of a corp so it wont close), locator agents access... There is a few things they can be useful for Smile

Phoibe Enterprises

The Eve Reader -  Audio Recordings of Eve Chronicles
Sin Pew
Ministry of War
Amarr Empire
#18 - 2013-08-19 09:28:35 UTC
Gloombot wrote:
Remember only 1 of your characters can be training skills at a time, unless you have sidekick paid for and enabled.

That being said, every account in EVE comes with 1 main character, and 2 spies.

Sidekick is an offer to create a second account, there's another offer on the account management page to activate dual character training, that allows 2 characters per account to train skills at the same time. For very specific alt, it can be more useful than another account as you can train an alt at the same time as your main for a couple months, then keep paying a single sub, whereas sidekick will make you pay two accounts as long as you need the two characters. Only limitation of DCT is that the alt can't be played at the same time as the main, but it's only a limitation for some purposes.

[i]"haiku are easy, But sometimes they don't make sense, Refrigerator."[/i]