Confessions of an Alt Addict

By Shayalyn

For a while, I was okay--I could
handle it. I really didn’t want to play any other classes at first, and
I felt that my EverQuest druid was just fine. She had all the skills I
loved to use: nukes, DoTs, roots, snares, heals. I was content. Happy,
even. And then one day on a whim I made my first. Well, not exactly my
first, I’d tried others, but my first since I’d started playing my
druid in earnest. I made her, and she was good...very good. I got a
taste for it.



My first real alt was a barbarian beastlord. Ah, she was smooth. She
could solo well, and could summon a wolf to do her bidding. I thought I
was cool. All the other players were making alts, and I felt like I
wanted to be one of them...one of the “in” crowd. I made another, this
one a dark elf shadow knight. A dark elf enchantress followed. I was
getting deeper and deeper; more and more hardcore into creating
alternate characters.



My friends warned me to stop. “You’ve got to quit making alts,” they
said. “That’s no kind of life. Your druid is getting thin and
under-equipped. She isn’t making any progress.”



“I can handle this,” I told them. “Don’t you think I know how to handle
this? I’m an adult! I’m not some newb who can’t control herself. Who do
you take me for?”



href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=article-illustrations&id=oldschool4&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="Shayalyn the wood elf"
src="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/article-illustrations/oldschool4.thumb.jpg"
style="border: 0px solid ; width: 78px; height: 150px;" align="left"
hspace="4" vspace="2">They all shook their heads and turned away.
They called it denial. I knew that secretly they were plotting an
intervention. But I wasn’t that far gone. One of my guildmates was a
two-boxer whose two accounts were laden with alts. I imagined him
quivering as he made new characters, or maybe selling his grandmother’s
heirlooms just to support his habit. (Come to think of it, he actually
is a pawn shop owner in real life. Coincidence? I don’t think so.)



Despite my growing stable of alts, I somehow managed to reach the level
cap with my EQ druid. I knew my alt addiction couldn’t have been as bad
as everyone made it out to be, because I’d met people who had not one
but many level-capped characters. A friend of mine had three characters
at the cap, with two others in their 50’s, and maintained three--yes,
three!--separate EQ accounts. (He owns a network gaming center in real
life. Coincidence? I don’t think so.) My addiction was nothing compared
to theirs. Compared to them, I was perfectly normal. I may have had a
minor alt problem, but I wasn’t an alt-aholic.



Now, enter Vanguard. All those classes! All those races! I’m naturally
inclined to play a wood elf druid, but how will I resist the lure of
the goblin bloodmage, the raki monk, or the lesser giant shaman? Telon
will be a cruel world for those struggling with alt addictions.



But not for me, of course; I’m fine, I tell you--fine! *twitch*

No One Can Play Just One! href="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?set_albumName=article-illustrations&id=oldschool3&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="Sybilin the alt"
src="http://vanguard.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/article-illustrations/oldschool3.thumb.jpg"
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It’s my belief that characters are like potato chips--no one can play
just one! What’s your take? Will you have many alts when Vanguard
launches, or will you find your niche and play one character straight
through to the level cap? Are you straight and sober, or a confessed
alt-aholic? Perhaps you’re in denial. Either way, answer our poll--it’s
completely confidential.



What’s your level of alt addiction?

• I’m hardcore! I need more than one account to support my habit.
• I’ve got issues. My friends won’t know which alt to send a tell
  to at any given time.
• I’m borderline. I’ll make a main character that I play most
  often, but I can’t resist the siren call of alts.
• I’m stable. I may play around with other characters occasionally,
  but once I find my main I’m faithful as an old hound.
• Alts are evil. Once I find my main, I stick with it. Period.
• Other