Why Multi's are bad

[Penchant]

I need to prove a point to someone regarding this, so I am looking for as many reasons multis are bad as possible. While it won't all port over to the developer I need to, just reasons for why multiing is bad with BM is fine. Perhaps also while several characters is ok but multiing is not would be good too.

[Miriam Ics]

One reason is that if you have many players, the game will go in one direction. If you have multies, the game will take the direction of that person or will have more chances for that to happen.

[Kwanstein]

As success in this game is largely achieved democratically a multi-user would be afforded much potential power by his multiple characters. If the multi-user were to exercise his power he could win positions for himself and, by so doing, deny those positions from other players.

There is also the matter that bypassing the character limit with multiple accounts defeats one of the incentives for donation, and thereby reduces potential profit for the owner. Of course, in regards to Battlemaster this sort of thing is negligible, as there are few cheaters and few donators to make it substantial, but for other games it could be a big deal. I'm sure that Valve is more interested in banning multi-users in TF2 due to the potential lost profits, rather than the unfair trading advantage they have over fellow hat traders.

[egamma]

It's an unfair advantage; more gold and positions for one player. It reduces social interaction; fewer players to talk to.

[Vellos]

It rewards players with the fewest friends to invite to a game: i.e. those with the fewest other activities to distract them. It's bad for the health of the game for antisocial tendencies to become dominant strategies. Ideally, the game should be structured (for the long-run health of the game) to reward players who bring in new players and who like to socialize with other players. Allowing multis strengthens the hand of players who actively try to suppress new player recruitment, and provides incentives for sabotaging game socialization.

[Velax]

One of the major obstacles for a leader to overcome in wartime is the general inactivity of your nobles and getting them to move together to accomplish an objective. Having multis allows you to create as many characters as you want and have them move and attack in perfect synchronisation, giving you an unfair advantage over every other realm.

[Tom]

Does your friend need an explanation with examples as to why ballot stuffing in elections is bad, too?

[Kai]

Multis are not always bad. In strongly progression oriented games the only purpose of multis is to have more alt characters. In games where a single player can easily control multiple accounts simultaneously, it can have a somewhat significant impact. I would say a strong OOC clan is a bigger problem than a 2-3 acc multi though.

[Shizzle]

Multi's are bad because in BM it's about more than just playing Risk, we create a story together. People only have so much imagination on their own, and external input is what keeps things interesting.

Look at roleplays. If it's one person 'performing' for a realm, these stories easily get bland, uninteresting or far-fetched. Only when several people get together and contribute, BM can be fun.

[Miriam Ics]

You will probably dislike what I am going to say but I will say it anyway.

We can create some different characters and play them at some level, but at some point we all will put a lot of ourselves in our chars making the disassociation of our inner self more and more difficult at each new char.
Someone who is able to create multiple characters and differentiates them make a disassociation from its inner self in a manner that borders on psychosis, and that's one reason why many of us, most of us don't do it.
Our ego is always there calling us back to reality.

So, in other words, the multi-account players are seriously risking a psychosis episode.

About psychosis there is one episode that describes it in a delicious way:

‘Who are you?’ said the caterpillar.

This was not an encouraging opening for a conversation.

Alice replied rather shyly, ‘I …I hardly know sir, just at present – at least I know who I was when I got up this morning but I think I must have changed several times since then.’

‘What do you mean by that?’ said the caterpillar sternly.

‘Explain yourself!’

‘I can’t explain myself, I am afraid, sir,’ said Alice, ‘because I’m not myself, you see.’

[Sonya]

I fell sooo sad about someone who need to have multiple account to play a game, is worse than these people who do things to get attention.

Players who create multiple account don't do it to increase the dynamic of the game, have each of every class, to have a different point of view of oneself and the surroundings. A player with 10-15 different characters is just repeating himself on multiple clones, same characteristic, same ideals, same believe, hell. Is hard for many to separate two characters just imagine 10.... All i can do is feel pity for that kind of person.

I would take groups who plays together (called clan) over multiple account any time, even if they are strong, you can feel that they are different characters, their only downside is that they remain silent for most of the time.

[Gustav Kuriga]

I fell sooo sad about someone who need to have multiple account to play a game, is worse than these people who do things to get attention.

Players who create multiple account don't do it to increase the dynamic of the game, have each of every class, to have a different point of view of oneself and the surroundings. A player with 10-15 different characters is just repeating himself on multiple clones, same characteristic, same ideals, same believe, hell. Is hard for many to separate two characters just imagine 10.... All i can do is feel pity for that kind of person.

I would take groups who plays together (called clan) over multiple account any time, even if they are strong, you can feel that they are different characters, their only downside is that they remain silent for most of the time.

As someone who has in the past multi'ed to be able to play 8 characters, I can tell you that at least for me, it was so that I could play on all the continents and have a chance of being involved in some sort of action. Which is why I have in the past and still do support a change to the way character slots are assigned to players. Right now it's really a turn down for new players (something I've heard first hand from the people I introduce to the game) that they only get two characters.

Sure, you may not be able to roleplay five characters properly, but for a new player it would be much, much easier for them to find that place for two characters if they could create more than two. I believe there should be enough character slots to be able to play 1 noble per continent and a second noble on 1 continent, and that it should be that many characters for everyone.

[Indirik]

• Multi-accounting is a breach of trust. The game says "one account per person". If someone is willing to break that rule, then what other rules are they willing to break?
• It is a blatant and insulting display of disrespect to other players. That person is saying that they are better than everyone else, that they are exempt from the rules.
• It conveys a large, and probably insurmountable, advantage on behalf of the multi-accounter. They can secretly, and untraceably, provide public and private support for their multis without anyone knowing.
• It provides a set of accomplices in which the multi-accounter has 100% unbreakable trust. People who follow the rules don't have this unfair advantage, there is always the chance they will be betrayed by their accomplices.
• It allows for unfair opportunities for untraceable spying and information gathering.
• It breaks the chain of player accountability. It allows the multi-accounter to play both sides of the fence, without anyone knowing they are doing it. They can be both the good cop and the bad cop. No one can trace these back to the real player behind the characters.
• It steals positions of power away from legitimate players. Multis will almost certain give positions of power and authority to their own characters rather than legitimate players. This reduces the overall number of available positions of authority in the game.

I could probably go on for quite a while with all the reasons that multi-accounting is  one of the worst ways a player can cheat in a game like BattleMaster. None of the above problems exist with a single players having multiple characters via the legitimate methods.

[Lorgan]

Right now it's really a turn down for new players (something I've heard first hand from the people I introduce to the game) that they only get two characters.

Point.

[Perth]

Aurvandil.