Why I don't like the idea of making an alt

Azurephoenix999

Contrary to what people assume when I complain about alts, and having to create one just to play a different class/alliance/hair style, my dislike of having to create one does not stem from having to level them from 1-50 (well, maybe the skill lines, but those Lorebooks took way too long, dammit!).

Here, I will explain precisely why I hate the idea of making another character, and things that I'd change if I was the one calling the shots to make things less irritating.

Skill Lines

I'd understand if it was for skill lines I hadn't already levelled on my main (skills for another class, weapon skills I didn't specialise in, etc.), hell I understand for the rest of them too. It's just....annoying. I mean, say you had to kill 50000 enemies with a two handed weapon to max out the skill line, and say I had gotten to level 50 in that skill line on my main. I'd already killed 50000 enemies on my main, I hate the idea of having to kill another 50000 on my alt just to get back to the point where I was.

To make this less irritating, for skill lines that increase based on experience, AP, inspiration, and reputation, if you already have a character that's a higher rank in those skill lines than your current one, you gain a boost in how quick you level up that skill line, but only until you get to the point where you were on your other character. As an example, your main is level 43 in smithing. If you create an alt, they will level up to 43 in smithing much faster, but will level the normal rate from 43-50.


Skyshards

I'll be honest, it took me ages, but I managed to find every skyshard in the base game, plus a bunch in the DLC. That's something I really hated doing, but I did it anyways because it was for the good of my character. I really hate the idea of doing it a second time, or a third time, or a however-many-times-I'm-going-to-create-an-alt-on-this-game-th time.

If it were up to me, I'd make it so that once you'd gotten a skyshard on one character, you had it on all of your characters. The same applies to skill points earned by hunting them. When you create a new character, you'd have a lot of skill points to spend, just like champion points. It'd be something of a reward for getting all of the skyshards.

Lorebooks

I hate this for the same reason I hate hunting the same skyshards.

I thought briefly about the possibility of making them account-based as well, but then I realised that wouldn't work due to the fact that they are directly tied in with your reputation in the Mages' Guild. I then thought about it some more, and thought of a solution. It's a little convoluted, so please bear with me:

The first time you grab a book in Shalidor's Library, it's there across your account. It also disappears from the overworld on all of your characters. Picking them up adds to the Mages' Guild reputation of the character that picked it up, not the whole account.

"But once all of the books have been collected, that'll make it impossible for new players to gain reputation!" Well, I thought of that. How about a repeatable quest, one where the Mages' Guild send you to recover one of the Lorebooks? It'll pick one at random from the zones you've already visited and, if you've already obtained it on another character, it'll place it there for you to find purely for that quest. You would essentially gain rep in the Mages' guild by doing this repeatable quest.

Recipes

Worked my ass off to get that Psijic Ambrosia recipe, I really don't want to have to do that again. I know I could just have the character that has the recipe craft it for everyone, but that's just hassle I don't want to have to go through. Plus, I'm a completionist, so...

I'd make recipes account wide, or at least allow characters to write down recipes they knew for other characters on the same account to learn.

Trait Research & Crafting Styles

Same as with recipes. Think about all the research time that's been put into your character, now think about all of the crafting styles that character has learned. The crafting styles would be incredibly costly, and the researching would take AGES.

To make it easier, I've come up with an idea for an item called a Memory Stone. Basically, a character will use this to store memory of a style or trait, and then another character would be able to use that stone to learn said trait/style instantly. They'd probably be account bound, since if they could be traded the guild stores would be overrun by them in less than a day.

Conclusion

That's pretty much it, all the reasons I hate the idea of starting a new character.
The top two are easily the biggest pain in the ass, and I don't think I could even consider starting a new character unless they were dealt with in the future.

Conquistador

Okay.

sirrmattus

Typical entitled millennial. So should you get a senior position at you mom/dads job just cause they've already killed 50000 hours of work. Lol

DocFrost72

sirrmattus wrote: »

Typical entitled millennial. So should you get a senior position at you mom/dads job just cause they've already killed 50000 hours of work. Lol

Just wow at that level of stupid. Life =/= a game. OP I feel your pain, every time I discuss race/appearence change.

And better yet, @sirrmattus, I'd love to go back to a time when I walked onto a decent job that could pay my bills. Good freaking luck now adays without goING into debt in a for profit university. It's not entitlement, it is the last raspy breath of the American dream being strangled by corporations with no oversight and shifting blame onto the "lazy youth"

phaneub17_ESO

Skill lines: With the new training trait, you can reach 50 in any active skill line before hitting level 50. You don't have to do every single skill tree, just the class ones at the least.

Recipes: You don't need anything beyond green recipes for alts, you can make all your badass stuff with your main; they only need to gain at most 48 skill line which is doable with green recipes you find along the way. It also gives you another character with 3/3 hireling increasing your chances of getting Frost Miriam.

Traits/Styles: Again, you don't need to do this for alts. If your main has all the traits researched and learned all the motifs, there's no reason to do it again for an alt. If you have maxed out blacksmithing, clothing, and woodworking on your main, you can let your alts grind out on excess weapons and armor to deconstruct. You don't have to spend any points in their tradeskills at all, just burn your extra stuff. If you do spend points, 7ou don't need to spend points on the upgrade or research timer reduction or even the extraction passives. It also gives you more hireling mail which increases your odds of getting epic and legendary mats. If you do writs, that's extra survey maps for each character you have.

Lorebooks: This is completely optional, there's no point in doing it for alts unless you really plan to use the spells in that skill line. If you make a Stamina build character, the most you'll ever need is Persuasion which is the very first passive.

waterfairy

Making an alt doesn't mean that you have to make another character that can do everything (why would you make 2 master crafters?), it's just another character to mix things up when you're bored of your mains class, skills, etc.

Mickey_Ox

Having started my first alt 4 weeks ago i didn't find it that frustrating. For me i didn't need to fond so many skyshards as I didnt need as many skill points as my main. I don't have to worry about crafting or lvling any professions like blacksmithing or provisioning for example as my main can craft/make anything i need.
With the leveling up skills, i son't agree with having them unlocked from your main as thats a bit easy too as i can fully level a weapon skill line in under 1 vet lvl as the exp earned at that lvl is far superior thus making it far quicker than when leveling it up from the start.
My only issue with levelling an alt has been the riding skills as having to wait 180 days of continuous progress to reach the same level is so ****** annoying
Again this is just my personal experience having gone through the process so recently.

Lysette

Well, your suggestions would kill role play - the interesting part with playing a different character, is not, that he/she has to do all in the same way as the former one, because what would be the point of makeing one at all then?- Each character is his/her own and makes own experiences and progresses in his/her own way - that is role play and this is a role playing game. Not one, where you get all maxed out, just because you did it once on a totally different character. Already the commonly useable champion points are a violation of this, we do not need even more violations of role play.

DocFrost72

Lysette wrote: »

Well, your suggestions would kill role play - the interesting part with playing a different character, is not, that he/she has to do all in the same way as the former one, because what would be the point of makeing one at all then?- Each character is his/her own and makes own experiences and progresses in his/her own way - that is role play and this is a role playing game. Not one, where you get all maxed out, just because you did it once on a totally different character.

I would offer a small rebuttal with that. Leveling the character 1-50 and skill lines is easy, no need to nerf that. But to a small degree titles, skyshards, and for the divines' sake something like changing a hairstyle shouldn't take that much of a comittment, at least imo.

Unsent.Soul

My alts are there for a reason, to try a different class, style, race, etc. Nobody is forcing you to learn traits on every character... That seems stupid honestly. Everything you pointed out is YOUR choice. You just seem like you want things to b handed to you so you don't have to waste time playing the game...

Lysette

DocFrost72 wrote: »

Lysette wrote: »

Well, your suggestions would kill role play - the interesting part with playing a different character, is not, that he/she has to do all in the same way as the former one, because what would be the point of makeing one at all then?- Each character is his/her own and makes own experiences and progresses in his/her own way - that is role play and this is a role playing game. Not one, where you get all maxed out, just because you did it once on a totally different character.

I would offer a small rebuttal with that. Leveling the character 1-50 and skill lines is easy, no need to nerf that. But to a small degree titles, skyshards, and for the divines' sake something like changing a hairstyle shouldn't take that much of a comittment, at least imo.

Fortunately enough we will get the barber shop soon - with new hairstyles and stuff - Elloa said something like this and she was at the convention and talked to Devs.

Azurephoenix999

Mickey_Ox wrote: »

Having started my first alt 4 weeks ago i didn't find it that frustrating. For me i didn't need to fond so many skyshards as I didnt need as many skill points as my main. I don't have to worry about crafting or lvling any professions like blacksmithing or provisioning for example as my main can craft/make anything i need.
With the leveling up skills, i son't agree with having them unlocked from your main as thats a bit easy too as i can fully level a weapon skill line in under 1 vet lvl as the exp earned at that lvl is far superior thus making it far quicker than when leveling it up from the start.
My only issue with levelling an alt has been the riding skills as having to wait 180 days of continuous progress to reach the same level is so ****** annoying
Again this is just my personal experience having gone through the process so recently.

Ah, crap! Riding skills, I completely forgot about those. I feel you there, I'm still levelling mine (only 4 days left!).

Gidorick

ZOS should sell an "apprentice" character slot for 60K crowns.

New slot... new character. Same stats as another one of your characters.

While I don't personally feel the frustration of alts @Azurephoenix999 I get what you mean and understand where you are coming from.

You did all that once... why MUST you do it again? What would it break to allow you to just do a copy of your stats to a new character? What advantage would that give you beside time?

ContraTempo

Wow, they sure got you to keep playing for a long time doing all that.

sirrmattus

DocFrost72 wrote: »

sirrmattus wrote: »

Typical entitled millennial. So should you get a senior position at you mom/dads job just cause they've already killed 50000 hours of work. Lol

Just wow at that level of stupid. Life =/= a game. OP I feel your pain, every time I discuss race/appearence change.

And better yet, @sirrmattus, I'd love to go back to a time when I walked onto a decent job that could pay my bills. Good freaking luck now adays without goING into debt in a for profit university. It's not entitlement, it is the last raspy breath of the American dream being strangled by corporations with no oversight and shifting blame onto the "lazy youth"

Ok I'll make it more simple. If you want a boiled egg, boil an egg. If you want a new maxed out alt, go max out your alt.

FortheloveofKrist

DocFrost72 wrote: »

sirrmattus wrote: »

Typical entitled millennial. So should you get a senior position at you mom/dads job just cause they've already killed 50000 hours of work. Lol

Just wow at that level of stupid. Life =/= a game. OP I feel your pain, every time I discuss race/appearence change.

And better yet, @sirrmattus, I'd love to go back to a time when I walked onto a decent job that could pay my bills. Good freaking luck now adays without goING into debt in a for profit university. It's not entitlement, it is the last raspy breath of the American dream being strangled by corporations with no oversight and shifting blame onto the "lazy youth"

@DocFrost72

Tabbycat

I guess your problem will be more or less fixed with the whole One Tamriel thing.

Lysette

Tabbycat wrote: »

I guess your problem will be more or less fixed with the whole One Tamriel thing.

Not really, there are still levels and skill lines - you have to work on them or you do not have access to them. Battle-level scaling is just changing your attributes and effect values of potions, food, beverages and enchantments, but you cannot make use of those without the proper level - you are not becoming level 50 with it - just your stats are scaled not your level or skill ranks. And loot is scaled to your level and materials to your level or skill rank - 50:50 - you are not suddenly stronger or higher leveled with One Tamriel.