Dual boxing

[Snarky]

I only "multibox" when I use my alt acct Farmer to PL a main acct toon.  Or use the Farmer to move products one toon to another en maaase.

 

I am not even sure if the way I do it is "multi boxing" because I use two separate computers.  Does this look like two separate comps, or does it look the same as multi accts on one comp client side since all from same IP address?  And if so, what if a family of 3-4 different individuals all played in the same house?  Multi boxing?  

[ZorkNemesis]

I don't like multiboxing, too much effort.  If I do, it's usually for personal benefit and I involve no one else, such as grinding PvP zone badges (I don't think i've even seen 5 other people in any PvP zone since I came back, let alone 50).  I also drag out my multibox frequently to deal with Army of Me attempts on some characters; running that mission solo with a character running a support set is hell.

[Glacier Peak]

3 hours ago, Snarky said:

I only "multibox" when I use my alt acct Farmer to PL a main acct toon.  Or use the Farmer to move products one toon to another en maaase.

 

I am not even sure if the way I do it is "multi boxing" because I use two separate computers.  Does this look like two separate comps, or does it look the same as multi accts on one comp client side since all from same IP address?  And if so, what if a family of 3-4 different individuals all played in the same house?  Multi boxing?  

At the bottom of the Code of Conduct section for Multiboxing:

 

Multiboxing Policy

 

We allow a basic level of multiboxing on the Homecoming servers outside of peak times. These rules apply on a shard-by-shard basis (by ‘shard’ we mean Torchbearer, Excelsior, etc).

 

If there are less than 1500 people logged in to a shard you may play with up to three accounts at once.

If there are more than 1500 people logged into a shard you may only play with a single account.

If you are caught multiboxing when there are between 1500 and 1600 players logged in to a shard, you will be warned and expected to log off immediately. If you ignore requests to do so your accounts will receive a 24h ban.

 

If you are caught multiboxing repeatedly with more than 1600 players logged in to a shard, all of your accounts will receive immediate permanent bans.

 

It is your responsibility to monitor server status and current player count if you wish to multibox. You can do this both on our website and in the #live-shards channel on our Discord.

 

An exception to this rule is Hamidon raid zones (The Hive, The Abyss) which have a limited population cap. No multiboxing is allowed in these zones. Breaking this rule may result in all of your characters being removed from the zone and short-term suspensions being issued for repeat offenders

 

Please note that this policy does not apply to groups of players simply playing from the same home/network. It only applies to individuals playing multiple accounts on their own.

Edited April 27, 2024 by Glacier Peak

[kkslidermight]

multiboxing is a blight and a pox ESPECIALLY when low-pop. it rewards players for being antisocial in an mmo, and punished players who want to find other players to group with. now that I know it's permitted here I don't think I'll keep playing.

[Glacier Peak]

2 minutes ago, kkslidermight said:

multiboxing is a blight and a pox ESPECIALLY when low-pop. it rewards players for being antisocial in an mmo, and punished players who want to find other players to group with. now that I know it's permitted here I don't think I'll keep playing.

Do you have any evidence that supports this claim? Homecoming has been around for almost six years and they've allowed multiboxing the whole time. They're the most popular server too. 

[kkslidermight]

it's an opinion. It's been my experience on every private server that allows it. the lower the population the more harmful multiboxing has been. less people = less opportunties for grouping. multiboxing = less opportunity for grouping. the negative effects are compounding. homecoming is the most popular, but now I have to question how much of that population is unique players.

[biostem]

14 minutes ago, kkslidermight said:

multiboxing is a blight and a pox ESPECIALLY when low-pop. it rewards players for being antisocial in an mmo, and punished players who want to find other players to group with. now that I know it's permitted here I don't think I'll keep playing.

Forced teaming will not foster camaraderie, and CoH has always been a stand-out with how it is mostly solo-friendly...

[biostem]

8 minutes ago, kkslidermight said:

I have to question how much of that population is unique players.

You sow that FUD!  I'm sure it'll help things out, just like how eliminating multi-boxing will suddenly get those people to team with you...

 

And for the record, I myself do not dual-box.

[Troo]

1 hour ago, kkslidermight said:

multiboxing is a blight and a pox ESPECIALLY when low-pop. it rewards players for being antisocial in an mmo, and punished players who want to find other players to group with. now that I know it's permitted here I don't think I'll keep playing.

 

Folks get to have an opinion. Thank you for voicing your concern.

[lemming]

I'm finding that sometimes I mutlbox where I'm running a test on beta, a farmer is tooling away (and often ignored), and the third is actively teaming.

[Glacier Peak]

2 hours ago, kkslidermight said:

it's an opinion. It's been my experience on every private server that allows it. the lower the population the more harmful multiboxing has been. less people = less opportunties for grouping. multiboxing = less opportunity for grouping. the negative effects are compounding. homecoming is the most popular, but now I have to question how much of that population is unique players.

It's pretty clear when someone is multiboxing, so there's not much to question. 

[Xenodi]

I multibox quite often, running my three accounts at the same time. I love multiboxing and have been doing it since playing MUDs. However, when I do TF content, I only use one account. I try to avoid multiboxing Giant Monsters, even though I can slay them quite easily with my GM hunter toons. Instead, I join GM hunting teams and have fun together. There are rules allowing us to use three accounts at the same time, and I really hope people respect that rule. I think it is very generous of the devs.

[Lunar Ronin]

On 3/22/2025 at 3:37 PM, kkslidermight said:

multiboxing is a blight and a pox ESPECIALLY when low-pop. it rewards players for being antisocial in an mmo, and punished players who want to find other players to group with. now that I know it's permitted here I don't think I'll keep playing.

 

You can already solo 95% of the game's content on just about any character.  There's very little content that you actually need a team for.  So what's the difference between someone playing one or three accounts while soloing?

[Ironblade]

On 3/22/2025 at 3:41 PM, Glacier Peak said:

Do you have any evidence that supports this claim? Homecoming has been around for almost six years and they've allowed multiboxing the whole time. They're the most popular server too. 

 

Multi-boxing was allowed back on live, also.  I had three accounts then and three now.  I generally only multi-box to solo Dr Q with three accounts when it's the weekly for double merits.  That's a lot of merits.

[biostem]

1 hour ago, Ironblade said:

Multi-boxing was allowed back on live, also.  I had three accounts then and three now.

I'm not arguing against the point, but I think it's a bit different when you're potentially paying for each account vs using F2P ones.  Yes, I know CoH did go F2P toward its end, but there were still powersets or other such "premium content" that still cost money...

Edited 22 hours ago by biostem

[Ironblade]

12 minutes ago, biostem said:

I'm not arguing against the point, but I think it's a bit different when you're potentially paying for each account vs using F2P ones.

 

I suppose.  Presumably the fact that we were paying was why there was no (as far as I can recall) restriction on multi-boxing.

[kelika2]

I multibox because:

I hate speed task forces most of the time, so many people do not advertise their TFs properly and say "speed btw" with the start TF menus queued up.  with multiboxing i can kill through and move at my own pace

I hate people who fuck with the battlefield all the time, knockback, fold space and so on.  they cant piss me off if they never existed

I play late and at random times.  being wide awake at 5am isnt the groupiest of times

Triple the rewards.  Sure half merits for the two box accounts but still gets drops/inf from repeating it as i cycle main account alts.  im firefarming so much less these days because of multiboxing task forces

 

I still join instant action quick things tho, yins, itf, posis, etc solo tho.  its not all bad

[Parabola]

I solo 99.99% of the time and a small proportion of that is spent dual boxing. If dual boxing was banned I would simply continue to solo 99.99% of the time without it. Dual boxing isn't a replacement for teaming, it's another form of soloing.

[Neiska]

Why not both?

 

3 accounts here. Sometimes I 3 box solo, sometimes I play 1 with a team. Sometimes I’ll be teamed up on my main, and 2 box afk farm with the other two. I think of it as efficient use of my leisure time.