Atlantic Roleplay Community Boards

[Lady Ditto Armunn]

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Alts.
Everyone has them. Many of us have secret ones. Normally alts here are not created with any intention of causing harm to others. Secret alts are sooo common thats it NO BIG DEAL! Do I, as a player need to know a person's secret alt? Heck no! I dont wanna know! SPOILERS are called spoilers cause it SPOILS things. Yeah, fun & juicy to know sometimes like gossip, but my world won't end if someone creates an alt and doesnt tell me. (well, maybe if Cat or G did it ).

Does a GM need to know if one of their guildmates creates or is a secret alt. THAT depends and it's really a common sense kinda thing. Some GMs are very touchy about that kind of thing and would say "yes, we need to know ALL alts". Other gms would say, "no, unless it would affect the guild, battles, etc". I'm one of the later gm's. And I'm pretty sure my guild fam knows that.

Here's the part thats funny to me:
Someone makes a secret alt then keeps it a secret from a gm and then for whatever reason, (maybe it would just feel awkward to them to tell the gm, or maybe they think the gm will hate them...whatever). It becomes a BIG serious deal to them to keep that secret. BUT, in actuality, the gm really doesnt care to a point that its going to affect friendship.

The not so funny thing:
This "not a big deal" alt becomes a Lie. That lie becomes more lies. And more lies. Friends are asked to lie to other friends to cover the lies. Hmm....it becomes something altogether different. Bonds are broken. Friends lost. And the really sad part is that it started over something that wasn't a big freakin deal and could've been prevented had the person with the alt at some point said, "oh btw, I'm "such and such Jones", or especially if asked point blank, said "yes, I'm such and such Jones"

I've seen and experienced both a few times, the funny and the not so funny. Most of the time, it's settled pretty early on and everyone has a good laugh over it, and years later have stories of.."remember when I first told you I was "such and such Jones?" Unfortunately though, a few times, a beast of a lie is born and it affects not only the one telling the lie and one being lied to, but others around them too. Thats when you have to start asking yourself what else the person has lied or is lying about.

If your waiting for my point, I don't have one really. I just find it both hillarious and frustrating that people can feel so guilty about having an alt that they find it necessary to go to such drastic & sad measures to keep it a secret when they never had to in the first place!

This post isnt directed at anyone individual. I've been hit with bombshells a few times very recently to the point I wanna pull my hair out. LOL

*whew* I feel better now. Had to get that out in a constructive way before I screamed or worse.

PS: Dear Mods, I think this is a nice(?), or at least not a destructive rant, but if you disagree....please delete and hit me in the head. IF, however, you want me to be more destructive in any future rants, especially those involving Mickey Mouse killing off my soap operas...I will be happy to oblige.
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Dark Lady Ditto Armunn
~ D|O ~

=Left Hand Suzuki Method=
ICQ: 617689603 Twitter: @Ody0
Quote: "Oh Great! First I get stabbed and now I'm bleeding!" - Ditto
Tarothin Armunn Quote: "I know and I have mood swings like a pregnant woman at times. :/ I'm very random."

[Cat Lyxen]

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oh opinion time! Woot! Here's mine:

Dislikes: VENT . I think if you role play your character VENT is the perfect way to screw things up. I've walked into tavern nights and other events to see a large group of people sitting around saying nothing . I think vent is ok for hunts or battles but with one leader not everyone trying to lead at the same time.

LIKES: I do like the in game chats. they make it easier to find a person or a group of persons.

When it comes to alts.... I have 7 characters and I role play them all. I don't go around telling everyone who they are because frankly, that's my business. It does get frustrating to have all my characters to be called or treated as Cat. ( in a role play situation not in chat) So no I don't advertise my alts. The GMs of guilds I will tell if asked.
If someone has an alt and doesn't want to tell me, I have no problem with it, unless it's to harm someone, disrupt RP or to just be an ass. And of course if they create an alt to do that stuff then they won't be telling anyone.

So it comes down to NEED TO KNOW. I am not a GM so I only need to know an alt if the person creating it feels I NEED TO KNOW.
Making an alt can be difficult because when you walk into a tavern night or event, you get an ICQ that says " Who is that?"or" Is that you?". Then you can lie or do what I do and say " that's not mine to tell" Unless the person doesn't mind the telling. If it is my character and I feel the person is asking for role play reasons and not the gossipy " I know who that is" reason, then I don't have a problem telling them.

Just remember, we all make alts because we want to be able to role play a different personality or story line. It makes it difficult if role players don't respect that or are so new to role play they don't know how to treat each character separately. Just be kind and think before you type.

So that's my opinion and I'm sure it is as clear as mud.

PLAY ON!!!!
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'I'll end with an edit to Ditto's post since she obviously doesn't grasp the man code.......................having your sister entertained by another gentleman gives you clearance to entertain their sister without retribution while taking care of mom leads to a blood fued which can only end in death" Gnarlug

[Lady Ditto Armunn]

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I still say that if you make an alt and never tell me about it, Cat, I will cry. But only for gossipy reasons.

I HATE: Situations that create the "need to know". Because I dun wanna know!

I Hate: Mickey Mouse.

LIKES: RP chat room because it makes it easier to annoy, I mean find people too.

I had secret alts before. The only reason I dont now is cause I can't keep a secret. My drama queen alt is fun to rp, but she's only half as funny w/o her drama king husband. People's reaction to her is fun. Women seem to hate her while men humor her ego.

It's hard to rp a guy when your a girl irl, so I kept Noah a secret for a long time. He was my "playa" character. I wanted to see how good of a man I could be with the ladies and show the guys HOW to romance a lady. Also, I was curious how the other half lived. It was sorta like one of those National Geographic expeditions to study gorillas. And guys ...omg, you all are ... eww. Hehe, it was funnn! I would suggest that every rper, to really test yourself, make a character of the opposite sex and see the differences of how your treated for a couple of days. What I learned in my experiment was, I'm a sexy man. Men gossip as much as, if not more than women do while they are in a pack. I mean a group. Men have to win at everything or they pout. If they don't win, then that means the one that did win sucks. If you have a conversation with a guy and don't use a bunch of cussing, they think your a homosexual (IF your rping a man and your chatting with them). However, if your a girl having a conver with a group of guys and you use a bunch of cussing, they think your a a....word I'm not allowed to say. If one man tells another man something that will upset him, they go through this brawl-ritual. Once both men are good and bruised, they like ea other again. If they try to "talk things out" instead, like women do, they still seem to hold some animosity. As long as violence is involved somewhere, all can be forgiven.
Example:
Man 1: "Dude, I did your sister last night"
*Brawl ensues. Man 1 dies (yes, it was a fight in a game)*
Man 2: "I'm sorry about that, bruh." *helps rez Man 1*
Man 1: "It's cool. Sorry I slept with your sister"
Man 2: "It's aight. I slept with your mom before you got here"
_________________
Dark Lady Ditto Armunn
~ D|O ~

=Left Hand Suzuki Method=
ICQ: 617689603 Twitter: @Ody0
Quote: "Oh Great! First I get stabbed and now I'm bleeding!" - Ditto
Tarothin Armunn Quote: "I know and I have mood swings like a pregnant woman at times. :/ I'm very random."

[Willow Smythe]

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I'm gonna but in here....

I like that we all have alts. It does get stagnant playing one character all the time. I get extremely irritated when people go on a mission (and this has happened before) to find out who plays "Jane Smith" of the "Piemaking guild". Who freaking cares?

Is everyone entitled to know who everyone's alts are? Uh... no. Just because you know say Willow, doesn't mean you know Narcissa.

I will throw out there that GMs have a right to know alts ONLY ONLY ONLY if it directly causes a conflict of interest.

I like vent/mumble over ICQ/IG Chat because it's a little more personable I think and if there are conflicts that arise they don't get blown out of porportion because you can hear the tone of the person's voice.

So there's my scramble, enjoy the omlette.
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Malorn ‎(12:14 AM):
I'm an idiot

[Lady Ditto Armunn]

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*adds bacon, cheese, and those lil green onions*
great, now I'm hungry.
_________________
Dark Lady Ditto Armunn
~ D|O ~

=Left Hand Suzuki Method=
ICQ: 617689603 Twitter: @Ody0
Quote: "Oh Great! First I get stabbed and now I'm bleeding!" - Ditto
Tarothin Armunn Quote: "I know and I have mood swings like a pregnant woman at times. :/ I'm very random."

[Willow Smythe]

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LOL
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Malorn ‎(12:14 AM):
I'm an idiot

[Gnarlug Varguk]

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OHHHHH I LOVE RANTING *looks in his pack* OHH SWEET MY 2 CENTS *holds out the coins to everyone*

A: i have a secret alt....not even guilded but as GM of one guild and bascially GM of another when I log on sometimes I am bombarded with OOC stuff from both guilds so when I am on my secret alt it's bascially cause i want YOU ALL TO LEAVE ME ALONE so i can just play the game without any ummm responsibilities......

B: URK is a guild of alts.......4 GMs of other arpc guilds 1 basically GM of arpc guild and 3 GMs of non arpc guilds...but it works very well and has allowed us to do alot of random stuff we otherwise wouldnt have been able to do/caused problems doing it specially cause orcs are ignorant and nasty people tend to lol things off when they know the person behind the orc

C: I'm with I think Willow in the who cares about alts as long as it doesn't cause conflict of interest.....you just shouldn't be in 2 different guilds trying to have a legitimate war unless you're the reason theyre fighting/ooc coordinator.........whether real or perceived mistrust can do alot of damage

D: Another problem I see with the alt web is say GoodGuyGuild makes it a point to recruit PaladinGuy but PaladinGuy is the alt of SuperVampireGuy and SuperVampireGuy is a main contributor to SuperVampireGuild...SuperVampireGuild may see this as directly recruiting members of their guild which can cause lots of problems

E: I'll end with an edit to Ditto's post since she obviously doesn't grasp the man code.......................having your sister entertained by another gentleman gives you clearance to entertain their sister without retribution while taking care of mom leads to a blood fued which can only end in death
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Inkari 1:02 AM Where you been man?
?????? 1:03 AM Technical difficulties.....
Inkari 1:05 AM Virus?
?????? 1:05 AM No, that pic you asked ppl to make with the boy and girl in a fantasy setting....i tried...started to look way too much like child porn so I had to light my harddrive on fire.....

[Judas D'arc]

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My thoughts:

1. A GM who cares that much about controlling their members play probably shouldn't be a GM.

2. A player who is using an alt to get an OOC advantage over an in-game conflict isn't really role-playing.

3. It's possible to have characters on opposite sides of conflicts, as long as people are capable of separating ego and player and character. In fact, it can be a lot of fun having characters promoting opposite viewpoints.

4. Ditto, you are indeed a sexy man.

[Lady Ditto Armunn]

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SEEEEE! Alts are fine!

#3 on Judas' post.. I agree kinda. Depends on a few things w/i the guild. Like, what type of guild. D|O being primarily agressive military HAS to be able to make a reasonable account of who and how many members they can rely on for conflict situations (pvp battles). It's difficult at best, if not impossible, to do this w/o the rule of "D|O character first on foremost on the battlefield". As with ALL rules there can be exceptions made on a case to case basis, but the character with alts should be willing to work with the gm, & that might include revealing an alt they have in another guild. Otherwise it could lead to significant problems between two guilds.

Bob the Lampost wants to join his alt, Jane the Chair to the Flinstones Army but Bob the Lampost is already in the Jetsons Army. hmmm... Flinstones gm & Bob/Jane the Lampost/Chair come to the understanding that the rule of "First on the battlefield" will be upheld EXCEPT in conflicts that involve the Jetsons, in which case he'll be fighting w/ that guild. Compromises can be made. BUT, ya gotta open your mouth and work with people.

However, if your in a bard guild.....uhhm, unless theres some rival bard guild (dunno if there are those), I would think that alts in any other guild wouldn't matter one little bit. At least...I think it wouldn't. Would be cool to see a Battle of the Bards concert tho.

[aulbrey]

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hey leave bob the lampost out of this damnit

[Judas D'arc]

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That's probably why guidelines are usually better than hard and fast rules. But if people are mature and flexible and communicate, it's probably not too much of a problem.

I totally see your point with planned conflicts between role-playing groups. Of course, I've yet to see any since coming to Atlantic nearly a year ago, but if they ever did take place it'd be fairly important for a GM to know who to count on. Spontaneous conflict is a bit harder to regulate of course for obvious reasons. Then again, spontaneous conflict is also fairly limited in frequency.

[Dante Darkheart]

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I personally hate using secret Alts myself but I don't disparage anyone who feels the need for it. But the main reason I don't like the idea of secret Alts is because we should all be good enough RPers to keep one characters thoughts separate from another characters thoughts unless they meet up sometime in an in character way. And even then you can still play around with what was left out of the conversation between the two characters.

Actually right now I have three characters total however one of them is played by several toons to make p for all the skills he is a master of. If you want to see here you go.

Dante Darkheart - ninja
Dante Darkheart - Theif
Dante Darkheart - tamer
Dante Darkheart - smith
Dante Darkheart - carpenter
Dante Darkheart - tailor
Dante Darkheart - necro
Dante - temp crafter I transferred from Catskills to make armor until I GM the other crafters

Gwen Ravenwood. - I used her for a mini plot Im putting together really just for myself I have purposedly not gained much of any skills
Chelsea Dagger - Theif used really just to help me gain stealing back and forth and on occasion my girlfriend plays her.

Did I ruin Dante's mystique? Have fun

[Ceinwyn ab'Arawn]

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Dante that is exactly the reason I had 2 Ceinwyns. And I thought I was being nutty haha. One was a necro mage, the other necro swords. The templates would have been way too crammed with necro/swords/mage ( and now mystic too ) >.> It was handy having a mage as a GM because I could gate my people to places most of the time.

I used to ask a condition of everyone new I guilded when I ran Realm of Umbra - that they tell me their main character if they were an alt. I did this because warring was more frequent/likely back then and I needed to know my numbers.

Secondly- as a GM, knowing who a troublemaker's alt is who is trying to get into your guild to stir up more drama is essential to prevent it. I used to make everyone who joined the guild register on our forum. I would cross-reference IP addresses to make sure I wasn't re-guilding Joe Schmo that just robbed John Smith or the guild chests, etc. Guild thefts and drama were a lot more common in those days.

Do I personally want to know everyone's alt character nowadays? Hell no. In fact, I wish I knew a lot less about some people OOC. If there is a player I don't like or get along with OOC, it doesn't matter. I will still RP with them if we are on screen. Standing there ignoring them is a bad mix of god-moding and metagaming. Just because Ceinwyn knows you are such and such, doesn't mean Joanna does, unless you are famous for it. Half the time my alts don't even know each other.

I freely invite people to party my characters up if they have questions about the way I am RPing. For example - Ceinwyn is somewhat telepathic and she might respond to emoted thoughts ( such emotes are usually newbie or lazy rp mistakes ). Emoting thoughts is a pet peeve of mine, so when I am on Ceinwyn, I usually WILL take RP advantage of her ability and try to offer advice in party chat with whoever is doing it.

I could go on, but I won't. The board rules are clear about griefing, metagaming, god-moding and all that icky stuff.

[Ceinwyn ab'Arawn]

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[Lady Ditto Armunn]

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My fav song of the month I think now. Unfortunately I can't seem to get it out of my head now. Gee, thanks sis, for that. Haha
_________________
Dark Lady Ditto Armunn
~ D|O ~

=Left Hand Suzuki Method=
ICQ: 617689603 Twitter: @Ody0
Quote: "Oh Great! First I get stabbed and now I'm bleeding!" - Ditto
Tarothin Armunn Quote: "I know and I have mood swings like a pregnant woman at times. :/ I'm very random."