Oz’s House of the Evil Dead

I’ve managed to get myself involved in the blog banter, so here we go…

Welcome to the fifth installment of the EVE Blog Banter, the monthly EVE Online blogging extravaganza created by CrazyKinux. The EVE Blog Banter involves an enthusiastic group of gaming bloggers, a common topic within the realm of EVE Online, and a week to post articles pertaining to the said topic. The resulting articles can either be short or quite extensive, either funny or dead serious, but are always a great fun to read! Any questions about the EVE Blog Banter should be directed here. Check out other EVE Blog Banter

This month’s topic comes to us from Mynxee of Life in Low Sec. She asks:
“Alts and Metagaming: Is playing two accounts who are logged in at the same time and work together (hauler/miner, explorer/combat associate, trade alts in trade hubs) a form of metagaming that is “ruining the game”?

Before I started to answer this, I thought I would try and define what exactly metagaming was.  According to wikipedia, Metagaming is a broad term usually used to define any strategy, action or method used in a game which transcends a prescribed ruleset, uses external factors to affect the game, or goes beyond the supposed limits or environment set by the game. In simple terms, using out-of-game information, or resources, to affect one’s in-game decisions.

I’m not really sure that metagaming is actually the correct term to apply to the topic Mynxee is raising. Running 2 accounts isn’t bending the rules, is using the same hardware/software that everyone else does to play the game, the only possible link would it be that it goes beyond the limits or the environment set by the game in that you can do multiple tasks in the same space that a single character/client can do.

That aside, the main part of the question is is it ruining the game. In my opinion no, but then again, I only run one account. I do know someone who used to run a lot of accounts, so I’ll tell you a story about him. I’m going to refer to him as TheDude, it’s not his real name.

I met the dude through various interactions on the forums and in game, mostly while trying to hunt down a tech2 componant manufacturer. He said he could supply what we needed without too much trouble and a deal was struck. Over the months, TheDude mentioned that he was singlehandedly producing the materials for me. My orders weren’t small and I was intrigued as to how he managed to make so much gear – his answer was simple; multiple accounts. He had specialized production characters in every slot on multiple accounts, all purely building componants. I wasn’t his only customer. He was generating an income for himself through this trade, and paying for the account fees through game time cards he purchased on the forums for isk. Even after all those expenses, he was still making isk hand over fist. I believe at the time he was solely responsible for producing a substantial % of the total volume of t2 componants being use in the game.

The point of that story is that while a corporation full of players with single accounts could have done the same thing – economically a single player was doing the same thing for the eve economy, allowing all those other players that would otherwise be tied up doing this task to generate their own incomes. While he wasn’t paying for the accounts directly with $$, he was supplying CCP with a monthly income from GTC resellers far in excess what a single player would, and other players were doing it too. Him running multiple accounts was actually fantastic for CCP’s bottom line.

So at this point: good for game 2 (eve economy and CCP’s wallet) | bad 0

On the flip side, managing all those accounts and keeping characters training and keeping track of who was building what and where meant he had to start using spreadsheets to a degree that would make accountants jizz in their pants. Is that part of the game, hell is it fun? To some it is, I know a few people that enjoy crunching numbers and looking at massive spreadsheets full of pretty graphs. Unfortunately EVE is one of those games that can quickly devolve from being some timewasting fun into a full blown obsessive hobby. Like collecting stamps… to me that’s a bad thing.

good for game 2| bad 1

So, why was he doing it all. Surely there’s a limit to how much isk can be made before it all becomes pointless. TheDude was a PvPer at heart, he used the funds his ‘carebear’ accounts made to fly expensive ships and blow stuff up (and get blown up up himself). It was a means to an end. Sure he could have flown cheaper ships or fit less expensive mods, he preferred the good stuff though. Where other people in his corp relied on mining or npcing to earn some isk at the expense of going out and making things explode, he could spend at most a couple of hours a day generating vast sums of isk to fund his playstyle for weeks at a time. Multiple accounts while time consuming, weren’t as time consuming as not having multiple accounts.

good for game 3 | bad 1 = good triumphs over bad.

This is all really skirting the issue however,  the real question is do people using multiple accounts ruin the game for other players. As I said above – I think not, heres why:

• They’re paying CCP for every account they use, more accounts = more $$ for CCP = more devs/GM’s/QA/trips to iceland for me as a CSM
• The more accounts logged in, the better the hardware needs to be to support them, better hardware means the game will run better (or at least the same) and the game keeps evolving to cater to more players.
• More people = good press = more people interested in trying out eve = more people = I think you get the point
• It’s not harming anyone, it doesn’t stop other people playing the game. There is no limit to how many accounts are logged in to the game. It just allows you to have eyes and ears (and in TheDude’s case hands) in multiple places at the same time.

I think one of the things that makes EVE so great is that it is so open-ended. There is no limit to the universe from a ‘things-to-do’ perspective, so running multiple accounts to achieve what you want to achieve in the game shows that people want to immerse themselves in EVE more than what a single client allows them to.

Was that vague enough? What are your thoughts?

The Participants:

Epic Misadventures, This is my Alt – There are many like it but this one is mine.

Inner Sanctum of the Ninveah, I Missed This Month’s Blog Banter!

A Mule in EvE, Meta what? Is it hurting EvE?

Morphisat’s EVE Online Blog, Me, Myself and I

One Man And His Spaceship, Me and My Shadow

Ombeve, Blog Banter edition 5

Diving into PsycheDiver’s Psyche, CK’s Blog Banter #5: Everybody Needs Somebody

Dense Veldspar, Blog Banter

Ecliptic Rift, OOC: Blog Banter #5 Metagaming

The Ralpha Dogs, Me, Myself and I

Mad Rant, “Blog Banter – It’s my party, and I’ll alt if I want to….”

EVE Chick, The Handicapper General

The Wandering Druid of Tranquility, “…you see mate, it’s a matter of leverage, savvy?…”

New Eden Diaries, It’s only a game

Oz’s House of the Evil Dead, If You Can’t Ride Two Horses At Once, You Shouldn’t Be In The Circus

Diving into PsycheDiver’s Psyche, Everybody Needs Somebody

CrazyKinux’s Musing, Leave what you know at the door please!

Diary of a Pod Pilot, [OOC] EVE Blog Banter #5 Metagaming

EvE – Wotlankor, [OOC] Alts and Metagaming

Roc’s Ramblings, February Blog Banter – Meta Me

Drunk in Space, Metagaming….so that’s the name.

X1376′s Space Odyssey, Blog Banter #5: Army of One

A merry life and a short one, EVE Blog Banter #5: Uh…

Zero Kelvin, Are alts ruining the game?

DeafPlasma’s EVE Musings, Blog Banter #5: Alts & me!

I am Keith Nielson, EVE is All About the Metagame

Everyday EvE, Two Accounts Edition

Blogging from inside the pod, EVE Blog Banter #5: Arletta and I

Speed Fairy, Meet Paul