How do you treat your alt characters?

The_Sadist · July 2015

As a completionist I try to treat all of my characters as my mains, but I'm quite biased towards my Sorcerer (purely in terms of achievement priority). If ESO had a semi shared achievement system all of my characters would be treated as equals due to not needing to mindlessly farm collectibles or fish for weeks on end.

UrQuan · July 2015

TheShadowScout wrote: »

For me the difference between main and alt is how much thought I spent on their backstory, and if I just play the game with them, or am prepared to roleplay them when the occasion arises.

That's an interesting way of looking at it. I've always got a concept in mind when I create a character (a concept beyond something like: orc templar), so in my head all of my characters have at least some backstory (this concept is also why I spend so much time getting the look of each of my characters right - it's to fit my concept for them). That's the way I've always approached any character I've played in any game, and it's probably a result of my pen & paper RPG background. having said that, I don't actually do any RP in ESO. I really only like to RP in person with friends. I enjoy being social in ESO, but RPing online isn't my cup of tea.

TheShadowScout wrote: »

But I am an altaholic... and thus I have all eight slot filled, and all in the veteran ranks.

You can't properly call yourself an altaholic until you have at least 2 accounts and 16 characters like I do

Only 6 of mine are VR, and the other 10 range from level 16 to level 38... I've got the 8 characters on my main account listed in my sig, but I didn't bother with the 8 on my second account because I don't play them nearly as often, and I would have run out of room anyway.

Muletide · July 2015

My alts get twinked out: set gear, gold, food, glyphs, key to the executive restroom, etc.

SahrotRein · July 2015

UrQuan wrote: »

TheShadowScout wrote: »

For me the difference between main and alt is how much thought I spent on their backstory, and if I just play the game with them, or am prepared to roleplay them when the occasion arises.

That's an interesting way of looking at it. I've always got a concept in mind when I create a character (a concept beyond something like: orc templar), so in my head all of my characters have at least some backstory (this concept is also why I spend so much time getting the look of each of my characters right - it's to fit my concept for them). That's the way I've always approached any character I've played in any game, and it's probably a result of my pen & paper RPG background. having said that, I don't actually do any RP in ESO. I really only like to RP in person with friends. I enjoy being social in ESO, but RPing online isn't my cup of tea.

TheShadowScout wrote: »

But I am an altaholic... and thus I have all eight slot filled, and all in the veteran ranks.

You can't properly call yourself an altaholic until you have at least 2 accounts and 16 characters like I do Only 6 of mine are VR, and the other 10 range from level 16 to level 38... I've got the 8 characters on my main account listed in my sig, but I didn't bother with the 8 on my second account because I don't play them nearly as often, and I would have run out of room anyway.

Now I feel like somebody understands what my struggle is with characters

) For instance before I make my character I already think of how I will RP him. Is he gonna be pure evil, pure good? Something between? What quest decision will he make etc.
I will even buy a horse for every upcoming alt I will make. For my evil DC NB (that hasn't been created yet) I will buy the fire horse for 2,5k crowns, purely for cosmetic reasons as I have an Imperial horse for my Imperial main. Only if I knew what horse suits an Altmer? I was thinking of Palomino. Any ideas?

TequilaFire · July 2015

My Dark Elf DK kept my Khajiit NB as a slave till he unlocked FEAR!

SahrotRein · July 2015

TequilaFire wrote: »

My Dark Elf DK kept my Khajiit NB as a slave till he unlocked FEAR!

I see that your Imperial alts seem to have latin names, right? My Imperial DK's name is also composed of two latin words

I pay my respects to you.

likewow777 · July 2015

Short answer: I put time and care into ALL of my characters. In my head, the goal is always, if it were ever possible to play all of them at once, enemies beware. To that end, each is good at something and has specific utility in certain situations. But, they are a team, and share gold, resources, crafted items, etc.

I tend to be both analytical and emotional about each of my characters. During each one's creation, I spend a lot of time on making sure the facial features, body type, hair style, etc, match the way I envision the character will be played. For example, my DK DPS is a 2H female, so I made her more muscular in build, since she's gotta lug around an enormous sword. I also made her as short as possible, because I tend to like the idea a character that looks small, sort of like an underdog, but will completely annihilate anything in her way.

For naming, I think I spend even more time on that than the physical design, tbh. The name's gotta sound good, to me, which means spending time looking up examples, typing them out, hating the way it looks/sounds, deleting, typing, etc. It's hard to describe, but I essentially want the name to be evocative and sound good, at least to me. I just can't do names like "Spaghetti Face", or something. The name might also have some sort of racial background, though I'm honestly not strict on that.

Characters:

Elyssa Solaire
Casara Skyfire
Ria Shadowvale
Fiora Solaire (little sister of Elyssa, but not VR yet)

Also, I do not create "mules". Something about the idea of creating a character that just carries around your extra s**t. It just seems mean... If I make a character, I invest in that character.

Arandear · July 2015

I got 2 V14's and 2 V4's. With the new VR Ranks coming out I decided that I would basically tie up all loose ends (Any unfinished Quests and Achievements I wanted to do, make new Armor and clean everything up) on 3 of the characters apart from my first, which is my Main. I even placed the 3 characters in the bank at Craglorn and have said to myself I am not to play them until I am happy my Main has pretty much done everything I want. Kinda feels like too much effort keep having to Grind the other characters up Veteran Ranks and stuff, if you get my meaning. Just my opinion though.

When the new VR Ranks were announced I basically got super OCD and felt like trying to do different content across 4 characters was not worth it haha.

SahrotRein · July 2015

likewow777 wrote: »

I tend to be both analytical and emotional about each of my characters. During each one's creation, I spend a lot of time on making sure the facial features, body type, hair style, etc, match the way I envision the character will be played. For example, my DK DPS is a 2H female, so I made her more muscular in build, since she's gotta lug around an enormous sword. I also made her as short as possible, because I tend to like the idea a character that looks small, sort of like an underdog, but will completely annihilate anything in her way.

For naming, I think I spend even more time on that than the physical design, tbh. The name's gotta sound good, to me, which means spending time looking up examples, typing them out, hating the way it looks/sounds, deleting, typing, etc. It's hard to describe, but I essentially want the name to be evocative and sound good, at least to me. I just can't do names like "Spaghetti Face", or something. The name might also have some sort of racial background, though I'm honestly not strict on that.

Exactly my case. I spend hours and hours to finally come up with a name for my Imperial DK "Eres Decretum" and also my Imperial NB "Fatum Eredus". Now I came up with an Altmer name "Runaan Fortis". I know it's hard to describe but as for me, I understand you quite well

As for the horse I talked about, what horse do you guys think suits Altmer the most?

Violynne · July 2015

A few days ago, I finally deleted my previous lvl 24 character, though I don't really know why I kept it so long since I stopped playing it weeks ago.

Now, I just have one. With the bank/training/bag space increases I now have, I don't even need them as pack mules (which would be a pain anyway).

Kurimugann · July 2015

Ps4: right now I main one, maybe I'll play the other two (in different factions) later on, but I think they'll be mules until the main maxes the bank. (going from Sorc with lovely summons to Stamina NB/DK is a tough transfer) Plus since the main will eventually do the other factions' quests..I don't know there's the fact that they just keep adding more and more levels for me to never reach (vet 16? when did vet 15 happen I though they were going to remove vet levels) The mules might eventually just level up the crafting skills the main wont focus on

PC: 1 main, 3 mules in different classes. basically the same story only THAT main could really use a respect cause dual wield stamina dragon knight dies a lot when alone, which is 99% of the time in Cadwell stuffs

Celestrael · July 2015

I don't roll alts. Even less reason to do so on ESO because you can play multiple roles by just changing around gear. I'm leveling up a Templar Tank with Healer Alt Spec. That way I'll always have a spot in groups, and keep short queue times for dungeons. ;-)

Corrupted_Soul · July 2015

I treat my Alt like the Argonian scum it is

snackrat · July 2015

My alts benefit from my main, who is also a master crafter. Most anything that any character (main included) earns is stored in the bank.
Often the character I am playing that day with withdraw most of that so if I come across a guild trader with some good deals I can browse through it.
My main is a crafter and EP healer. My alts are EP DPS, EP tank, one AD, one DC, and one Mule.

Blackhorne · July 2015

I have 3 characters, one in each alliance. I level each one up in turn, trading off when I reach a zone end or level milestone. Each session I log into each one to take their craft-specific mats from the bank and their hirelings, and to research anything new.

They're currently 30-somethings (I prefer to play slowly.)

As for names, I try to find something lore-ish, but with a twist. My Argonian DK, for example, is Lurks In Forums, while my Orc Sorc is Burdz-go-Buum.

UrQuan · July 2015

Eres wrote: »

UrQuan wrote: »

TheShadowScout wrote: »

For me the difference between main and alt is how much thought I spent on their backstory, and if I just play the game with them, or am prepared to roleplay them when the occasion arises.

That's an interesting way of looking at it. I've always got a concept in mind when I create a character (a concept beyond something like: orc templar), so in my head all of my characters have at least some backstory (this concept is also why I spend so much time getting the look of each of my characters right - it's to fit my concept for them). That's the way I've always approached any character I've played in any game, and it's probably a result of my pen & paper RPG background. having said that, I don't actually do any RP in ESO. I really only like to RP in person with friends. I enjoy being social in ESO, but RPing online isn't my cup of tea.

TheShadowScout wrote: »

But I am an altaholic... and thus I have all eight slot filled, and all in the veteran ranks.

You can't properly call yourself an altaholic until you have at least 2 accounts and 16 characters like I do Only 6 of mine are VR, and the other 10 range from level 16 to level 38... I've got the 8 characters on my main account listed in my sig, but I didn't bother with the 8 on my second account because I don't play them nearly as often, and I would have run out of room anyway.

Now I feel like somebody understands what my struggle is with characters ) For instance before I make my character I already think of how I will RP him. Is he gonna be pure evil, pure good? Something between? What quest decision will he make etc.
I will even buy a horse for every upcoming alt I will make. For my evil DC NB (that hasn't been created yet) I will buy the fire horse for 2,5k crowns, purely for cosmetic reasons as I have an Imperial horse for my Imperial main. Only if I knew what horse suits an Altmer? I was thinking of Palomino. Any ideas?

Hmm, actually we're very alike in the way we play. Any time a quest has a decision to be made I always take the choice that I think the character I'm playing at the time would take. That goes for red choices that affect the outcome of the quest as well as things like whether I'll intimidate someone or whatever.

Each of my characters on my main account also has a different horse and a different pet (some of my characters on my second account have the same horse as others, or the same pet as others). My Altmer uses the Nightmare Courser, but that's not really because he's an Altmer - it's because he's a power hungry vampire who enjoys summoning creatures from Oblivion and forcing them to do his bidding (he's a sorc who uses a Twilight and sometimes a Clannfear, and he's got a Scamp as a pet).

For a more standard Altmer I'd maybe go with a bay dun horse from a stablemaster (the 42K gold light brown one that used to give a bonus to speed). The palomino would work nicely too though

driosketch · July 2015

Well generally I have spent almost a much time on my main as all my other characters combined. My main is where I focus most of my achievement earning on, where I burn through my elightenment, and where I apply and craft the best quality gear. He's also where I've been spending most of my PvP time exclusively lately. My main of course has a back story that dictates his questing. I generally keep about 50k gold on my main and bank the rest.

The next tier are a pair of sub mains, meant to cover the quest and exploration of the other two factions. Each also has a bit of a back story that shapes their motivation. Each I've played around twice as much as any of the remaing alts. I spend a good amount of time gearing them, though not to the same quality as my main. They like my main are self sufficient equipment crafters. Both PvP, but moreso the EP character. The AD one is also my designate enchanter and holds all runes above what's needed to complete a level 1 writ. They generally have about 30k in gold on hand.

The next tier of alts are story back ups, one per faction. They have some minor characterization, but are mainly there to make what if choices on the quests differing from the mains. Each is an experimental build. None of them are self sufficent, relying on the mains to craft for them. Though I still spend a fair amount of time gearing them and trying out unique drop sets. The Tank gets played the least, and is serving as partime mule for back up costumes and pvp items. My archer is my designate cook, holding all the ingredients, and my NB is my alchemist, though her inventory is only for solvents and many costumes and armor of various styles. All of them PvP, or have, and I generally keep 20k gold on each.

The next tier alt has a lot of character, doesn't really concern himself with quests, and is my top thief. And for this reason never has more than 5,000 gold on him just in case. He used to wear what ever he found, but recently I decided to outfit him with a proper set. Yes he does PvP.

The eighth character doesn't even get a mention in my sig. That's because I delete them every time they reach level 10. This is my really experiment and explore the first 2-3 skills of a class or weapon line. They wear what they find or make themselves, and never hold more than 1,000 gold. They are a low level forager and for when I might need a new low level character.

TheShadowScout · July 2015

UrQuan wrote: »

That's an interesting way of looking at it. I've always got a concept in mind when I create a character (a concept beyond something like: orc templar), so in my head all of my characters have at least some backstory (this concept is also why I spend so much time getting the look of each of my characters right - it's to fit my concept for them). That's the way I've always approached any character I've played in any game, and it's probably a result of my pen & paper RPG background.

Oh, I have concepts for all of mine. Some are quite simple, others a bit more elaborate... (from "Nord thunder priest out to find adventure and compare the different beverages of Tamriel" over "Breton witch turned vampire using her innocent looks to keep fed" to "Bosmer archer girl cast out from her clan for not following the green pact as diligently as she should have") I also always consider if any of mine will be a generally "paragon" or "renegade" character. Or if cou will, if they will be lawful or chaotic, good or evil.

But actually sitting down and writing out a full backstory, thinking of where exactly the character came from, how they grew up, what their likes and dislikes are and what they did when before the events in the opening cinematic, and what they aim for now, et cetera... that is something I reserve for my "main" characters. (note to self - when the summer heat abates, sit down and organize all the scraps to write up Kelasendars backstory as well)

And yeah, P&P roleplaying backgrounds tend to lead one in this direction

Eres wrote: »

As for the horse I talked about, what horse do you guys think suits Altmer the most?

I went with a Bay Dun for my altmer. The light brown color seems appropiate for a golden-skinned race... I suppose the Palomino horse is also somewhat light brownish if I don't misremember this?

I definitely want to have a different horse for each character, though some of mine haven't yet found a mount that suits them... but my Altmer healer rides her dun bay "Dawnstride", my Nord a brown paint horse called "Snowfall", my Orc her sorrel "Barkthorn", my Bosmer huntress her senche "Shirah" any my Argonian his guar (duh

) And until I find something better, the rest will have to share my Dunmer bounty huntress midnight steed "Nightfall"...