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Multiboxing is P2W.

I love how the goal is to not have any P2W in AOC. However, paying for another subscription and using 2 accounts at the same time is paying real money to gain an advantage in the game. That is very much P2W.

I'm curious, is there any positive side to allowing multiboxing? There are clear cons, it gives an advantage over those who don't do it. Botting with it can ruin entire server economy, it takes away world resources and hoards them to one player, and it is borderline cheating in a PVP scenario. So there are clear good sides to not allowing it to fix those cons and issues. But what is the positive of allowing it? If multiboxing did not give any kind of an advantage, nobody would ever do it.

Allowing multiboxing should be reconsidered heavily. It is P2W.
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Comments

  • Wandering MistWandering Mist Member, Founder, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    edited July 2020
    Steven addressed this just now on his AMA stream. He can see both sides of the argument but the main take-a-way is that the effort it would take to try to stop multiboxing would be far more detrimental than just letting it happen. After all, how do you stop multiboxing on a large scale in a way that doesn't harm households with multiple people that each have their own account?
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  • TalentsTalents Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    Again, they're not allowing multiboxing where for example if you press W on your keyboard, all 20 of your characters move forward. If you want to multibox, you'll need to manually control each and every character independently. That, in my opinion, is perfectly fine.
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  • Steven addressed this just now on his AMA stream. He can see both sides of the argument but the main take-a-way is that the effort it would take to try to stop multiboxing would be far more detrimental than just letting it happen. After all, how do you stop multiboxing on a large scale in a way that doesn't harm households with multiple people that each have their own account?
    Unless the houses have a huge kitchen! J/K. I am sure each house/apartment/freehold is furnished to the brim with state of the art star-forged ovens/kitchens/equipment. But that is beside the point. What was the point? Oh yes! Multiboxing! The way I see it is: If you buy the game twice on two accounts, thats /twice/ the money going into IS's bank accounts'!
  • DabbzyDabbzy Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Talents wrote: »
    Again, they're not allowing multiboxing where for example if you press W on your keyboard, all 20 of your characters move forward. If you want to multibox, you'll need to manually control each and every character independently. That, in my opinion, is perfectly fine.

    Did he say this in the interview?
  • If i am not mistaken the issue with multiboxing is aimed at particular individual six or more PI accounts (won't mention any names).
  • Undead CanuckUndead Canuck Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    So what happens when me and my partner want to play together? We are not allowed? If I cannot play at the same time as someone else in my house, why would I bother with this game? What do I say when I have a LAN party and we all are in the same guild?
    Oh sorry, you can't play because the whiners think it is bad.
  • TalentsTalents Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    Dabbzy wrote: »
    Talents wrote: »
    Again, they're not allowing multiboxing where for example if you press W on your keyboard, all 20 of your characters move forward. If you want to multibox, you'll need to manually control each and every character independently. That, in my opinion, is perfectly fine.

    Did he say this in the interview?

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  • NagashNagash Member, Leader of Men, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    So what happens when me and my partner want to play together? We are not allowed? If I cannot play at the same time as someone else in my house, why would I bother with this game? What do I say when I have a LAN party and we all are in the same guild?
    Oh sorry, you can't play because the whiners think it is bad.

    same with me, both my and the wife are going to play and stoping multiboxing would hamper that
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    The dead do not squabble as this land’s rulers do. The dead have no desires, petty jealousies or ambitions. A world of the dead is a world at peace
  • DabbzyDabbzy Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Talents wrote: »
    Dabbzy wrote: »
    Talents wrote: »
    Again, they're not allowing multiboxing where for example if you press W on your keyboard, all 20 of your characters move forward. If you want to multibox, you'll need to manually control each and every character independently. That, in my opinion, is perfectly fine.

    Did he say this in the interview?

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    Perfect.
  • NoaaniNoaani Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    People really do need to realize there is a difference between multiboxing and botting.
  • tugowartugowar Member, Royalty, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
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    Virtue is the only good.
  • FaeFae Member
    So what happens when me and my partner want to play together? We are not allowed? If I cannot play at the same time as someone else in my house, why would I bother with this game? What do I say when I have a LAN party and we all are in the same guild?
    Oh sorry, you can't play because the whiners think it is bad.

    Then you simply play my dude...

    You do realize that you and your partner wanting to play from the same place is NOT multiboxing? Multiboxing is running multiple instances of the game on the same machine. Nobody is saying that only one account per IP address should be allowed connection at once. That is stupid and comes with clear issues of multiple people per 1 address, and can also be bypassed fairly easily.

    However, there are other ways of recognizing multiboxers from multiple people. For example, not allowing a PC with multiple instances of the game running to play.

    There is no magix fic to stop ALL multiboxing. That is not the goal, the goal would be to make legitimate multiboxing as big of an annoyance, effort, and hassle as possible. It's about the barrier of entry into it. Same as any anti-cheat in existence. None of them block literally every cheat. They just make it much harder.
  • SongcallerSongcaller Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    I wish I could copy and paste my other post on this matter. I think multiboxing is game breaking- seen a multi boxer wipe a whole raid in WoW. Luckily the corruption system is in place but a multi boxer can grind corruption off real quick. On my phone. Sorry for no paragraphs.
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  • CaerylCaeryl Member, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    noaani wrote: »
    People really do need to realize there is a difference between multiboxing and botting.

    There’s a difference between them but bot trains are impossible without multiboxing.

    As long as GMs are present to deal with reports on automated trains and take appropriate action by banning them, then hopefully the problem with bots won’t end up too game breaking.
  • Undead CanuckUndead Canuck Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    I have multiboxed in the past. I have 2 computers, and I had 2 keyboards and 2 mice. I did everything manually (including moving). I did it badly, but I did it. Was it worth it? Not really. I just wanted to see what the hoorah was about.

    Now, the people who use scripts are botting, which should be banned. But IP blocking is not going to work.

    But a lot of people say that multiboxing is P2W, and I can verify that it is not really worth the effort.
  • SongcallerSongcaller Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Technically they will ban you for third party software, script software is still third party software. You need third party software to multibox with simultaneous key presses. In ToS WoW also bans for third party software but often does not ban.
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  • Neurath wrote: »
    I wish I could copy and paste my other post on this matter. I think multiboxing is game breaking- seen a multi boxer wipe a whole raid in WoW. Luckily the corruption system is in place but a multi boxer can grind corruption off real quick. On my phone. Sorry for no paragraphs.

    Ive seen this happen but only in one instance most of the time a multiboxer was a free kill lol.
  • SongcallerSongcaller Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    It depends on the skill of the particular player and what classes they use. If the use the feign death and res and AoE burst (ambush) they can wipe a raid. If they just use masses AoE, a healer and a tank they are easy to kill. Problem in ashes is the corruption system.
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  • FaeFae Member
    I have multiboxed in the past. I have 2 computers, and I had 2 keyboards and 2 mice. I did everything manually (including moving). I did it badly, but I did it. Was it worth it? Not really. I just wanted to see what the hoorah was about.

    Now, the people who use scripts are botting, which should be banned. But IP blocking is not going to work.

    But a lot of people say that multiboxing is P2W, and I can verify that it is not really worth the effort.

    Mate, if multiboxing gave no advantage at all, we would never see it done. It is no secret that many MMO's are plagued by multiboxing. They do it because it gives a very clear advantage over other players. No way around it.
  • Wandering MistWandering Mist Member, Founder, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Fae wrote: »
    I have multiboxed in the past. I have 2 computers, and I had 2 keyboards and 2 mice. I did everything manually (including moving). I did it badly, but I did it. Was it worth it? Not really. I just wanted to see what the hoorah was about.

    Now, the people who use scripts are botting, which should be banned. But IP blocking is not going to work.

    But a lot of people say that multiboxing is P2W, and I can verify that it is not really worth the effort.

    Mate, if multiboxing gave no advantage at all, we would never see it done. It is no secret that many MMO's are plagued by multiboxing. They do it because it gives a very clear advantage over other players. No way around it.

    See, I hear a lot of people say things like this and yet I honestly can't remember the last time I saw a multiboxer in an mmorpg. Maybe I'm just ignorant but I feel like this is less of a problem than people make it out to be.
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  • NoaaniNoaani Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    Fae wrote: »
    You do realize that you and your partner wanting to play from the same place is NOT multiboxing? Multiboxing is running multiple instances of the game on the same machine.
    Actually, multiboxing is one person playing two accounts. Those accounts can be on the same computer, or can be on different real or virtual computers.

    Caeryl wrote: »
    noaani wrote: »
    People really do need to realize there is a difference between multiboxing and botting.

    There’s a difference between them but bot trains are impossible without multiboxing.
    Bot trains aren't multiboxing.

    Multiboxing is one person actively playing multiple accounts. Botting is automation.

    It wouldn't be that hard to set up a bot train with accounts that are running on computers in different countries.
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  • NoaaniNoaani Member, Intrepid Pack, Alpha Two
    Fae wrote: »
    I have multiboxed in the past. I have 2 computers, and I had 2 keyboards and 2 mice. I did everything manually (including moving). I did it badly, but I did it. Was it worth it? Not really. I just wanted to see what the hoorah was about.

    Now, the people who use scripts are botting, which should be banned. But IP blocking is not going to work.

    But a lot of people say that multiboxing is P2W, and I can verify that it is not really worth the effort.

    Mate, if multiboxing gave no advantage at all, we would never see it done. It is no secret that many MMO's are plagued by multiboxing. They do it because it gives a very clear advantage over other players. No way around it.

    It's actually the challenge more than anything.

    There are almost always faster ways you can get better rewards when you work with other people, but those activities are almost always far easier.

    In general, multiboxing in games that I have done it have cost me both real and in game money - but the enjoyment of the challenge makes it worth it.

    Again, this is multiboxing, not botting.
  • BolobaoBolobao Member, Warrior of Old, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Steven also did mention alot of resource nodes will be "one taps" so unlike in WoW where a multiboxer can get 5x from the same node, a multiboxer attempting to do this in ashes is not going to benefit at all from it.

    Also, the fact that we can flag them and kill them is also another thing to consider depending on how the corruption stuff plays out.

    But what i think Steven meant mainly is, if they only allow 1 account per IP (to combat multiboxing) then it destroys house holds that have multiple users.

    What Steven does NOT want is having 5 characters following eachother being controlled by 1 click. THAT is cheating. However, if you have 2 monitors and 2 accounts and are going back and forth between them MANUALLY doing individual movements then that is fine and in all honesty, im ok with that.

    juts my 2 cents.
  • AharonAharon Member
    I think if someone wants to load the game on multiple computers, and run from one computer to the other to individually control the characters, then, that is fine. (Mainly because it would be way too inefficient to provide any gain.) If someone wants to hose a virtual machine, or run multiple instances of the game on one machine, and control them individually by swapping from screen to screen, I also think that is fine. (Again because it would be way to inefficient.)

    However, I dont think that multiple accounts on multiple computers, or the same computer, being controlled by software, or any kind of automation, including synchronizing input from one source, then delivering it to all instances, should be allowed. Those ARE a form of automation.
  • XraelXrael Member
    edited July 2020
    Talents wrote: »
    Again, they're not allowing multiboxing where for example if you press W on your keyboard, all 20 of your characters move forward. If you want to multibox, you'll need to manually control each and every character independently. That, in my opinion, is perfectly fine.

    This. This right here. Steven should have mentioned this in the AMA as i dont think most people remember that addons dont exist in AoC like in WoW.

    Also as he mentioned in the AMA, its very difficult to punish multiboxing as you could end up banning families that play with multiple accounts in the same house, room mates that play together etc. So just like in WoW, they are going to allow it, however, because there are no addons, its going to be MUCH more difficult to pull off.
  • HansrutgerHansrutger Member, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    I honestly have no problem with for instance dualboxing where you just have 2 accounts and even you trade yourself items. My personal issue with mutliboxing is when you use it to farm materials simultaneously by using a 3rd party software.

    And this comes by someone who actually enjoyed attempting multiboxing on a WoW:Cataclysm private server (free accounts obv) but just to attempt to solo dungeons from level 15-85. And it was fun! I didn't ruin anyone else's experience and I was trying something challenging, because as much as you guys think its easy to multibox, its not. It's easy to 1 shot things but the moment you have to coordinate movement it becomes an issue.

    So I agree with Steven that multiboxing is fine as long as you don't use a 3rd party software for it. Additionally, iBoxer do not develop their software for games that don't allow multiboxing so people would have to find some more shady programs or unknown publishers (given they dunno how to setup macros in a simple notepad file :D).
  • If input broadcasting (like with isboxer) and heavy macro usage (like with AHK) is not allowed it becomes much harder to maintain several clients. Remove autopathing and click-to-move and this p2w-multibox-dream just becomes really a waste of time and money. I rather would have them spend time on good anti-botting tech serverside, sure if that tech can be expanded to ban heavily automated input broadcasted multibox farms ... by all means.
    With a bit of restrictions ... the ridiculous WOW multibox stuff is really out of scope and there would be no benefit. Anything else you could do with that extra client can easily be achieved with alts on one account.
  • Undead CanuckUndead Canuck Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    What is the difference between me using 2 computers to control separate accounts, and me and my partner using 2 computers to control separate accounts.
    The answer is 2 people are more efficient. No other difference!
  • AtamaAtama Member, Braver of Worlds, Kickstarter, Alpha One, Alpha Two, Early Alpha Two
    Tsukasa wrote: »
    Any multi-boxing is P2W. It doesn't matter how it works.
    Trolling.
     
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