Altaholics Anonymous

When One is Never Enough

By: Savanja

Hello, I'm Savanja and I suffer from an alt addiction.  It started out innocently
enough, I played a half elf Shadow Knight at
release, and I grew a little bored in my mid 20's.  I had a craving.  A strong craving to do something new, but I didn't know what. 
Out of this boredom, a human Mystic was born, and things were good for a while, I felt satisfied, but then the inevitable happened, and
I felt that longing once again to try something new and exciting.  My Monk was created, and
she became my shining light in this desolate world, she was the one I had been
searching for!  But, what if there were more like her?  What if there
were another class that I enjoyed as much, or *gasp* more than the
Monk?.  Then things started getting out
of control.  "Savanja" was created and recreated at least a dozen times. 
It got far worse with the class revamp, because now I could try out characters
and get a solid feel for the class early on, instead of having to level them all
to 20+ to find out what a certain class was like.

I now have 4 characters on the standard servers, 1 on the PvP server, and 3 on the test server.
And I keep a couple free for my alt need.  Compared to some, it's really not
that many. Right?

The Inner Workings of an Altaholic.

I actually think this is a common sort of thing.  I've talked to a few people who remain dedicated to one
character, but the vast
majority of players have more than one character.  Who really wants to remain faithful to one race and class combo when there are so
many out there to be had?  The MMO world is a buffet, and I want a little of everything!

I played FFXI for a little while when I was waiting on EverQuest II beta and release. 
I was actually horrified to find that they
only allowed for one character slot with your typical monthly subscription fee. 
What madness is this?  One character?!?  I couldn't
justify dishing out more cash to support my rather hefty MMO habit, so I lived with that one character, fighting the urge to grab my credit card
and beg them for just one more.  But FFXI had a nifty feature that allowed for that one character to play other jobs. 
My Hume could
be a Red Mage and a White Mage, and switch back and forth between jobs, leveling each one individually. 
This was super, but what
if I wanted to try playing a Elvaan?  *twitch*  Dang them and their money making schemes!

With most of the MMO's I have played, I have had more than one character. 
I'd usually roll an alt to try out other classes that
seemed appealing.  It never takes long for me to determine that it's not really a class that I want to play long term. 
Generally,
by the time I hit my early 20's, I know that it is or isn't the class for me. 
This addiction grew far worse with EQ2.  I'm not even sure
why, but when I particularly like a game, the need to learn of all the classes available gnaws at me. 
I doubt I could find a class
that I adore more than my Monk, but the thought that there is one out there that I could love eternally? 
It's enough to drive
me to continually drop unused characters, and recreate one character after another.

In a Perfect Virtual World.

There just aren't enough hours in a day for me to play all my characters as much as I'd like to. 
In a perfect world, I'd be able
to have lots of solo time for my Conjurer, plenty of duo and trio time with my Brigand, and tons of group goodness with my Monk. 
Each of these characters meet a particular gaming need for me.  My Monk is my serious character, and she functions as my main. 
It's
truly a miracle that she's gotten to level 68 with all the time I spend on alts. 
My Conjurer works so well as a solo character, that
when I play her, it's almost always because I'm in the mood to just hang out alone. 
I could grind away for hours, mindlessly killing
mobs on my Conjurer, and be completely content.  My Brigand was made to play with a specific couple of
people, as my friends all tend
to have alt addictions as well, and we all help feed each others habits.  Of course, there is still the occasional horrified /tell
when I ask for another guild invite that goes something like this:

Savanja alt #45963 "Hey, can I get a guild invite?"

Friend "OMG! You made another "Savanja"?? What is this, like the billionth time you've rolled her?"

Savanja alt #45963 "=( I made her to play with your tank!"


Friend "I thought you had your Fury to do that?"


Savanja alt #45963 "She may have gotten a little deleted..."


Friend "...."


Friend "How does a character get "a little" deleted?"


Savanja alt #45963 "Don't you judge me, Mister "I have 10 alts, 7 of which haven't been logged in since LU#13!"


Friend "Guild invite incoming"


Savanja alt #45963 "Yeah, that's what I thought you said."

It just so happens that my guild is packed full of altaholics, otherwise someone might question the constant alt traffic that happens
with my characters.

Wow..Alts Sure Are Expensive!

Alt habits are spendy. I've done the content so much, that I can burn through the lower levels rather quickly, leaving my alts
poor and still wearing their noob isle gear at level 20.  So yes, I twink. 
Or, I twink about as much as this game allows.  In EverQuest
I, I could previously put amazing gear on my lowbies, giving them a pretty remarkable advantage through out the young levels. 
This
eventually became not so feasible, and in EQ2, we have that silly "minimum level" thing going on, so I can only twink my characters
so much.

So basically, my hard working main character earns her plat, only to end up mailing it off, here and there, to my other
characters.  *ponders*  I do believe I've stumbled upon the reason why my Monk never seems to have very much coin! 
Funny how that
works, eh?  All of the sudden farming looks intensely more appealing!  
I'm just kidding, I don't farm for coin, but I may have to
look into picking up a hawt sugar daddy to help fund my habit.  I did meet this one wealthy halfing once, I wonder if he'd be
interested in a svelte barbarian companion....

We Are Not Alone

There are so many out there in the MMO world that deal with this same issue everyday. 
We don't have to hide!  We don't have to be
ashamed!  There's nothing wrong with wanting a little variety in our gaming experience. 
Sometimes, one just isn't enough, and we
should never have to settle.  I cannot deny that little bit of guilt I feel when I'm staring at the log in screen, my Monk looking
back at me with those glistening green eyes that seem to be calling out "Pick me!". 
She has been so stead fast in her dedication,
and I owe it to her to give her some solid playtime.  She deserves the pleasure of being brought out to play!

But I was kind of wanting to try another mage....

*clicks "Create Character"*

So fine.  I'm weak.  Stop looking at me like that!

Comments on today's fine bit o' jibberish?  Shoot me an e-mail!