Please disallow multiboxing entirely

[Mr. Vee]

I kinda assumed they were copying all the announcements here since they've had brief ones there with links to longer versions here. But I guess that's not the case. Probably going with discord for the pings.

[Obsidius]

And how are they going to enforce it?

 

How are they going to tell multi boxers from a couple playing together. Or a parent and their kids? Internet LAN party?

 

Will it become a full blown witch hunt where any thematic group is reported enmasse by the player base and banned? "Oh they must be multi boxing, they all have matching names and costumes!"

 

Let sleeping dogs lie. The only real issue is server stress. Granted the honor system will only go so far, but punishing the masses for the misdoings of a small group has always been a silly idea. The same people who Multibox 8 chars during prime time would be the same people cheating the system if it were "banned" anyways. So you accomplish nothing but punishing the rule-abiding player.

 

 

This is my other issue with the OP - how you would catch anyone doing this, even if it wasn't allowed in general. My wife, child, and I all play together when we can, so there are multiple accounts from the same IP address, but for very normal use.

 

 

I suppose one could look for anomalies - accounts using the same source IP accruing massive amounts of influence, etc. Not sure if the devs would have tools to track these things, and even so, the burden of proof would ultimately be on them to prove the players was harming the game in some way, either through market manipulation, player trolling/ harassment, etc. And with the ability to create unlimited free accounts, it could turn into a game of flyswatter.

[Mr. Vee]

I suppose the OP is happy now since the new policy is essentially 'you can only do it on reunion or at weird times'.

[mattwo]

And can someone please point me to this Dev statement regarding multi-boxing... I looked where I thought it should be and tried searching, but came up with no actual post regarding the issue. Would be interesting to see what they actually stated in regards to people who play 2-3 accounts since people are saying they have basically condoned such behavior.

 

Looking at my Dev Tracker, I can find no instances of the Devs talking about multi-boxing... at all.

I kinda assumed they were copying all the announcements here since they've had brief ones there with links to longer versions here. But I guess that's not the case. Probably going with discord for the pings.

 

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/index.php/topic,2356.0.html

[Burnt Toast]

So from the announcement today:

Multi-boxing is allowed unless the servers are at 1500+ - cool. So basically Torchbearer is the main one that will have issues with multi-boxing at peak times. Funny though - I see nowhere that the devs called multi-boxing "toxic" and in actuality condone it so long as the servers are not crazy busy. The people that I know that multi-box generally do it super late at night or early in the morning so it will not affect them. Then again the people that I know who multi-box are just power leveling themselves and a friend or two.

 

Glad it was cleared up here (I don't pay attention to the discord).

[Piledriver]

Yeah, see, this is why I think that we need these forums to be the official communication channel. Discord is so clunky, impermanent, and hard to search...

 

/signed!

 

 

I suppose the OP is happy now since the new policy is essentially 'you can only do it on reunion or at weird times'.

 

The nerfherders are never happy. It's not in their wiring.

[epictaco]

And how are they going to enforce it?

 

How are they going to tell multi boxers from a couple playing together. Or a parent and their kids? Internet LAN party?

 

As far as running multiple clients on the same computer, it is pretty trivial to check for other instances of the game on the same system but at the same time it is also easy to bypass.

[MetaVileTerror]

Sad day.

I run tabletop roleplaying games like Shadowrun and Dark Heresy on a weekly basis (twice weekly sometimes), and I was hoping to bring my group in to City of Heroes for some similar experiences.

 

This multi-boxing policy is not an ideal situation for me, but I understand the server operators' ruling on it.  I suppose I can hold out hope that some day things will stabilize enough that multi-boxing will be reinstated, but for now my roleplay plans will have to be put on indefinite hold. 

 

An alternative solution for me would require entirely new code be implemented, and I think I'm rather an edge case here, so I share this with absolutely no assumption that they'd act upon it, but . . .

 

It would be nice to see a system implemented where a single player can control multiple NPCs like they would Henchpets, issuing commands  and sending messages through these NPCs.  These NPCs would be built like Architect Entertainment characters, with appearance and power customization.  Multi-boxing was the obvious answer to this for me, but . . . well, yeah.

[Mikazuki]

Kinda wanted to multibox, but then found out that for some reason autohotkey's controlsend doesnt work on CoH, and i dont want to pay for a multiboxing software right now(and not even sure if any exist), so... right now the only purpose i can imagine for actually multiboxing(unless you found a Multibox software that works on CoH) is for farmers to have a slave buffer following them around.

 

...or just for masterminds on follow i guess? that works at lower levels and at lower difficulties but i fail to see the purpose, imagine the nightmare of having to tab just to move your second character through doors and unglue out of corners all the time.

[MetaVileTerror]

eh . . . it's not so much of a nightmare as you may think, at least not for me.  But then, I live in a world of constant alt-tabbing anyway.  I'm sorely out of practice, mind.  I used to two-and-two multi-box back during Live, and at my most silly, I four-and-two'd.  THAT didn't work as well as just one-and-eight, lemme tell ya!  But ten years ago, a computer that could run eight instances of City was not as affordable as they are today.

[Solvernia]

People should only be allowed to have fun the way I want them to have fun.

 

[Primantis]

 

 

The nerfherders are never happy. It's not in their wiring.

 

 

Indeed, the "Fun Police" are never pleased.

 

No matter which media, locale or subject matter.

[wjrasmussen]

All of the above statements are largely derived from issues in EVE Online caused by CCP's lax policies on running multiple accounts out of the same PC, which to my knowledge is the only example that springs to mind of a game where multiboxing has been actively allowed by a developer in their MMO. Also from peoples' tendency to take the most optimal or low-effort means to accomplish a goal (such as farm out IO sets). And peoples' tendency to violate conditional rules (people tend to speed more in school zones where the speed limit is reduced periodically during the reductions than in areas with constant speed limits, as a quantifiable example) over constant ones. Even if tools were implemented to identify multiboxers as the server fills up and "I didn't know 7 PM on a Saturday was going to be peak hours" and "sorry, I'm just playing with my brother" become common excuses.

 

I don't see a problem

[Emma Usher]

No, but I'd be fine with a stricter limit like a max of two (instead of three) up to 1300 logged in players (instead of 1500) and don't allowing MMs in multibox contexts.

I rarely multibox, but it's a fun way to have a player created pet when needed for concept.

[Solvernia]

There is literally nothing wrong with multiboxing, and the only people who are against it are the kind of people who would ban you from taunting in a Smash tournament because it's 'unfair' and 'mean'.

 

You hurt more people than you help when you restrict everyone's methods of playing and enjoying the game.