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

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

  1. Corwyhn Lionheart Guild Leader, Lions of the Heart

    A main can be considered the "main" toon on that account. Someone saying I play all "mains" means they are playing the main toon from each account. Its easy to figure it out based on context

    Someone saying they play all mains when boxing means they are playing the main toons from each account (usually meaning the most developed toon on each account. And no they aren't a for telling you that they are just giving you more info. Someone saying they are playing four mains usually means they are playing the main toon on each account that gets most of the care and attention.

    A is someone calling someone a in this situation (which includes me since I am passing the title onward I guess). I mean it was easy to figure out what "I play only mains" or what not meant so yeah. I assume the comment about mains is from a raid guild perspective. In casual guilds its much less of a big deal.

    An alt is a toon on the account that is not a main.

    A box is a toon played as a secondary toon to whichever toon the person considers their "group main".

    A bot is an automated toon main or not depending how much automation is being done. For AFK cheaters who run all toons afk even the main is a bot.

    And when it comes to what a guild considered a main it generally means the one toon that the player has designated their main is in the guild.

    In my guild one toon is listed in info as their main toon but all we include this for is so that all of a players toons can be sorted under one main name. To us doesn't have to be the toon you play the most as that changes over time for some it it just the toon name we group all your toons under.
  2. kizant Augur

    If you ask for help for your main and you tell me it's your main on account number 12 and you have 20 mains on the server because you have 20 accounts. You're going on idiot list and not getting any help.
    Winnowyl, Andarriel and Beimeith like this.
  3. Tucoh Augur

    Main: The character you trade your sanity for a slightly better artisan prize for
    Winnowyl, Fanra, Zaray and 2 others like this.
  4. Szilent Augur

    I disagree with this bit. Heroic Fort/Vit/Reso and evolvers are major time investments to have a fully developed character that didn't exist in ages past. It was much easier to claim alts were "equal" before, when all it took was scooping up a rot dagger from raids, or whatever the key bit was for each class.

    edit: yah, AP too
    Elyssanda likes this.
  5. Windance Augur

    Szilent has a great point.

    Mains are generally the ones you spend the most amount of time working on. They have all the chase gear done. TS earring, TS to 350, etc.

    Alts are the "other" characters you use to get your main's objectives done.
  6. Viper1 Augur

    I have multiple raiding characters on TLP and live and they're all at the top of their progression for their current era. Yes, multiple mains can exist.
  7. Vumad Cape Wearer

    A lot of people have commented about mains being the most developed character and the one a player is most skilled or knowledgable at, but I believe "main" is more reflective of identity than knowledge. Someone could identify as a Monk but suck at it, while being exceptional as a mage they don't like to play.

    However in the raiding context, a main is always the character that is identified by the guild as the raiding player. A main change changes which character is on the raid roster and which is eligible for loot. Sometime referred to as a raiding main.

    Looping this back to the beginning, some people play classes for guild needs.

    For instance. Zunnoab is a Vah Shir bard that is the main of Zunnoab of Inverse Logic. That filthy human he raided as a "main" disgusts me. I can't even recall the clerics name and he "mained" it for years. Zunnar maybe? laaaameee. Zunnoab is Zunnoab. To suggest otherwise is offensive to me.
    Metanis likes this.
  8. Whulfgar Augur

    Can some one have a main they raid on. Then outside in group content consider something else as their main?

    Aka only playing said raid toon for the benifit of the raid team?

    Would that then be considered a double main?
  9. Szilent Augur

    Which is not to say that characters need all that stuff to be real. But whatever the scale of one's ambitions in game, one's main is the character that has the things done, and the alts are the ones playing catch up. If there isn't a difference? You're either Goodurden or the scale of your ambitions are off.
  10. Szilent Augur

    no.

    I know people who play like that, in raid forces that have some degree of generosity / allowance regarding loot.

    The rubric holds. If all they do for the raiding character is keep them up to date on levels & spells, and otherwise just take loot? that's not a main character. That's just a very well geared alt. If their character that doesn't get to raid is the one that completes every quest & gets the fancy bits & fills in all the best type5s & has the evolvers & ... all that stuff, or any of that stuff that the "raider" doesn't get? -- that character is the main character.
    Beimeith likes this.
  11. Sasser-See Street Performer and Shoe Dodger

    It means your guild doesn't have enough actual players to fill up all the raid slots.
  12. Vumad Cape Wearer


    The post immediately above yours, I'd say the one they play outside of raids is their main, and the one they play in raids is their "raiding main". In that case, the one they raid with is called a "main" only in the context of the raid roster, hence the "raiding" prefix, as it is not actually a main. I agree with Szilent. A raiding main is much more of a well geared alt than an actual main. Take the Zunnaob/Zunner example I used.


    I'd say it means certain classes, like clerics, are pretty unexciting to play out of raids, but sure, blame the guilds instead of the devs.
  13. Corwyhn Lionheart Guild Leader, Lions of the Heart

    Who you have as your main is a big deal in raid guilds. In casual guilds not so much so the definition of main is much looser in casual guilds.
  14. Shushabye_Baby Romance Novel Writer

    The reason playing clerics outside of raids is unexciting is because there were no groups or for non boxing main clerics, at least not on Povar. I'd go back to playing a cleric main if I could find a server where this is not the case.

    I do switch and play a cleric as a main for raids sometimes if our healer numbers for the night are low.
  15. Fintank Augur

    What if you have 2 characters equally geared, auged and all special things on and raid with both? What if on top of that you hate both of them equally? I need to know my proper pronoun to be addressed by tbh.
    kizant likes this.
  16. Szilent Augur

    they're not equally auged. you put ********* agi augs on your trash bin warrior. get outta here.
  17. Vumad Cape Wearer


    I am pretty sure I have read many posts by Metanis about how unexciting playing a cleric is out of raids and there was an entire lengthy thread about making clerics more interesting. I personally feel they need to enhance the Vow line of spells and let clerics play more versatile like druids.
  18. Fintank Augur

    Heroic Agil augs forever! CIRCA 2009!
    Sirene_Fippy likes this.
  19. Crystilla Augur

    May have already been mentioned - but I've seen a difference between 'bot' and 'box'.

    'bot' - I've usually seen here to mean a character doing something that looks illegal (against the EULA) such as botting

    'box' - This is a secondary account where a character is used in group with your main character (or outside the group) to provide support to whatever the main character is doing.
  20. Joules_Bianchi A certain gnome

    Main is Well, Main - In raid setting this distinction is more formal. Some guilds allow for a main and a co-main / secondary for the purposes of DKP allotment and distribution,

    Alt, other character on same account

    Box, other character on other account

    Bot = Automated or semi automated character.

    Thes emay be mixed, as in My box ranger is on autofire at zonewall and my necro kites mobs to it is botting with a box, though entirely in system.