Post by Geralyn on May 10, 2015 0:46:53 GMT
Discussion on Alts in the Fleet
One of the issues brought to the Pathfinders for discussion was the matter of how many alts one player should have in the fleet. Some, of course, only have one or two. In the past, there have been people with as many as fourteen. More than a few people have voiced their opinion that there should be a practical limit. Several reasons have been put forward, and are presented here.
Reasons to Limit Alts
Fleet resources: It has been said that we as a fleet do not focus on fleet holdings or gear, but rather on roleplay. Yet as we have seen, our roleplay fleet does have a healthy level of consumption of fleet gear items, and a constant need to replenish provisions. There have, in fact been times we have run out of a given provision. Too many alts in the fleet means the ability to buy far more fleet gear items, and given how long it takes to fill a provision project, there are not enough hours in a day for someone to play a dozen alts long enough to contribute enough to offset this.
Administrative work: Every character of a given player is kept at the same rank. Which means promotion, demotion, or in the event it is necessary, disciplinary action or removal of a given player will take longer, since the fleet roster can not be sorted by @handle.
Roleplaying: It is a proven concept that in order to establish a character in roleplaying, one must devote time. Time for the character to be introduced, to make connections with other characters, build relationships, and earn confidence. If a player is bouncing every so many minutes between alts, that time is not made available, and roleplay suffers for all the player's characters.
To me, this last one is the most important. It defeats the purpose of being in a roleplaying fleet if one only churns out a never-ending stream of characters and never takes the time to develop any of them.
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Although I do support the implementation of limits on alts, I'm wary of proposing too restrictive a number. I'm going to propose her a possible range, maybe eight to ten. If you feel a number lower than eight should be instituted, tell us in the comments. Numbers higher than 10 will not be considered.
So tell us your thoughts! If you believe alts should have a limit, and have reasons other than what's been posted here, share them. If you feel you have reasons why limits should not be imposed, you may post them here.