This would actually hurt normal groups more than boxers and is a terrible idea. Right now if a rogue and a bard meet up lfg they actually have a reasonable group with a tank merc and a healer merc.
While I'm drawing all sorts of humour from the attempted rationalizations of boxing-hate, I with Elidroth in that I wouldn't mind if it were shut down at this point. I think everything that can be said has been said, and now it's effectively down to the irrational trying to find new ways of rephrasing the debunked things they've said before.
To claim boxing has not dramatically changed the player base in general would be dishonest...so the ole how I play has no effect on you is weak to say the least...at the same time boxing has been around since the early days of EQ...to say if it were more positive or negative effect on the player base dynamics is the part that is subjective...and arguments can be made both ways.
Two players with one character each should be able to go to a rof zone and work on tasks so they're able to something with their time other than aa off LB mobs if they can't put together a full group. We don't need to be creating road blocks in this game for people who play at odd hours who want to do stuff.
Agreed. I'd go further to say that the lesser open zone 'task' type missions shouldn't require a current-expansion plate tank or tank merc. I'd like to see them tankable by either of those melee classes.
I've been boxing past few days on the zek server. I found out that I don't really enjoy it. First off, it's hard to manage just 2 characters. I can't image 3 or more. It's inefficient. 2nd, on zek, a box slows down your response and makes you feel vulnerable. Last, if I alt-tab while zoning out it crashes that client, so I'm %!$^& if something bad happens. Bottom line, playing on one character means I play that character very efficiently. It's fast and seamless. In pvp, I move quicker. Overall, the experience is higher quality. I still plan on boxing, but I'll wait until a higher level. People playing ONE character will always make a stronger force, if coordinated. They focus better. Boxes are too hampered by all manners of obstacles. In the end, a player can't be more than 1 character without paying a price. Even if this server allowed scripts/bots, those things are still limited by code and code can't replace the human brain. Now... if people do not coordinate they can be less effective than a box. This is because the person boxing, if they're ahead of the situation, can execute a plan without relying on others. However, this only applies when players play dumbly. My advice is... if you want to kill boxing, just make things more unpredictable. Have more random factors that can break up the routine. Boxing works because people find a predictable situation. If you force them to change plans, they're ineffective. It's like walking around with 150 pounds on your back. When the situation changes, you're slow to respond.
The discussion is avoided, nothing really has been said on the topic by anyone from SoE. I remember Rashere talking about multiboxing and he recognised that it has an impact on the community, he didn't go into details but he realised that multiboxers impact the social fabric of the game. There was another discussion once where Sklug suggested to incorporate functionality of different classes into one UI. Other than that multiboxing has never been addressed. Which is frankly ridiculous, since it has a huge impact on this game. Most MMO I play like Aion and Vindictus actually use programs (like nProtect Gameguard) that prevent you from launching multiple accounts. These companies realise that multiboxing negatively impacts their game. No one suggested stopping multiboxing, but it's obvious that it has a tremendous impact on this game, socialising is impacted, grouping is impacted, tuning is impacted, loot is impacted, etc What people did say, and I said this in particular, that single-account-owners are at a disadvantage, and that multiboxing negatively impacts this game (likely not SoE's bottom line, but that's irrelevant to me, I'm not their accountant).
That and because the rate of input in EQ is extremely low. Many MMO require constant movement and require fast response to events. Static camp multiboxing (what 99% of multiboxers do) is extremely easy. I boxed 5 characters at one time, once you're set up and have all your macros set up, boxing is extremely easy. Shaman, bards, etc. Most classes are cake to box and they offer 90% of their power by simply hitting one macro key for the whole fight. Boxing in EQ is easy because EQ's gameplay is static and slow as heck.
More than one Dev or company rep has made the comment that they don't mind boxing, including I believe Piestro. It hasn't been avoided at all.
I just gotta say; the argument that some posters boxed way back when and therefore it was common "back in the day" is almost as faulty as the op's crusade to limit boxing from eq's current gaming era. Odd that Elidroth made that post the way he did and then left the thread open?
Boxing wasn't common back in the day, in fact it was rare, anyone who says otherwise is untruthful or never played EQ back then. And this was the case cross-server, since I played on multiple servers. Not sure how high it is right now, but it wouldn't surprise me if 50% or more of the active characters in the world are multiboxed characters.
You're completely contradicting yourself. On the one hand you recognise the increased power of using multiple characters, but then you claim there is no disadvantage to not having multiple characters. That's contradictory.
Devs don't lock threads usually if ever, mods do. He could tell someone to lock it I suppose, but that usually isn't the norm. Besides, the one person crusade is kind of amusing to watch.
The only real disadvantage single account owners have is that they don't always have an instant group. That said, there are many advantages that single account owners have over people that box multiple accounts (and work more than one character). Would anyone really want to do that progression task in Vile Oak that you receive random gems six times over? I'm not overly social and I enjoy being a single account owner. I have enough friends and guildmates that grouping is rarely a problem. When I'm logging in at 4am or something, there's always something to work on solo (epic, don progression, tradeskills, shawl, etc.). I think people whining about people that box are the same sort that whine because the entire game isn't open to solo play. Really, if that's what they're expecting, they're playing the wrong sort of game.
I had multiple advantages over single account owners when I boxed. -always had a group, like you mentioned -I did what I wanted, I got the flags I needed, everything was done in the name of myself -good boxers kill much faster than most pick-up groups -all loot goes to me, I never had to /roll for AC augs -I could use tradeskills like alchemy and poison making, that wouldn't be possible with 1 account -I could use campfires all the time -I could use guild benefits all the time -I could share XP with fellowships much easier etc
You can't compare mediocre with good it's a completely dishonest comparison just for the sake of trying to make your point more valid. Good boxers don't kill faster than good groups. Mediocre boxers don't generally kill faster than most pick-up groups.
yes, it's true, but you'll get fed up with it very soon, even with those many advantages. because it's like playing single rpg such as Baldur's Gate on mmo platform, lol That's why I quit playing, now that SOE has been officially encouraging box for cash' sake. Look! 17 servers, not even one of them is for single account owners advantages. come on, Oranges, no need to argue for it any more, they won't listen; just leave, there're still so many mmo masterpieces on the market, try them =). Just stay away from the game that favors only part of its players, until they know how to take care of all their customers.
