How many characters do you play?

Lothien

(The poll is anonymous in case people don't want to reveal that they play multiple characters.) I was just curious how many folks here play multiple characters, and if they do, how do you split the time between them? Do you just switch to another when you get frustrated on one?

Kasya

If I get really bored or frustrated, I'll make a throw away alt and just goof around a bit. But time has shown I can't play more than one character at a time. I had one I played on and off for 9.5 years, but now that I've moved onto Kas, she takes up enough of my time.

Ruth

I have.... 7 alts. Most of these are to get a feel of other classes but there are a select few which I log into when I'm feeling the stress on Ruth and I could use a change of pace and atmosphere.

Aereidhna

One at a time (with several years break in between). I hope Aereidhna will be my last, I love playing her. I can't alt, I get too invested (emotionally, time-wise and financially, LOL). Every time I try to alt for a change of pace, I end up tossing it, just can't casually play a character.

Entaro

I have 1 alt but he's retired.  Every time I go to make a new character I end up looking at how much it'll cost to get me up to scratch and qq lol.

Sobriquet

Just Sobby and my Naga. Although, not logged in since Mhaldor went through the house change so no idea what he is at the moment.

Trevize

Just an old occultist (my first char, long since gone), Trevize, and a few alts I keep for class testing purposes (which I won't need with multiclass!!!).

Acrisius

I have fourteen permanent characters. Especially after the No-Brainer Lesson Package was made available.

One Dragon. Two or three lvl 85-95. The rest are lvl 75 and below.

Like @Ruth and @Kasya, I have a lot of part-time/throw-away alts.
Most of them were made to take a break/learn about the different classes.  I'm not the type of person that likes to break oaths or change my roleplay of a character on a whim, especially when I become frustrated by Achaea's high-end drama. It's everywhere.
You've got to be able to take a step back or you might ruin your character and have a black stain that most people will remember you by. 

From my personal experience, people are more willing to help answer questions/go out of their way to help a "new person" than they are to spend a lot of time on a clueless oldbie. A few years ago, people really guarded information, but those times seem to be changing and I am personally really grateful for that.

I feel like I've been able to learn more, and more quickly, by making alts and experiencing people/events I normally would be locked out of by playing a single character.

Quisse

Alts are the best way to find a new main.

Anedhel

Too hard to get into the able-to-react-on-the-fly mindset with a character if you're playing more than one, imo. Since I like to make Annie consistent, it's too much work to alt

Reiloch

I tried rolling an alt. Not sure if I'll stick it out with him, though, so I went with the 'one at a time' option. I've rolled a couple of characters over the years, but I'm pretty sure this is by far the longest I've stuck with it. Serverside curing made all the difference in the world. The few characters I rolled years back all ended up the same: hitting a wall with being purely manual, throwing up my arms in frustration, and quitting after a month.

I'm still strictly manual aside from serverside curing, aliases for outd/fling, and a very basic antitheft set up. I think that's pretty much the way I like it. Hotkeys? Reiloch cannot in to hotkeys.

Quisse

I enjoy roleplaying different personalities quite a lot, which is the usual reason I roll alts. I get an idea for a character sometimes, and want to see it come to fruition. 

Skye

I've rolled a few alts, but I have like 2 who've reached any sort of significance. Generally speaking, I only really play alts when playing on Skye becomes total frustration. Going rogue and finding more and more things to do on her has lessened the urge to alt though.

Krypton

Speaking of alts..

Ladygaia (male Atavian).
He is 18 years old, having been born on the 2nd of Daedalan, 676 years after the
fall of the Seleucarian Empire.
He is unranked in Achaea.
He is an extremely credible character.
He is not known for acts of infamy.
He is a Freeman in Eleusis.
He is considered to be approximately 0% of your might.

Perhaps next time, err on the side of subtlety, eh, Lady @Gaia?

Adet

I generally play one character at a time, because I find it far easier to separate what I know IC and OOC that way.  

My general cycle is that I'll play Adet for a while, then life or boredom get in the way, or logging in starts to feel more like a chore than like fun, so I take a reasonably long break (on the order of six months).  Then I'll start an alt, because I'm interested in another class or city, before getting bored of being a newbie and having to work up supplies and a reputation, before logging back onto Adet (normally with a new lease of life, with plans to get properly involved in combat/bashing/Orders).

I'm currently at the "playing an alt" stage, so Adet may well be back within the next couple of months.

Cynlael

5.

One for each city.

All the metagaming.

Actually just one.. Sometimes two, I get too annoyed if I play more than 1 at a time, though. Also have a third dropped at lv 50 just so I can classhop on it to read AB files when things change, because interacting with people is too difficult... 

Over time, though, I think I've had somewhere in the region of 12 or so. About 4-5 within 5% of dragon. Always get burnt out in some way or another. Hopefully current will be my last, things seem okay >.> - Of that many, only 1 is below 80.. Seven are over 90.

Kayeil

I don't alt. Just feels like a waste of time and resources to me. I'd rather continue working on goals on one character.

Kez

Aereidhna said:

I can't alt, I get too invested (emotionally

This is actually a fantastic reason to alt.
When Lupus went away, just logging on as Kez was making me cry all the time, and people asking anything about Lupus or Kez would bring on more tears. (because Kez RP just revolves around Lupus in every way, even sitting on the cusp of dragon and not diving in because Lupus would not approve) For a while I spent most of my time on a character meant for pvp and now I'm splitting that time. No more tears. It helped me distance myself from Kez, who I still believe is pretty irrevocably messed up by having spent her entire life revolving around Lupus but I'm waiting for all the big overhauls to get done and settle a bit before I start planning any major changes.

Mishgul

7 i think? 3 actively at the moment, 1 just to harvest hive. 

Bronislav

One character. I tried an alt, once, but it felt like every hour spent on the alt was an hour less doing something more productive on Bron - so dropped it. 

Sybilla

I thought everyone in Achaea is one of Sarapis' alts

Cynlael

Everyone is Vaehl or Carmain, I thought.

Krypton

Mishgul said:

1 just to harvest hive. 

can confirm. am his alt.

Dochitha

I only have one character, that's Dochitha, and one more stationed at Certimene so I can access various classes AB files.

Saeva

I have one alt who gets no love because I can't be assed. I tried for a little while to get some steam with her but it was just really swiftly drained from me. One will do, she's overly busy anyway.

Caladbolg

I used to have 3-4 alts I switched between playing because I could only learn so far and certain classes were more fun at times. Then I grew up got a job and spent way too much money on credits. Now I can't stand playing alts with the lack of artifacts like wings. Also my thief alts all got unplayed after theft nerfs. Except my serpent sometimes I screw around on it.

Naverre

I made my Cyrenian alt after I got really tired/bored with how things were going with Nav, and had a blast with him. But Naverre really is my main for a lot of reasons, and I've stopped playing my alt lately. The longer I've gone without playing him, the harder it's become to get back and play him again. Not sure I ever will at this point.

Now, how many permanent characters do I have registered? Too damn many. Most of them are Eleusian, and I have no idea why.

Aereidhna

Kez said:

Aereidhna said:

I can't alt, I get too invested (emotionally

This is actually a fantastic reason to alt.
When Lupus went away, just logging on as Kez was making me cry all the time, and people asking anything about Lupus or Kez would bring on more tears. (because Kez RP just revolves around Lupus in every way, even sitting on the cusp of dragon and not diving in because Lupus would not approve) For a while I spent most of my time on a character meant for pvp and now I'm splitting that time. No more tears. It helped me distance myself from Kez, who I still believe is pretty irrevocably messed up by having spent her entire life revolving around Lupus but I'm waiting for all the big overhauls to get done and settle a bit before I start planning any major changes.

This is one reason I am tempted to try and alt more. I have ruined previous characters by getting too emotionally invested, making poor life decisions in the heat of the moment because things were going really badly, etc. I'm determined not to do that with Aereidhna - or at least to be able to deal with the fallout if anything bad ever happened.

But I do think being able to alt might be fun if things get too stressful at times, or just for a change of pace. I just struggle with feeling like I am not putting enough time/energy into both characters, plus I'm spoiled and hate starting over with skills and such, but it is fun to try out different things RP-wise. 

Sartan

I'm also Tarah and Oneiros. But that's only when @Twilight insists we play dress up in the Garden.

Taraus

I have tried to make alts before. Every time, same damned thing happens:

'duanathar

You say, "Duanathar.'

.......................

qq

Gamden

One...Made an alt once..(it became my main)

Wont do that again..
Too much time consuming ext, also mining is too damn expensive to spend any spare time on an alt..back to work Gamden!! *whip slash*