What is .. an "Alt" .. a "Bot" .. a double "Main" ?

Discussion in 'The Veterans' Lounge' started by Whulfgar, May 29, 2021.

  1. Whulfgar Augur

    As the heading asks ..

    Whats an alt ?

    Whats a Bot ?

    What does "I play multiple toons that are all mains" mean ?
  2. Cadira Augur

    Typically referring to a toon that's not your main on the same account as your main, sometimes referred to a non-main toon on a separate account depending on context.

    Pretty much toons who are on other accounts who's main focus is to provide support to progress your Main.

    It means you are a dumb@ss.
    Winnowyl, Zaray, Zynt and 7 others like this.
  3. Windance Augur

    In general this is what I suspect folks mean:

    Main = If some one is looking for you in EQ this is who they look for.

    Alt = A character of yours that is not your main.

    Bot = A character of yours that is not your main, likely using some 3rd party stuff to automate so you can play multiple characters at the same time.


    I've never heard anyone say that but to mean it means you are playing other peoples characters "main" characters.
  4. aozs Augur

    What's the context? Are you trying to decide loot prioritization or something?

    I frequently play 2 mains in WoW raids, throughout a raid tier. That means splitting my time 50/50 and being able to perform at a top level on either character. It's not really appropriate to call either character an alt in that kind of situation. But WoW has personal loot and avoids all the loot drama with deciding who to hand out loot to, so there's no need to be picky about definitions there. I only bring this up as an explanation for what "double Main" might mean but I have a feeling there's more to the question than what you're posting.
  5. Tarvas Redwall of Coirnav, now Drinal

    To me "box" = non-automated secondary account and "bot" = automated secondary account.

    I concur with Cadira on the alt and "I play all mains" thing.
    minimind, Wyre Wintermute and Yinla like this.
  6. Bigstomp Augur


    Personally, I consider my (main) cleric an alt of my warrior.
    I also have a 2nd cleric and a bard. I consider those lesser alts.
  7. Bigstomp Augur


    I have heard the term bot apply to many alts. Including mine depending who is speaking.
    I do not automate anything so that's a loose term.

    I would really love it if EQ would ban people who use unnamed software to automate.
  8. Fanra https://everquest.fanra.info

    In my guild, your "Main" is the character that represents you and you are joining the guild with. If you are a raider, then you raid just on your "Main". You can also add as many "Alts' (other characters) as you wish to the guild, but you cannot raid with them, unless you get permission (only allowed if we need the class in that raid or an extra body).

    A "Main" is considered to be the character that you have the most experience, items, and skill playing. If someone is referring to you, they use that name, regardless of what other characters you have.

    Fanra is my main character (druid). I also often play a monk but people refer to me as Fanra regardless. Only Fanra can raid with my guild, unless they need a monk instead or I get special permission.
    Corwyhn Lionheart likes this.
  9. Smedolvin New Member

    An Alt used to mean a character you created to take a break from your main character. You logged into an alt to mess around and see the world from a different perspective.
    A bot is what we see today with the "box" players. It's an automated EQ character controlled by scripts and used to help one player accomplish the work of several. Basically a team of Mercs at your command through third party software.
    The third option is what players say when they can't admit they want to play alone and are running said third party software to get anything accomplished these days. You'll probably have a few in your guild today. They usually announce in chat all the great loot they are getting and when asked if they could use some company the answer is usually some form of "No". Low game population and most remaining players running bot programs make EQ a frustrating place if your new.
  10. xukil of luclin Curator of a UI

    My main is a monk(Xukil), but I never go anywhere with out my cleric(Rolinfire). in our guild roster under Xukil it says alt of Rolinfire, under Rolinfire it says alt of Xukil.

    I try to keep them the same and divide gear drops evenly based on the class of the gear. My friends send me tells on either character. So in a sense I feel like I have two mains. When I raided I brought them both because we always needed healers. I was active in the healer channel and played my monk also. I never led the parses or anything but I contributed.

    So multiple mains isn't really a thing but I sort of feel like they are both my main characters. I two boxed since 2003, and now I run 4 characters at once.

    Side story, I two boxed and so did my uncle. He died IRL so I run his characters so I can feel like he is still around in a small way :eek:
  11. MasterMagnus The Oracle of AllHigh


    Do you remember "Main changing"? Pepperidge farm remembers.
  12. Beimeith Lord of the Game

    A "Main" character is a player's primary character. They tend to be a player's first/oldest character and generally have the most time invested with the most development (spells/AAs/items/quests completed/etc.)

    An "Alt" (short for "Alternate") character is any character that is NOT a player's primary character. They generally are/were created after a Main character, and usually are less developed. Alts were traditionally on the same account as a Main, but they do not have to be.

    A "Box" character is a character on a separate account from a Main AND played on a different computer, as "box" is actually referring to the computer itself and not the character. It is a throwback to the days when you could only play one account on a computer. It is mostly used in the context of how many characters/accounts are being played simultaneously though some people use it interchangeably with "Alt" even if they are not technically the same.

    A "Bot" (short for "Robot") character is a character that is controlled by a computer and not the player, i.e. it is automated. Botting is against the rules.

    A "Double/Secondary Main" is an Alt that has parity with a Main in terms of development.

    Not on your list, but "Primary Alt" is an Alt that does not have parity with a Main and is given less consideration than a Main, but more than other Alts.


    If someone says they "only play mains" they generally mean that all characters are equally as developed as a main character and they do not prioritize one over the other.



    These definitions are guild agnostic. How a specific guild recognizes them is up to that guild. Some guilds give looting priority for second mains or primary alts (generally not both) over regular alts, but not all do.
    Winnowyl, Laurana, Bigstomp and 3 others like this.
  13. Whulfgar Augur

    Actually nope. Just had a convo with some one on rhe rathe, and they made mention of how they so not have alts or bots but they play only mains. Which piqued my curiosity.. on what exactly is each as seen generally speaking from the community.

    I myself see it like this.

    Main the toon in which you have the most acquired knowledge of and most advanced character (aa lvls gear)

    Alt is another toon you work or play regularly with but lack the knowledge of class as compared to the knowledge you hold of the maim .

    Box is the automated toons whether it be via the tricky keyboards and ore un named programs .

    So i play war (main), berserker x3(alts) shaman (alts) x2 as primary grp .. i do not consider them (any of them outsode of..) mains except for my warrior.

    Whats your guys opinions on then people who raid in multiple raid teams ? Are those considered double mains ?
  14. KrakenReality Augur

    Welcome back dude.
  15. Herf Augur

    I've always assumed that the term "bot" meant a toon operating autonomously, i.e. roBOTically, via the use of illegal (for EQ) software.
  16. kizant Augur

    The class is more important to me than which character I happen to be using. I'd say I main a wizard because that's what I play 95% of the time but I also happen to raid current content on two servers with two different wizards. The one I have in ROI is probably a little more important so I guess that would be my 'main' if I had to choose even though technically it was created afterwards and I have less total time played on that one. That said, I'd say loot should consider attendance and on the server where I have to miss raids I shouldn't get as much loot.
    FawnTemplar and Szilent like this.
  17. aozs Augur


    Oh yeah, if we're not talking about loot prio - I'd say the alt vs 2nd main distinction is based on 2 things:

    1. Level of investment. Generally speaking I'd say this is just the amount of time spent on a character and can be measured in several ways, though I think performance (dps, healing, tanking, what the player can handle or output when using the character) is a good gauge. Performance encompasses knowledge, skill, gear, AAs, and experience in a variety of situations. If a player can perform at the same level on 2 (or more) different characters, I'd say they qualify as mains from an investment perspective.

    I'd also like to note here that in the past, it didn't make much sense to have more than 1 main because of how much time investment was required. It's a lot easier nowadays since loot is extremely abundant (see CoV mission chests), exp is fast, and there's decent catchup mechanics for side characters (ie familiar from CoV means you don't have to go back to RoS, luminous ice from ToV prog, etc). So I think it's quite possible for a player to have several "mains" and play whatever they feel like on a given day. (this is with a group game perspective, I don't know the raid scene in EQ)

    2. The player's opinion - it kinda ties into level of investment but it's ultimately up to the player themselves if a 2nd character is a "main" or an "alt".

    I think this covers raiding in 2 guilds as well (something I've done in WoW before). It's possible for the player to have different level of investments, for example, and play worse on one char for one of the guilds. That would basically give it "alt" status. It's also possible to invest equally in both and play equally well in both guilds, then you'd have 2 "main"s. As Kizant mentioned, playing the same class in 2 raids as a "main" makes a lot of sense because all the knowledge and experience carry over, but if the gear or AA are really far behind (and therefore the performance) I think it'd fall into "alt" status.

    Box vs bot are different, as others have said bot is automated (no player inputs), box can be either a character receiving keystroke broadcasts OR a window running in the background or another computer that the player occasionally gives commands to. The difference is, for boxes, the player needs to be actively giving inputs.
    Corwyhn Lionheart likes this.
  18. Tygart Lorekeeper


    Mains for that raid force and most likely an alt or boxed toon for someone's oldest main. Also someone who has a lot of free time and enjoys raiding EQ.
  19. Tarvas Redwall of Coirnav, now Drinal

    For me, it an easy distinction: which one takes priority? The one that does is the main, the other is the alt. Some may say, well these two raid teams never conflict. Okay, cool story. If they did for some reason, which one takes priority?
  20. Beimeith Lord of the Game

    This has never been the definition of a box. That's a bot.


    Box refers to the computer in the context of using more than one: "two-boxing," "three-boxing," etc. and of course "TrueBox," which are servers where you are allowed to play multiple characters, but only if they are logged in on separate computers.

    Of course, these days most people who play multiple characters at the same time actually do it on the same computer as a single computer is powerful enough to run multiple instances of EQ. It's still called "boxing" though.
    Laurana, Fanra, Ssdar and 4 others like this.