Posted by The First Apostle on October 20, 2000 at 12:19:33:

In Reply to: The MotD: One character per player. posted by Proud Blade(VIP) on October 20, 2000 at 11:50:56:

> Character hoppers (*) disgust me. Of late, logging on and seeing the hero PK range alternate between "15 Dawnies and friends", "15 Ragers and Sylvans", and "15 Masters and Empire" is ruining the game. There are certain exceptions who you'll see on when their "side" is hurting, but there's a lot more examples of people who only seem to be about when things are easy. (Oddly, I'd bet a lot of these people consider themselves "elite", but that is another Manifesto.)

Having played the habitual character who logs in when the "fit hits the shan" (guess the movie) this is
something that irritates me to know end. I've seen it quite a bit in the last 5 years.

> Let's go to one character per player. That's right: one. Not "One good one, and one for screwing around". Not "One high level and one low level". And certainly not "One master and one rager". Just "One". (Maybe "One immortal and/or one mortal", but that as far as I'd like to go.)

The only permutation that I'd prefer is not having two characters in opposing cabals, but I don't know if
there is a way to police that.

> Why? Your choices are now: Play the character you've been playing, or don't play.
> The RP angle: The single best thing I did to help my own RP skills was to switch to playing only one character. I find it so much easier to get into a role with some depth, and develop the quirks, intercharacter relations, and subtle points that make a character interesting. You get used to being helpful and polite with your Dawnie. You remember your last groupmates, and the things they said. You keep up with the miscellaneous quests and events of Thera that affect you. You don't slip and ask for help as an Arcana. Etc.

I won't disagree with the benefits in the rp angle, but I will eventually disagree.

> The game balance angle: The pendulum loses a lot of momentum. It's now a lot of effort to switch sides: you'd need to delete, roll, and level. People will have to stick to their guns, and find ways to overcome difficult situations beyond being able to quit and log on your other. Your PK range might actually show some variety for once.

To be honest, I can't disagree with your reasoning here either. All of your arguments
are strong arguments.

> How to do it: Open to discussion. There are a lot of ways to prove that you are "you", although most of them can be tough for the younger players. (Credit cards, driver's license #, etc.) Email accounts are worthless- I have three or four myself, and could easily give myself several more for free through my ISP. I'm out of my expertise on what is easy or convenient, so I'll leave it to the public. There would have to be some form of web-based system for this, but I get the feeling it's within the realm of possibility.

> Flame on, baby. Make me toasty. I'm waitin'.

> (*): Often called "cabal hoppers" but there are enough uncaballed who fit the profile.

I tend to play one to two characters. I have a primary character that I focus most of
my energy and time on, and I have a character that has a developed role, desc etc.. but
is used to give me a break from my primary character. It has the effect of keeping me
fresh. Sometimes, you need a break. Having had my share of leaders I remember getting
tired of the constant tells for interviews, and large amount of interviews I had to do.
That's not to say I didn't enjoy being a leader, but a break is nice.
So, maybe once a week, I'd switch to another character to give me a breather. In the
end, I think it had a more positive effect than anything negative. To be honest,
I don't necessarily see anything wrong with that. How would you police
such a system to begin with. Right now, I can play from two isps, and have two different
characters. Do the imms want *another* thing police.

Hmmm and I just had a thought... you could still have players with one character who
do the quick login/logout scenario. I imagine they might wait an hour or an hour and
a half.. screw around on Dio's mud.. and try again later.

Follow Ups:

• 'Taking a break' and policing the system Imbrogno(VIP) 12:38:56 10/20/2000 (7)
  • Cf would have to go through its code and remove every tiny little peice from Rom/diku in order to charge anything....nt Grallon 19:22:19 10/20/2000 (2)
    • I'm going to go out on a limb and say you know very little about coding if you think that is the case. (n/t) Proud Blade(VIP) 13:02:50 10/21/2000 (1)
      • I'm going to go out on a limb and say you look very stupid for saying that, PB.. because CF is a ROM codebase mud, and the ROM license prohibits charging, thus it would be a little.. illegal. n/t *snicker* 14:02:06 10/21/2000 (0)
  • Don't what if me to death please... The First Apostle 14:11:24 10/20/2000 (1)
    • Grm Imbrogno(VIP) 14:29:13 10/20/2000 (0)
  • Taking a break TotW(VIP) 13:12:54 10/20/2000 (1)
    • I meant 'take a break from CF' as in read a book, watch Dark Angel or CSI, see a movie, not 'I'm quitting for the next month.' (little text) Imbrogno(VIP) 13:21:26 10/20/2000 (0)

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