Making alts more viable again

[Espu]

We'd like to see alts played more. Currently people feel that playing them is a waste of time as it does not benefit the main at all.

Current idea:

• All gold earned on alts goes to main in Strategus just like gold earned on main would
• Alt can be consumed by main, meaning:
• Alt is permanently killed
• All heirlooms on the alt are transfered to main

The question is, is this good enough to make playing alts feel sensible again? Just playing the main would let you level up faster (gen bonus), keep the earned gold (and gain smithing skill, but it might work differently later).

Other considered options:

• Convert alt's heirlooms to heirloom points and transfer those to main. This is bad because it allows generating and storing heirloom points and works against the idea that heirlooms are always picked at the time of retirement.
• All gold and items are transfered from alt to main. This is bad because it allows farming alts with low upkeep gear and allowing a main to use heavy gear all the time, making current smithing skill concept worthless.
• Transfer gen bonus to main. This does not exactly cause any problems, but kinda goes against the fluff and seeing how gen bonus caps relatively soon, is perhaps not a good motivation.

Post if you have something sensible to say on the topic.

[Amoebe]

But "alt time" = "fun time" and "fun time" != "wasted time", so "alt time" != "wasted time" (as "=" is obviously transitive). Unless someone would think that "fun time" = "wasted time", but what would he/she do in an online game forum then?

[Teeth]

I always get a nasty taste in my mouth whenever I play on an alt. I just feel like wasting sweet gameplay time. Sadly, trying out different classes on your main takes sooo long.

[Bjord]

And my axe!



EDIT: Also, how about a fee for transferring heirlooms to your main? Say, 50 k or more. That way it's still more beneficial to level your main and retire, at least economically speaking. If you're a lazy bum then you pay the price.

But negative side about this is all the rich people will be able to accumulate full sets of heirlooms way faster and in turn throws off the balance even more.

[Torp]

half alt exp goes to main

[Vibe]

half alt exp goes to main

This could work too.

[kinngrimm]

include xp transfer and i am all for it.

I didn't play my alt because i wanted my main to get better, xp included.
I played my alt only because i got annoyed at some points playing my main, like too many crushthrough or have some fun with throwing or just constantly bad luck

So if someone needs to invest time, which is limited he will put it there where he hopes he gets the most out of it.

Why not make a xp pool. Like, if i create an alt it automaticly gets the exp, gens, loom points(not gold and still no market transaction) of the main and if alt gets exp it contributes also to the main char xp.

That way i don't loose time and effort.

Yes there would be soon a lot of powerfull characters, so what? that is balancing as well, isn't it.


EDIT: The other way to do it in my opinion would be, no alts at all, but have the ability to respec for free at any time.
Let me load my latest alternative build i wanted to play again, have fun for some hours as archer, then switch back to cav to test soemthing out, then i load my main role the 1h/shielder. In this option they would all use the same loomed weapons and there would be a greater need for generations to get even more loomed stuff ergo marketplace more important. And the most importan advantage, within strategus i allways have my people do the roles we currently need most.

[Bulzur]

We'd like to see alts played more. Currently people feel that playing them is a waste of time as it does not benefit the main at all.

Current idea:

• All gold earned on alts goes to main in Strategus just like gold earned on main would
• Alt can be consumed by main, meaning:
• Alt is permanently killed
• All heirlooms on the alt are transfered to main

The question is, is this good enough to make playing alts feel sensible again? Just playing the main would let you level up faster (gen bonus), keep the earned gold (and gain smithing skill, but it might work differently later).

If you implement this, what we'll see will be better mains. Since people will instantly "consume" all their main. But they won't play them.
Rather than consuming xp (wich would also mean people will so consume their alt), i'd rather have another thing :
-When an alt gains xp, 5% of what he gains is added to the main's.

That way, people will "play" their alt, knowing their main can still benefit from it. Since they also earn strategus gold, wich is not dependent of gen, it will become a viable choice. And if you get bored of this alt, the possibility to consume it to get the already-heirloomed items is definitely a good feature.


I'm happy you're thinking about making alts viable again, i'll probably "prepare" my main as archer for strategus, but have fun with a 2h alt or polearm alt for battles. And after 20 gen of alts, what will be my surprise to see my archer being lv32 when i left him 31.

Edit :
Nothing happens to the gold earned by alts, when we consumed them, like 10% of the alt's money goes to the main, the rest gets lost in the process ?

[Lichen]

We'd like to see alts played more. Currently people feel that playing them is a waste of time as it does not benefit the main at all.

• Alt can be consumed by main, meaning:
• Alt is permanently killed
• All heirlooms on the alt are transfered to main

That idea alone would be reason enough to play my alts. +1 Right now there is no ultimate purpose to them. They are separate from the core of the game.

[Espu]

But "alt time" = "fun time" and "fun time" != "wasted time", so "alt time" != "wasted time" (as "=" is obviously transitive). Unless someone would think that "fun time" = "wasted time", but what would he/she do in an online game forum then?

Yes, this is the sensible way of thinking. If having fun does not count as time well spent then all time spent playing is wasted. Still, this does not really address the issue that most people I've talked to feel that playing main is more rewarding than playing an alt.

Also, how about a fee for transferring heirlooms to your main? Say, 50 k or more. That way it's still more beneficial to level your main and retire, at least economically speaking. If you're a lazy bum then you pay the price.

But negative side about this is all the rich people will be able to accumulate full sets of heirlooms way faster and in turn throws off the balance even more.

This might work. Playing an alt and transfering heirlooms to main (for a price). It would also encourage playing the alt further cause he would have some stuff and gold left over from previous gen, which would create more diversity again.

half alt exp goes to main

When an alt gains xp, 5% of what he gains is added to the main's.

We don't feel that leveling up a char without playing it is good.

..xp pool..

Too big a change, does not really fit the individual character idea. Would alter the fundamental design too much. Interesting idea though.

Nothing happens to the gold earned by alts, when we consumed them, like 10% of the alt's money goes to the main, the rest gets lost in the process ?

The problem with this is farming gold for the main with a low-upkeep alt. The idea with no gold getting transfered over is that then people will aim to use the earned gold as efficiently as possible because it's not gonna be any good after the consumption anyway.

[Bjord]

Well addressed points. Agreed completely.

[Overdriven]

We'd like to see alts played more. Currently people feel that playing them is a waste of time as it does not benefit the main at all.

Current idea:

• All gold earned on alts goes to main in Strategus just like gold earned on main would
• Alt can be consumed by main, meaning:
• Alt is permanently killed
• All heirlooms on the alt are transfered to main

This would be great! One of the main reasons I don't play my alts as much is because it doesn't count for anything. I only play them when I feel like wasting time/am slightly bored of my main. But I always go back to my main because it counts for more.

[BcBKC]

You're already losing out on gen bonus from playing the alt instead of the main. There is no need for 50k transfer fee. Time is money.  If i play my alt for 3 gens, in the same time i could have done 4 gens on my main and got a extra loom.

[Tears of Destiny]

I am of mixed opinion. Two months ago (or three), I found to my amusement that I play my alts substantially more then my main, and at that time I had about 80million plus experience total invested into the game, and only had (at the time) a Gen 4 main.

I love my alts, they allow me to switch from character to character whenever I feel tired, and give me a fresh look on the game as it allows me to instantly switch roles. However, I do notice that there is a small sense of "waste" whenever I play an alt.

Due to this weird feeling of "waste" I have little reason to ever retire them. it takes me a sizable amount of time to level them, and I have only ever retired one alt once, because while playing an alt can be fun, retiring it to get heirlooms or a gen bonus seems like a large waste of time and energy.

This may sound stupid, and I hate myself for being so vague, but I would like to see somehow a way to provide incentive for people to bother retiring alts. Perhaps make it so they are subjects of your main, and every time they retire your main receives a small amount of gold perhaps (fluffed as tribute or something)?
For the options listed:

Current Idea 1 sounds like a great option, as it encourages people to play whatever they want without feeling like "Oh No I am not contributing to strat" which I hated that feeling. this alone would be wonderful.

Current Idea 2 is not a bad idea, but keep in mind that you WILL see the following:
Main is a post level 30 guy, alts are leveled to 30 once or thrice and then consumed to give main heirlooms WITHOUT using market.
if this idea goes through, I will continue my main's march towards level 34 like normal, but now I will also start leveling an alt to provide additional gear, then consume him so my main now has magical looms as well. This may or may not be a bad thing to let post level 30 characters have easier access to looms. You decide.

[Kingtrisp]

Being able to liquadate your alts and add to your main is a great idea!!