As I start yet another order character...without having a lvl 40 to my name, I have to ask the question...why? Why are alts so insidious and so prevalent? I suppose a quick review is in order...I have a lvl 32 RR 29 Warrior Priest, fully Salvation specced for healing. I have a lvl 19 WH, lvl 17 IB, lvl 13 Engineer....do you see the trend. Lately, the last few days I've been playing a Shadow Warrior in PvE and Scenarios.
I figured a look at my "Main" a pro's and con's list might be in order.
PRO.
- I can at least get into T4, as I've blogged earlier I even got into a successful city defense...which was a lot of fun.
- I'm just now hitting new content and new areas, learning the backstories and exploring the "oRvR Lakes"
- I like healing and keeping a group alive
- I'm in a new guild that is very active
CONS
- I'm in T4 as the lowest possible level, making me rather ineffective although I'm much more effective at helping than a lvl 32 melee toon is going to be.
- oRvR is confusing as all get out, and I only stay alive in the middle of the zerg, which makes oRvR a little less enjoyable as fights can be over before I even arrive...the exception are keep takes where I stand around spamming HOTs and the occasional group heal...which only heals two folks as the others are all out of range.
- I'm a secondary healer and incapable of keeping my group alive if I was the only healer
Neither the Pros or the Cons heavily outweigh the other...so why can't I focus on one character? T3 and T2 are often the same as T4 where the only way to survive is join and follow the zerg. Maybe if I understood the map lockdown mechanics it would make more sense. Maybe its the fact that T3 and T2 are easier to accomplish anything with less than four warbands.
I think that it boils down to three things. First, alts are guilt free. Most are not in guilds so the pressure to show up and stay late is much lower providing that "I'm here for fun" factor that can be missing when you’re pushing into a city. Second, T3 and T2 maybe more balanced and more importantly there are fewer areas to fight in making it easier to find an opponent. Last, there are fewer people in the zerg. The Battle of the Badlands as the sole exception, its easier for smaller warbands and groups to make a difference.
Combining all these together gives us a glimpse into why folks continue to spend copious amounts of time on two, three or even six other alts....of course; I could just hate my Warrior Priest as well.
I too suffer from altitis. So far, I've got 4 rk40 toons, with only 2 of them being above rr40.
ReplyDeleteWhy? I roll alts because I like understanding how other classes work and, subsequently, learn what I can expect from them, learn their strong and weak points and then go back to my main and try to tackle the problems other classes (in my case healers) cannot.
As to T4... I gotta be honest here. I'm rr70 on my main and I don't know what goes on in order to lock a zone. Mostly because I don't really care. I'm not in it for a zone lock and I find myself almost intentionally missing a lot of them to pursue better fights elsewhere. I agree that the huge gap between a rr30 player and a rr80 one is great but I've seen a lot of lowbie healers even do better than me. They try harder than most, you see. Sometimes, that's all it takes.
So... Go out there and try harder, you silly cross-dressing priest!
It maybe I just don't enjoy my WP, as I envisioned a paladin type healer in the middle of the fray instead of a back line group healer I have become. Its important but not truely exciting as I run away from the enemy instead of toward them...which was not what I envisioned when I started the Warrior Priest. On the other hand I do enjoy my Witch Hunter and my new SW...both DPS but with a completely different focus.
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