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Are alts required?
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Karada Delrae
Path of Now and Forever
#1 - 2013-02-15 07:20:49 UTC
I always assumed the point of eve was to work with other people, but I notice a lot talk about their alts. Like for hauling, or cyno alts trade alts etc.

Is this actually required to get total enjoyment out of the game? Is it not possible to just have one character and focus on it?

Do the majority of players have alts?
Joran Dravius
Doomheim
#2 - 2013-02-15 07:24:55 UTC
Karada Delrae wrote:
I always assumed the point of eve was to work with other people, but I notice a lot talk about their alts. Like for hauling, or cyno alts trade alts etc.

Is this actually required to get total enjoyment out of the game? Is it not possible to just have one character and focus on it?

Do the majority of players have alts?

Nope. They help, and Eve is definitely an easy game to multibox in, but they're not required at all. I've never had more than one and I usually don't have any.
Karrl Tian
Doomheim
#3 - 2013-02-15 07:26:31 UTC  |  Edited by: Karrl Tian
No.

But CCP gets more money from them so....POWER OF TWO! START A SIDE-KICK!
RubyPorto
RubysRhymes
#4 - 2013-02-15 07:29:40 UTC
Not at all*. They are useful though, which is why CCP gives you 3 character slots per account.

*I've even got a couple friends who are capital pilots who only have one account.

"It's easy to speak for the silent majority. They rarely object to what you put into their mouths." -Abrazzar "the risk of having your day ruined by other people is the cornerstone with which EVE was built" -CCP Solomon
Inxentas Ultramar
Ultramar Independent Contracting
#5 - 2013-02-15 07:33:10 UTC
I play with one character. Exclusively. I feel alts are a way to make up for a lack of friends, or the ability to make them. While I might not be as competative solo in terms of PvP, trading and ISK farming, I can do a lot of stuff on a single character and can cash in on many different oppurtunities. I don't feel like I need an alt, I enjoy spending as much time as possible on this character interacting with people that complement my skill and playstyle. In terms of fun I'm not missing out or anything.
Liam Li
Kings.Guard.
#6 - 2013-02-15 07:45:15 UTC  |  Edited by: Liam Li
Inxentas Ultramar wrote:
I play with one character. Exclusively. I feel alts are a way to make up for a lack of friends, or the ability to make them. While I might not be as competative solo in terms of PvP, trading and ISK farming, I can do a lot of stuff on a single character and can cash in on many different oppurtunities. I don't feel like I need an alt, I enjoy spending as much time as possible on this character interacting with people that complement my skill and playstyle. In terms of fun I'm not missing out or anything.


True, but having some kind of alt shows you can handle independence when **** hits the fan and you have no one to rely on which did happen to me once unfortunately. You get kicked out of a corp, alliance disbands, the awesome friend you made during your noob days quits eve out of nowhere; Basically people do come and go, but for example that cyno alt you own can ninja evacuate your carrier out of 0.0 to lowsec and it will always stay with you.

<-- And plus I can keep my main exclusively sub-capital focused so I don't have to waste valuable SP on a bunch of capital skills that I won't even get to used 75%-80 of time I'm on eve.

"Did I do That"....Nice Corpse
Kirimeena D'Zbrkesbris
Republic Military Tax Avoiders
#7 - 2013-02-15 07:49:26 UTC
Inxentas Ultramar wrote:
I play with one character. Exclusively. I feel alts are a way to make up for a lack of friends, or the ability to make them. While I might not be as competative solo in terms of PvP, trading and ISK farming, I can do a lot of stuff on a single character and can cash in on many different oppurtunities. I don't feel like I need an alt, I enjoy spending as much time as possible on this character interacting with people that complement my skill and playstyle. In terms of fun I'm not missing out or anything.

That is until you get any ship that needs cyno alts/scouts to move itself around(JF/carrier etc).

Opinions are like assholes. Everybody got one and everyone thinks everyone else's stinks.
Eugene Kerner
TunDraGon
Goonswarm Federation
#8 - 2013-02-15 07:49:55 UTC
Karada Delrae wrote:
I always assumed the point of eve was to work with other people, but I notice a lot talk about their alts. Like for hauling, or cyno alts trade alts etc.

Is this actually required to get total enjoyment out of the game? Is it not possible to just have one character and focus on it?

Do the majority of players have alts?

If you are negative ten it is more comfortable to have an Alt that is able to travel/scout highsec unharmed or to loot the wrecks of victims...
Certain playstyles benefit of it...but it is not vital.

TunDraGon is recruiting! "Also, your boobs [:o] "   CCP Eterne, 2012 "When in doubt...make a diȼk joke." Robin Williams - RIP
Dante Uisen
Caldari Provisions
Caldari State
#9 - 2013-02-15 07:50:07 UTC
RubyPorto wrote:
Not at all*. They are useful though, which is why CCP gives you 3 character slots per account.

*I've even got a couple friends who are capital pilots who only have one account.


friends, no alts, capital pilots... oh Pinocchio when will you stop the lying, i can see your nose from here.
Josef Djugashvilis
#10 - 2013-02-15 07:56:50 UTC
Anyone who travels through lo-sec without using an alt to scout ahead is told that they are a fool etc, so it would seem that an alt is required.

This is not a signature.
Karada Delrae
Path of Now and Forever
#11 - 2013-02-15 08:12:02 UTC
I have a ten mil sp character that I'm focusing on combat skillsmaller ships. If i were to do an alt what would be a good fit? Trade?
RubyPorto
RubysRhymes
#12 - 2013-02-15 08:14:03 UTC
Karada Delrae wrote:
I have a ten mil sp character that I'm focusing on combat skillsmaller ships. If i were to do an alt what would be a good fit? Trade?


Depends what your goals are.

"It's easy to speak for the silent majority. They rarely object to what you put into their mouths." -Abrazzar "the risk of having your day ruined by other people is the cornerstone with which EVE was built" -CCP Solomon
Karada Delrae
Path of Now and Forever
#13 - 2013-02-15 08:16:39 UTC
I guess my goals are to pvp, eventually get into a decent corp. This game still confuses me, I'm not that great lol.
Alice Saki
Nocturnal Romance
Cynosural Field Theory.
#14 - 2013-02-15 08:25:30 UTC
Don't Forget you need a Forum Warrior Alt P

FREEZE! Drop the LIKES AND WALK AWAY! - Currenly rebuilding gaming machine, I will Return.
Signal11th
#15 - 2013-02-15 08:32:39 UTC
Not needed but when you have one you wondered why you never got one at the start, As I said not needed but they make life in EVE so much easier.

God Said "Come Forth and receive eternal life!" I came fifth and won a toaster!
Darius Brinn
The Scope
Gallente Federation
#16 - 2013-02-15 08:34:08 UTC
Karada Delrae wrote:
I guess my goals are to pvp, eventually get into a decent corp. This game still confuses me, I'm not that great lol.


Alts are very useful. They can scout for you so you'll be safer. They can scan for you and warp you on top of the moron who doesn't click on D-scan enough, and they can wait in optimal with their Falcons, ready to save your ass and frustrate your attacker to no end. If you become a low sec pirate and your sec status drops so much that you cannot go to High Sec to resupply, your alt will go shopping for you.

Or you can (for the moment) put your T3 boosting alt inside a POS and enjoy the bonus.

Also, while your main is remapped Per/Will and struggling to get his/her ass in to new and powerful ships, you can train your alt in Invention, Trade, Planetary Interaction or Mining, and have him/her earn ISK for you.

This said, they are not "required" per se. I only have this account, and an untrained alt. One is sitting in Jita for price checking, for example.

It's just convenient.
TheBlueMonkey
Center for Advanced Studies
Gallente Federation
#17 - 2013-02-15 09:47:07 UTC
Totally depends what you want to do.

They're not a necessity but they can be incredibly handy.

If you want a character say in an enemy corp and you don't want it tied back to you a character on a separate account would be a huge help.

If you do a lot of logistics and use jump freighters then a couple of alts (one at each end) helps greatly rather than constantly calling for friends to drop you cynos.

It's also useful if you wanted to station trade in Jita while waiting for fleets to form etc.

Of if you wanted to have more than the small number of production lines, research slots or contracts that are available to you.

There's a multitude of potential uses for them, all of which can be filled by other players but also by an alt if you wanted to.
Lors Dornick
Kallisti Industries
#18 - 2013-02-15 10:19:04 UTC
I think most people uses all 3 slots on their character, if just for PC/Market or for extra PI or extra research/manufacturing (or Chat/Forum Trolls/Warriors).

And many have (ab)used the Buddy system to create temporary alt accounts for various reasons (testing stuff, hauling, extra miner, cynos, trolling ...)

A proper paid for secondary/support account is very useful for most styles of play and no matter how many friends you have in game.

But I wouldn't say that it's a necessity (except possibly for hardcore miners)

CCP Greyscale: As to starbases, we agree it's pretty terrible, but we don't want to delay the entire release just for this one factor.
ITTigerClawIK
Galactic Rangers
#19 - 2013-02-15 10:19:44 UTC
8 years and no alts... and i do just fine :-P
Brooks Puuntai
Solar Nexus.
#20 - 2013-02-15 10:24:03 UTC
I would say a majority of people have had at least 1 alt. Is it required? No. Does it have major benefits? Yes

CCP's Motto: If it isn't broken, break it. If it is broken, ignore it. Improving NPE / Dynamic New Eden
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