Having Two Accounts - Naughty or Nice?

ookami007 · October 2016

Can we have multiple accounts without breaking the ToS?

Unsent.Soul · October 2016

Yes, I've heard of quite a few PC players having two accounts.

Runs · October 2016

Owning and playing multiple accounts are fine. You just can't play multiple accounts at the same time aka multi-boxing.

If you search enough you will find ZOS mods saying the same.

andreasranasen · October 2016

Yes you can! You have all the rights in the world to have several accounts. About playing on different accounts at the same time, no one has to know

danno8 · October 2016

https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/23701/kw/multiboxing

In short, multiple accounts is fine. But you can't play them at the same time.

Not exactly sure why not. Can't think of how it would affect any aspect of the game negatively. Maybe I'm just not creative enough.

Maybe they really want you to have that extra person in your group to step on those pressure plates.

Elsonso · October 2016

Multiple accounts is fine. Being logged in with multiple accounts is also not against the ToS. The account owner must operate all of them manually. No control or coordination software. No software or hardware that links account actions, character movement, combat, etc. No help from another person. The ToS prohibits the software and hardware that would coordinate actions on two or more accounts, or runs the accounts unattended. It also prohibits someone else from driving one or more of the accounts, no matter how innocent the activity. It says absolutely nothing about being logged in on multiple owned accounts at the same time.

Naturally, such things limit the usability of being logged in on multiple accounts for things like questing and combat.

code65536 · October 2016

danno8 wrote: »

https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/23701/kw/multiboxing

In short, multiple accounts is fine. But you can't play them at the same time.

Not exactly sure why not. Can't think of how it would affect any aspect of the game negatively. Maybe I'm just not creative enough.

Maybe they really want you to have that extra person in your group to step on those pressure plates.

The definition of "simultaneously" is quite literal here.

For example, let's say I have two accounts logged on at once, and I want to move both characters from point A to point B.

One way to do this is to run a distance on account 1. Then turn my attention to account 2 and move that character forward. Then back to account 1 to go forward a bit more. And so on. I'm not actually playing both accounts simultaneously--I'm playing account 1 briefly, then account 2, then account 1, etc. I'm just switching back and forth quickly, and that's fine.

What isn't fine is if I somehow program my second account to follow my first account around because then I'm literally controlling both accounts simultaneously, instead of swapping back and forth.

Annalyse · October 2016

lordrichter wrote: »

Multiple accounts is fine. Being logged in with multiple accounts is also not against the ToS. The account owner must operate all of them manually. No control or coordination software. No software or hardware that links account actions, character movement, combat, etc. No help from another person. The ToS prohibits the software and hardware that would coordinate actions on two or more accounts, or runs the accounts unattended. It also prohibits someone else from driving one or more of the accounts, no matter how innocent the activity. It says absolutely nothing about being logged in on multiple owned accounts at the same time.

Naturally, such things limit the usability of being logged in on multiple accounts for things like questing and combat.

So is this definitely how it works? I was toying with the idea of getting a second account mostly to use as mules, so that I could log that account and trade to my other characters when they needed stuff rather than having to store stuff on the characters that I play. But I was concerned that it might be against the rules to have both open at one time (even though I would only be trading stuff).

code65536 · October 2016

Annalyse wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

Multiple accounts is fine. Being logged in with multiple accounts is also not against the ToS. The account owner must operate all of them manually. No control or coordination software. No software or hardware that links account actions, character movement, combat, etc. No help from another person. The ToS prohibits the software and hardware that would coordinate actions on two or more accounts, or runs the accounts unattended. It also prohibits someone else from driving one or more of the accounts, no matter how innocent the activity. It says absolutely nothing about being logged in on multiple owned accounts at the same time.

Naturally, such things limit the usability of being logged in on multiple accounts for things like questing and combat.

So is this definitely how it works? I was toying with the idea of getting a second account mostly to use as mules, so that I could log that account and trade to my other characters when they needed stuff rather than having to store stuff on the characters that I play. But I was concerned that it might be against the rules to have both open at one time (even though I would only be trading stuff).

That's perfectly fine. A lot of people use mules that way.

Annalyse · October 2016

code65536 wrote: »

Annalyse wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

Multiple accounts is fine. Being logged in with multiple accounts is also not against the ToS. The account owner must operate all of them manually. No control or coordination software. No software or hardware that links account actions, character movement, combat, etc. No help from another person. The ToS prohibits the software and hardware that would coordinate actions on two or more accounts, or runs the accounts unattended. It also prohibits someone else from driving one or more of the accounts, no matter how innocent the activity. It says absolutely nothing about being logged in on multiple owned accounts at the same time.

Naturally, such things limit the usability of being logged in on multiple accounts for things like questing and combat.

So is this definitely how it works? I was toying with the idea of getting a second account mostly to use as mules, so that I could log that account and trade to my other characters when they needed stuff rather than having to store stuff on the characters that I play. But I was concerned that it might be against the rules to have both open at one time (even though I would only be trading stuff).

That's perfectly fine. A lot of people use mules that way.

Thanks for the info!

Katahdin · October 2016

Annalyse wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

Multiple accounts is fine. Being logged in with multiple accounts is also not against the ToS. The account owner must operate all of them manually. No control or coordination software. No software or hardware that links account actions, character movement, combat, etc. No help from another person. The ToS prohibits the software and hardware that would coordinate actions on two or more accounts, or runs the accounts unattended. It also prohibits someone else from driving one or more of the accounts, no matter how innocent the activity. It says absolutely nothing about being logged in on multiple owned accounts at the same time.

Naturally, such things limit the usability of being logged in on multiple accounts for things like questing and combat.

So is this definitely how it works? I was toying with the idea of getting a second account mostly to use as mules, so that I could log that account and trade to my other characters when they needed stuff rather than having to store stuff on the characters that I play. But I was concerned that it might be against the rules to have both open at one time (even though I would only be trading stuff).

I think you can be logged into both at the same time as long as they are on separate computers and independent of each other and you are the one using both (ie youre not letting another person use one account). You could trade back and forth this way: you would use computer A to move the character on Acct A, then use a separate keyboard/mouse on computer B to move the character on Acct B.

I dont think you can have 2 accounts running on the same computer at the same time. Not sure though. It might be allowed IF you have to switch between windows and cant control both characters at the same time. You definitely can not control both characters at the exact same time using some type of software or hardware that would allow that.

Ackwalan · October 2016

You can have and play as many accounts as you want. You can even play them at the same time. One of the things you can't do is, use a third party program to autoplay one of the accounts for you.

Katahdin · October 2016

Ackwalan wrote: »

You can have and play as many accounts as you want. You can even play them at the same time. One of the things you can't do is, use a third party program to autoplay one of the accounts for you.

You might want to read this a little more carefully.

https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/23701/kw/multiboxing

You can not be playing them at the exact same time, controlling all the accounts at the exact same time ie. simultaneously.

Mojmir · October 2016

Used to

Katahdin wrote: »

Ackwalan wrote: »

You can have and play as many accounts as you want. You can even play them at the same time. One of the things you can't do is, use a third party program to autoplay one of the accounts for you.

You might want to read this a little more carefully.

https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/23701/kw/multiboxing

You can not be playing them at the exact same time, controlling all the accounts at the exact same time ie. simultaneously.

Sure I can,separate machines and servers.

Soafee · October 2016

Runs wrote: »

Owning and playing multiple accounts are fine. You just can't play multiple accounts at the same time aka multi-boxing.

If you search enough you will find ZOS mods saying the same.

Thank the stars. That ruined WoW in a lot of ways and some servers were swamped with them. They lag out entire servers. One guy has something like 85 accounts, at one time he was paying around 2k a month to play wow until they let people buy account time with in game gold.

I'm loving this game more and more every day.

Rhyagell · October 2016

I certainly hope it isn't! I have a large family that I am buying the game for so we can play together. If this turns out to be against the rules/bannable, it would be really disappointing.

ZOS_JohanaB · October 2016

Hi guys just letting you know that yes, you can have multiple accounts as can be seen here.

camknox · October 2016

ZOS_JohanaB wrote: »

Hi guys just letting you know that yes, you can have multiple accounts as can be seen here.

And there is no limitation in the EULA preventing you from being able to play them at the same time (though it's near on impossible, I know as I have tried).

itehache · October 2016

May I ask why would you want to have 2 accounts?

Not trolling, I'm really curious.

Mady · October 2016

camknox wrote: »

ZOS_JohanaB wrote: »

Hi guys just letting you know that yes, you can have multiple accounts as can be seen here.

And there is no limitation in the EULA preventing you from being able to play them at the same time (though it's near on impossible, I know as I have tried).

What? It's super easy....just make a copy of the whole game.

fioskal · October 2016

Mady wrote: »

camknox wrote: »

ZOS_JohanaB wrote: »

Hi guys just letting you know that yes, you can have multiple accounts as can be seen here.

And there is no limitation in the EULA preventing you from being able to play them at the same time (though it's near on impossible, I know as I have tried).

What? It's super easy....just make a copy of the whole game.

Don't even need to do that, just play the second account as another user.

At least on Windows 10, you can shift-right click on the program and say Run as different user. It'll allow you to have two different instances open at the same time.

ZOS_DaryaK · October 2016

We've removed a couple of posts that were either meaningless or advertised activity that is against our TOS.

While you can have multiple accounts, it is a violation of our Terms of Service to share accounts. In other words, an account can only have a single user; a single user can have as many counts as they like.

Elsonso · October 2016

Katahdin wrote: »

Annalyse wrote: »

lordrichter wrote: »

Multiple accounts is fine. Being logged in with multiple accounts is also not against the ToS. The account owner must operate all of them manually. No control or coordination software. No software or hardware that links account actions, character movement, combat, etc. No help from another person. The ToS prohibits the software and hardware that would coordinate actions on two or more accounts, or runs the accounts unattended. It also prohibits someone else from driving one or more of the accounts, no matter how innocent the activity. It says absolutely nothing about being logged in on multiple owned accounts at the same time.

Naturally, such things limit the usability of being logged in on multiple accounts for things like questing and combat.

So is this definitely how it works? I was toying with the idea of getting a second account mostly to use as mules, so that I could log that account and trade to my other characters when they needed stuff rather than having to store stuff on the characters that I play. But I was concerned that it might be against the rules to have both open at one time (even though I would only be trading stuff).

I think you can be logged into both at the same time as long as they are on separate computers and independent of each other and you are the one using both (ie youre not letting another person use one account). You could trade back and forth this way: you would use computer A to move the character on Acct A, then use a separate keyboard/mouse on computer B to move the character on Acct B.

I dont think you can have 2 accounts running on the same computer at the same time. Not sure though. It might be allowed IF you have to switch between windows and cant control both characters at the same time. You definitely can not control both characters at the exact same time using some type of software or hardware that would allow that.

I use two computers, not connected in any manner that will allow one computer to control the other. They are close enough that I can easily switch between them. I can fully control only one at a time, and that is good enough for the uncommon event where I need to be logged in like this.

I have heard of people using one computer and switching between two game processes. Never tried it. Sounds like more of a technical issue than a ToS issue. Two copies of the game would want to share common files. Not sure how robust that woild be.

danno8 · October 2016

fioskal wrote: »

Mady wrote: »

camknox wrote: »

ZOS_JohanaB wrote: »

Hi guys just letting you know that yes, you can have multiple accounts as can be seen here.

And there is no limitation in the EULA preventing you from being able to play them at the same time (though it's near on impossible, I know as I have tried).

What? It's super easy....just make a copy of the whole game.

Don't even need to do that, just play the second account as another user.

At least on Windows 10, you can shift-right click on the program and say Run as different user. It'll allow you to have two different instances open at the same time.

Don't even need to do that. As soon as you are logged in on one account you can just double click eso(64).exe and a second instance will start up. Just can't use the launcher.

I find it funny that the two mods in this thread offered less info than the rest of us and didn't really clarify the "at the same time" condition.

So the question is "Can two accounts be logged in at the same time with characters existing in the game world simultaneously but not being controlled simultaneously by the same person (or third party program) and not being controlled by a non-account holder?"

danno8 · October 2016

code65536 wrote: »

danno8 wrote: »

https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/23701/kw/multiboxing

In short, multiple accounts is fine. But you can't play them at the same time.

Not exactly sure why not. Can't think of how it would affect any aspect of the game negatively. Maybe I'm just not creative enough.

Maybe they really want you to have that extra person in your group to step on those pressure plates.

The definition of "simultaneously" is quite literal here.

For example, let's say I have two accounts logged on at once, and I want to move both characters from point A to point B.

One way to do this is to run a distance on account 1. Then turn my attention to account 2 and move that character forward. Then back to account 1 to go forward a bit more. And so on. I'm not actually playing both accounts simultaneously--I'm playing account 1 briefly, then account 2, then account 1, etc. I'm just switching back and forth quickly, and that's fine.

What isn't fine is if I somehow program my second account to follow my first account around because then I'm literally controlling both accounts simultaneously, instead of swapping back and forth.

The term that they need to clearer on is "playing". Although I think you are correct, in my mind "playing" two accounts simultaneously could include having them both logged in at the same time.

Again I think you are right, that splitting your attention between two characters on two different accounts (and not using any third party programs to help you) is hardly advantages to your gameplay and should be just fine.

starbuck1771b14_ESO · October 2016

ZOS_JohanaB wrote: »

Hi guys just letting you know that yes, you can have multiple accounts as can be seen here.

Yeah but I consider that questionable. If I am allowed multiple accounts why should I be required to use multiple email addresses instead of just linking them all to one master account? Has ZOS not figured out how to do that yet? Also as for multi-boxing as long as there is no third party software involved I do not see how it would violate the terms of service especially if they are on separate accounts registered to separate emails. You guys are making loopholes in your own TOS.

Katahdin · October 2016

Mojmir wrote: »

Used to

Katahdin wrote: »

Ackwalan wrote: »

You can have and play as many accounts as you want. You can even play them at the same time. One of the things you can't do is, use a third party program to autoplay one of the accounts for you.

You might want to read this a little more carefully.

https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/23701/kw/multiboxing

You can not be playing them at the exact same time, controlling all the accounts at the exact same time ie. simultaneously.

Sure I can,separate machines and servers.

Yes but you can not be controlling one account at the exact same time as you are controlling the other account. They can also be on the same server (ie NA/EU)

I have 2 accounts on the NA server and use 2 computers but I need to switch to each machine to control each one.
I cant be controlling 2 characters at the EXACT same time with one keyboard. Ie one account auto follows the other or somehow copies the other when I am controlling the first account.

The key phase here is "exact same time". Both accounts can be logged in but you need to switch between them to control the characters you cant be controlling them at the exact same time.

I used my second account as a bank when the game first started until my main account had enough bag and bank space to satisfy my hoarding tendencies. Also at the beginning of the game, we could only have 8 characters so if you wanted one of each class in each faction (12 characters) you needed another account. Also there are people that just like to play alot of alts.

Elsonso · October 2016

Katahdin wrote: »

The key phase here is "exact same time". Both accounts can be logged in but you need to switch between them to control the characters you cant be controlling them at the exact same time.

Well, as I see it, as long as you are manually controlling both accounts, using no macros or other assistance, you are complying with the ToS. If you have one hand on the keyboard for Character A and the other hand on the keyboard for Character B, you are within the letter of the ToS. The ToS just talks about third party software, macros, and sharing accounts. The ToS makes no reference, in any fashion, that says you cannot run 5 characters on 5 computers by using both hands, both feet, and your nose.

Now, convincing ZOS of this when they think otherwise might be a challenge. That is the real risk here. ZOS may not believe that you are running the accounts manually, with no assistance. However, as ineffective as someone will be even running two accounts, one with each hand, I find it hard to believe that ZOS would be unable to figure it out. Given the time to look into it and the inclination to do so, that is.

But, I doubt they are even looking. At most, they might see two players from the same IP address, different systems. Unless someone reports one, or both, of the players, no one at ZOS may even notice.

Aside, I would certainly like to see a video of someone trying to run 5 characters as described above.

TheAngelofDeath99 · October 2016

Since ZoS will make money off of it, they're probably fine with it lol.

UrQuan · October 2016

itehache wrote: »

May I ask why would you want to have 2 accounts?

Not trolling, I'm really curious.

Most of the people I know with multiple accounts (myself included) have them in order to get more characters. Along with that of course you also get more storage space, between the bank and the inventories of those additional characters.

There are other benefits too. If you're running around far from a bank/merchant and your inventory is full, you can bounce mail off your other account.

You can collect the different possible daily quests on the characters on your other account so that if you want to do all of the dailies of a particular character on your main account you just need to group with the characters on your other account to share the quests (I've got characters on my 2nd and 3rd accounts sitting on each of the 15 different dailies for each of the 3 original NPC guilds).

If you want to solo something that requires 2 characters to stand on different pressure plates or whatever you can do that (although I find it to be a pain to try to actually do stuff that requires me to be logged on to 2 accounts at the same time without having 1 of the characters I'm on just parked in a city).

JasonSilverSpring · October 2016

lordrichter wrote: »

Katahdin wrote: »

The key phase here is "exact same time". Both accounts can be logged in but you need to switch between them to control the characters you cant be controlling them at the exact same time.

Well, as I see it, as long as you are manually controlling both accounts, using no macros or other assistance, you are complying with the ToS. If you have one hand on the keyboard for Character A and the other hand on the keyboard for Character B, you are within the letter of the ToS. The ToS just talks about third party software, macros, and sharing accounts. The ToS makes no reference, in any fashion, that says you cannot run 5 characters on 5 computers by using both hands, both feet, and your nose.

Now, convincing ZOS of this when they think otherwise might be a challenge. That is the real risk here. ZOS may not believe that you are running the accounts manually, with no assistance. However, as ineffective as someone will be even running two accounts, one with each hand, I find it hard to believe that ZOS would be unable to figure it out. Given the time to look into it and the inclination to do so, that is.

But, I doubt they are even looking. At most, they might see two players from the same IP address, different systems. Unless someone reports one, or both, of the players, no one at ZOS may even notice.

Aside, I would certainly like to see a video of someone trying to run 5 characters as described above.

Per this, running multiple accounts at once is prohibited with or without tools

https://help.elderscrollsonline.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/23701/kw/multiple accounts/session/L2F2LzEvdGltZS8xNDc3NzYwMTQ4L3NpZC9kc2FDbGsybg==