Glorious Alpha Two Testers!
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Alpha Two Realms are now unlocked for Phase II testing!
For our initial launch, testing will begin on Friday, December 20, 2024, at 10 AM Pacific and continue uninterrupted until Monday, January 6, 2025, at 10 AM Pacific. After January 6th, we’ll transition to a schedule of five-day-per-week access for the remainder of Phase II.
You can download the game launcher here and we encourage you to join us on our for the most up to date testing news.
Comments
Virtual machines to achieve playing on one computer with multiple accounts but yeah without scripting or addons shouldn't be possible to control them all at once.
1) A player is not just a player anymore. If you are lone wolfing it out there in the world and come across that rare resource node, and one other person sees you, you have a fighting chance to live. If they are a multi-boxer your chances go way down.
2) Time played versus yield. If someone can level two characters at once then they get to spend the same amount of time for double the progression, all at the cost of some dollars. Especially at launch this is critical to the game world / economy.
A few notes. I am not sure that you can effectively monitor physical setups that would bypass software macros. I can mechanically do things outside of one computer system that would mimic one key press to multiple keyboards.
The hard part about this is that I am not sure there is an effective way to audit and monitor multi-boxers. Perhaps a system like having a GM watch if a player is reported to determine a judgement.
I have had some very bad experiences in games with multi-boxers. When it comes down to it, they are flexing their bank account to get in game advantages over others. There is really no other way to put it. I am not talking about people that live in the same house and share an account. This is specifically geared to people who use multiple accounts at the same time.
I am not so concerned about the 15 at once, I am more concerned about two at once. I can very easily set up two machines side by side and modify the keyboards with a metal U bar bonded to the keys to allow me to press 1 through = on the number row on both keyboards at once. Or even just one person controlling both accounts on different machines. But I do not see any way that can be prevented. so I am okay with the stance that Intrepid has taken.
Really, as a community, we can police that stuff ourselves and make sure that people who are jerks to others get the same treatment back.
U.S. East
Multi boxers will use programs which aid their ability to control all accounts at once with a single push of a button, yes this is not 'automation' as it still requires them to push 1 key rather than have a program virtually input EVERY keystroke to 'bot' as such. I believe that multi boxers will not go out of their way to run one machine per account and individually swap between keyboards and mice, they will use 1 (or more) machines working together with the aid of either virtual machines or other means along with repeater software to create an optimal multi boxing system which is capable of farming, running dungeons or playing other content solo. Just remember that limited team sizes will not prevent this as things are still tradable, so they will farm on multiple accounts, trade to their 'bank' alt which is in charge of selling on MP and collecting funds. This does not require them to be in a large party to do content as loot will always be tagged as 'theirs' so multiple little parties will also work.
Yes I understand there will be things in place to combat those who wish to push the boundaries however there are always going to be a work around. If multi boxing is allowed there must be a limit as to how many accounts are allowed to be used at once along with active in-game GM's whos duty is to only deal with hackers, botters and exploiting multi boxers which are breaking T&C.
Either way multi boxing / multi botters / bots among many other unwanted things will find their way into the game and its something we will just have to work out as time goes on.
**Edit **
Considering the PVP scene this can also cause a mess *plays scene of multi boxers with heavy hitting spells or attacks running around 1 shotting players*
U.S. East
That being said I think we need to minimize the amount of multiboxing by firmly standing against multiboxing as it diminish player experience in the game.
There is also information Developers get while the game is active that a player may not know about. So finding multi-boxers may not be that hard. I expect it to be only a little harder than World of Warcraft.
U.S. East
But on the reverse side this also strips away a sense of community from the game, because instead of finding a healer now they are their own healer, DPS and tank. It's inherently antisocial.
But let's not pretend that macros aren't used. With multiboxing in world of warcraft they use tools to enhance their ability to multibox, the notion that this wouldn't involve some level of programmatic assistance. This is easily accessible through a youtube search.
To me the idea that someone would genuinely be able to play 3 or more characters without programmatic assistance through something like a macro or keystroke amplifier is like hoping to not open socks for Christmas. You're setting yourself up for disappointment.
That being said, multiboxing without them? I do not see how it would be desirable unless the combat is VERY stagnant and basic; and this game isn't like that at all. So why do people want to multibox? I don't believe that it comes from a place of genuinely wanting to somehow have 3 keyboards and mice to manage. I just don't see it in 2020.
"Current Intrepid stance - Players are allowed to own multiple accounts, but may not launch multiple game clients from the same computer. Players may not use any software to automate character actions or mimic keystrokes."
Not realistic to expect people to not do that imho.
U.S. East
At the same time you have to think about HOW MUCH they will be able to get ahead by doubling their gains in resources. Will it be to the extent of hurting a market? Is it not really going to be that big of an impact? And let's say they do get resources, they still probably will never be able to run mayor with both accounts, right? I mean they may have a little more influence and maybe can pour their resources into one account and get 1 mayor by being rich, but then again, all the power to them. If they are good mayors, citizens won't revolt, etc.
I feel like it all depends on the amount they will get ahead in the game and how easily it is to setup and profit off of it. Also, if there is no way to get real life money (gold selling / etc) from this form and you have strict gold selling (or whatever currency is) policies in place, then it will probably prevent people from doing so. Because the worth of them paying the extra money to play and for their own self worth would be less than those that want to have more accounts in order to gain some kind of in real life profit.
I wish you the best of luck in the decision making. It is a tough call and I hope you get it right. But I would encourage there to be strong measures against people trying to sell currency(ies) for irl monies.
...truthfully, I love it when folk make a game their own by finding their own unique way to play it...
Speaking from experience if multi-boxing is allowed and can lead to any benefit it becomes the meta, I personally have spent many hours with a PC and a couple Laptops on my desk playing 3 accounts, granted this was on archeage which had a labor system and very rewarding daily quest system.
It makes you feel like you have to do it or you will be behind. It leads to a game play style that is dull and causes fast burn outs, both for the user who is multiboxing and for the users who are playing against it.
I think the solution is a matter of Risk or Effort.
Risk - If there is even a slight risk that if you multiboxing you may get banned people will avoid it and it won't be meta.
Effort - if multiboxing has almost no reward benefit, for example
- you can't trade Mob resources, at least outside a city (so I can't grind a mob then trade my alt and run the alt to a warehouse over and over)
- you can't gain exp or drops without doing damage or healing (so I can’t just power level my alt and fill its inventory)
- Daily quests are just Exp or at least not required for gear progression (so I can’t just do 3 sets of Daily quest at the same time and trade the rewards)
But I’m sure I could be wrong or I’m missing something, at the end of the day this is a big topic that needs a lot of thought and discussion for an effective game design around it.
If you believe that Multiboxer are grieffers, this game provides a great tool (which I love, because I feel that alot of guild/streamers/groups of players target and camp multiboxers) to prevent or minimize it.
I can agree with cap the amount of account per computer, I'm more than happy with that. But to say 1 per pc and no way to have the same key I have to press being send to all other clients it's insane. The other option will be to have 10 pc with KVM adapter???? How is that different from using Isboxer(best and most reliable multiboxer software in the market). I personally have 8 asus ryzen 7 laptop with 32gb each so then should I get a bunch of adapter to just use one keyboard and one mouse? People will always find a way, I feel its better to fine a common ground that makes sense for both sides.
#FreeMultiBoxing #NoRestrictions
#MultiboxingisnotBotting #Multiboxingisnormal
Now Guild wars 2 i played for 8 years from start and iam already disgusted with its casual nonrewarding gameplay. But supports were huge in GW2. And it was because buffs were for about 5, 10, 15 seconds which made support gameplay really dynamic and engaging. Nobody would switch windows every 5 seconds to buff themselfs.
Our savior Steven Sharif comes from Lineage 2 and we can see huge influence on ashes by Lineage and mostly good things so i dont think he or his team didn't think about this part of multiboxin in terms of support mains. Just in case iam writing this here somewhat because i didn't hear any information about what buffing system will be in Ashes. If i miss some reveal of that please comment.
Before I go into more detail about those side effects, I will give you 2 more specific examples for how bad multiboxing is for the game:
World of Warcraft Retail
The gathering nodes in WoW retail works with multi-tap system. This means that every single character can gather the nodes once before it disappears. Every gathering node has multiple chargers, 5 or 10 I think. This way gives the opportunity for multiple players to gather the same node. Nowadays in WoW Retail, multiboxers just obliterate a single node with their 10+ multi characters and practical this is ONE player – ONE user. So, the basic idea behind the multi-tap node - which is good concept in proper situations; many players can benefit from the same node – is completely destroyed by multiboxers.
World of Warcraft Classic.
Open world PvP. A multiboxer plays a rogue or mage as main and has a priest, a druid and pretty much any other buffer class parked on safe a spot. He buffs his main character with buffs and then go into to action. All this happened again by a SINGLE player. In normal situation by game designs this isn’t physical possible. A rogue doesn’t have in his tool kit all these class buffs. If he wants to play solo, he shouldn’t have these buffs, and this is how the game designers want the game to be. Multiboxing breaks this rule.
There are many examples in all mmos back to Ultima Online to the most recent ones. But of course, multiboxing is a good revenue for the company and for that reason they allow it into MMORPG https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/End-user_license_agreement. It’s simple politics. Because the companies allow it, for their own benefit, it doesn’t mean that it is right in a moral point of view.
It is a distinctive way of introducing P2W element into the game. Yes!! It is Pay to Win! For the simple fact, that every player can physically control ONE character, logged in ONE account. Only those who can afford to have more than account or those who willing to PAY MORE for more effective gameplay can be able to mutlibox.
Negative Side Effects.
The most important side effect of such feature is the economy. When a single character required, let’s say 30mins to gather the materials for a single item, a mutliboxer in the same 30mins will gather the materials for multiple items based on how many multiple characters he controls at once. This fact breaks the balance of economy, where he can the sell these items in much more low-completive price. The Golden Rule of Merchandise applies here where mass products sell less per unit against a single product. This result will make normal – casual players to quit the market place and at the same time will open the door for multiboxers to control it.
Another negative affect could be the leveling progression with help with mutliboxing buffs, as already mentioned here before. A normal casual solo player may need around 45 days to hit max level while a multiboxer with buffs could take much less, because will kill faster and he will be more effective in xp / hour.
No matter from what point of view people will see this feature, it will always favor the user of multiboxing and give them great advantage over casual players with a premium price. It doesn’t matter how people are calling it, multiboxing requires to pay real money to be able to use it.
Also, having restrictions on how someone can use multiboxing (I.e. no mirrored macros, afkers log out after 5mins and their buffs disappear from the group members instantly, etc), it will make mutliboxing not functioning well, leading to a conclusion not using it. So, there is only 2 options here. Allow mutliboxing or not allow it. There isn’t any MIDDLE situation on this.
If Ashes of Creations wants to have a transparent game and cares about their players (in every MMO the biggest player-base are casuals) and also value gameplay, they won’t allow multiboxing.
From the other side of the coin, if Ashes of Creation wants to be like any other MMO and regenerate an extra revenue for their project, they will allow it.
I think what you are describing are competitive guilds and streamer guilds like asmongold, esfand and Staysafe that will have over 100+ toon logged out on top of the mine, flower, etc with timers rdy to loot it for the guild otherwise they will not be allowed to raid this is over 100+ per each streamer guild on every single node becuase they are forced to do that. So in that sense I agree with you we should restrict guilds/streamers per server. Any competitive guild should not be allowed yes I agreed on that we are on the same page darthus.
I don't feel that multiboxer are doing that (atleast by definition of a multiboxer not a botter using a bot software with many accounts, huge difference).
1.with nodes if a multiboxer is in one area he will level nodes faster and help the game progress faster in that one node he can level up other nodes fast to. just imagine a guild of boxers leveling in one area how fast nodes can reach there max level. also if multiboxing is allowed alot of us boxers were going to make an area of nodes leveled by boxers.
2.if the selected poll that has the highest votes is selected there will only be about 8 - 10 pple multiboxing this game anyway. there are only a few pple that multibox that have about 5-7 computers. pole number 4 will allow more boxers into the game alot of boxers i talk to say the best restriction would be limiting us to have 10 accounts if this is allowed..
3.also we dont even know if this game is going to have/follow command so if it doesnt then all these multiboxing threads and all this hype for boxing means nothing if the game doesnt have follow command.
Not all players are equal. In theory all players have a "shot" at becoming a mayor. In practice the players who do hold royalty positions are likely to come into the game with some kind of advantage ( more time on their hands, a cult following, natural leadership or charisma, friends or family to play with, etc... ). In some cases they may even be able to stack those advantages.
A streamer already stacks a lot of advantages ( paid time to play the game, leadership and charisma, cult following, often pro-level gaming skills ). And if multi-boxing is allowed, why wouldn't they do it ?
I don't want multi-boxing to add more unfairness to the game. I'm ok with super players, but I feel that unrestricted multi boxing will only lead to super-super-super-players.
I would restrict multi boxing to 60 hours ( could be 40 ) a week across all characters. What that means is if you're multi boxing 2 characters, you can do it for 30 hours. If you multi box 3, then 20.
This adds to my earlier suggestion that players should only have 1 main character, 1 right of vote and 1 right of ownership per server.
The whole base of being even able to multibox is to use macros/softwares to reproduce input in 2 or more clients.
The moment you remove that makes it simply impossible to multibox, especially on 2 different computers.
This response is basically the same as "don't allow any multiboxing".
I do agree that people with like 5-10 or even more characters is indeed wrong and has the possibility of ruining the game and immersion.
Personally I once tried dual multibox and it was fun, nothing crazy or gamebreaking because even a multiboxer is limited in movements compared to controlling a single character.
WoW has also a lot of support and options to allow this type of gameplay.
Now the long version...
If the goal of the gaming company is to create a game with the most number of players in the genre (type of game) then more ways to play the game will be necessary to appeal to as many play styles as possible. This is the formula that made World of Warcraft the number 1 MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game) in North America with the most players. For example, diverse end game raiding content, diverse group content, many ways to level and experience the game, mount collections, pet collections, diverse ways to PvP for example open world, battlegrounds, smaller confined battles such as arena with rankings, etc. The list goes on. Multiboxing is simply another way to play the MMORPG. By placing restrictions on this play style the only thing that happens is a reduction in the number of players.
By analyzing why players don't like multiboxers you will find that players don't like competition. In essence players believe that by allowing multiboxers without restrictions in terms of number of clients per machine or keyboard/mouse broadcasting players believe they will lose in the game world against a multiboxer either in PvE (Player versus Environment) or PvP (Player versus Player). Most people that play an MMORPG are either by themselves or in a small group. When a multiboxer has a full group or more the smaller group of players tends to be defeated in terms of PvP. In PvE quests or game world objectives are reduced through more competition for resources.
In every forum discussion concerning multiboxers you find many false and misleading statements made against the play style. As mentioned it comes down to competition. People don't want to lose. Everyone wants to win and by reducing the competition people believe they can win more easily. How many times have you seen posts complaining about large raiding guilds or PvP guilds that dominate a server? You find a similar approach to them as you find against multiboxers in that players don't like them because of competition. In terms of multiboxing it's different because people believe they can get that form of competition out of the game. So many complain using false statements against the multiboxing play style.
By reducing competition all the gaming company is doing is losing business. It's not making the game any better or making the player base any happier. The players will continue to play with their method of play style without as much competition available. There are many examples of gaming companies that took the stance of reducing play styles such as multiboxing and failed. Wildstar took that stance and went offline two years ago. Archeage took that stance and continued to merge servers from release until current time and so few players that it's barely even running these days. Other examples that didn't take that stance can be shown to improve the player base numbers. For example FFXIV has no restrictions on the multiboxing play style and it has never merged servers. Many times since release has expanded server capacity and number of servers. It has been so successful there has been character creation restrictions on many servers for too many players. GW2 which was touted as another WoW killer had restrictions on the multiboxing play style. Without a /follow command they already had a major restriction in place where multiboxers wouldn't want to play with that difficulty. Then they additionally added that each client had to have their own key press. The CEO of the gaming company of GW2 stated it was their intention to have more players in their game than any other MMORPG available. That failed simply because there weren't as many ways to play as the number 1 MMORPG in terms of players playing. By having fewer ways to play an MMORPG, you find you have fewer players in the game. Multiboxing is simply another way to play just like a live streamer with many followers is another way to play. A guild leader with a raiding guild is another way to play. A raid leader that controls raids of players to do world PvP is another way to play.
Now let's take a look at the number 1 MMORPG in terms of players playing it in North America, World of Warcraft. From inception on November 23, 2004 to March 5, 2013 there were no restrictions on the multiboxing play style. On March 5, 2013 that changed by one person that was a relatively new hire into the PvP Director position having only worked at the gaming company for less than a year. With his first change into the game he removed the /follow command from battlegrounds which placed a restriction on the multiboxing play style. This feature caused multiboxers that enjoyed the PvP play style in battlegrounds to be restricted so much that in that quarter a total of 300,000 subscriptions were reported to have been canceled. Of course not all of those 300,000 subscriptions were multiboxers but a good majority of them were as indicated on many different multiboxing forums. A lot of multiboxers left and never came back. Some came back during the WoW Classic launch.
The formula used in MMORPGs that makes the number of players playing the MMORPG is the same formula used in all businesses in the history of the world. The company that offers their customers more is the leader in that industry. It is this formula that caused World of Warcraft to be the number 1 most played by most players. A review of the features, and functionality in WoW from release in terms of ways to play the game up to the removal of the /follow command in March 2013 relative to the competitors MMORPGs finds that WoW had more available. Ask many live streamers why they continue to play WoW? It's a 15 year old game why do they continue to go back? You find there are so many things to do, so many ways to play it that are lacking in other MMORPGs that their desire to continue playing leads them back.
If you really sincerely want to have as many players playing as possible, don't place restrictions on play styles or they will end up going back to other games. It's really that simple.
Note: We're not talking about non-play styles such as unattended game play. That's not a play style, that's where no one is there playing.
Show your true intentions and be real to yourself. You can't multibox without keystroke share or macros that is not multibox thats just having multiple accounts but not multiboxing, learn the difference.....Goshhhhh... it's being more than 15year you folks should known this..... In other to Multibox you need follow macros, interact with target macros or its going to be a shit-show.
#FreeMultiboxing #Educationforall #NoRestrictions #PreparedForPresident
It is true 300,000 people could cover 30 Servers for IS, but, Hybrid Combat isn't even conducive to good Multi-Boxing. It wouldn't be fun to be on a server with 10,000 Concurrent players but its really 1,000 Players with 10 Toons each.