Curious - when are you "done" with a character?

[Ukase]

Some folks play one character. Or mainly one. Maybe they have 1 level 50, several alts ranging from 1-49, but only one "Main", and they play that character more than any other. 

Some folks make a new alt daily. Whether they  farm it up to 50 + 3-9 vet levels and get to 50+3 before they begin "playing" it. They do a certain amount of things with the character, or just try it on for size. Usually they park it, and then start over. Depending on free time to play, this could be a daily thing or a monthly thing. 

Some folks play only seldom. Maybe a mission or two a day. Some folks don't even do missions, but RP in some fashion or another. 

My question is directed mainly to folks that alt a fair amount, but typically reach 50 with most characters. 
When do you start a new one? Is there some objective like t-4 in all? All the accolades? All the badges? 

I've played enough characters where I know what I like. But I haven't played enough to know what else I would like. I've gotten a lot of utility out of my current character, a fire/atomic blaster. I don't usually keep playing a character to vet level 33. I usually stop after I get t-4. For whatever reason, I've kept playing this one a little longer. 

I can't seem to settle on a new one, so I'll keep playing this one for now. I actually leveled this one up in a farm, and began playing it at 50. I haven't done this for a character in a few years. There's pros and cons to doing things this way. It's certainly faster to get the accolades at 50 then organically as you level up. But, when you're doing content through Ouro, you can't really stop and join for a gm or hami raid without losing your progress. (thankfully, I have alts for such things, but still, I'd like the character I'm on to get those merits, too) 
 

When do you park it and start over? Is it just a "feel"? Or is there some goal you've reached? 

[kelika2]

The main - play it when i can/want.  run it through a firefarm to burn off 10 bars of patrol regularly

The super fun to play characters - take them as far as i can tolerate it.  most stop getting played in the vet level 50 area or when tier4s have been achieved

The majority - take them to vet level 11-15ish and stop playing

The extreme few - strip and repurpose enhancements, name or costume for something else

[Techwright]

Usually start anew due to a combination of sudden concept inspiration and funding availability.  That generally gives me one or two characters to work with, and I'll stay with them until they've unlocked Incarnate/Hybrid and all incarnate slots have at least one Tier 4 created for them.  Meanwhile, my banking mule has been crafting and selling to fund the next character(s).   

 

I'm actually at an unusual spot at the moment as I had several inspirational concepts in short order, and stretched funding to get them into the game.  So I've been juggling  6 or 7 somewhat underfunded, and recently decided to focus on one of them to give time for INF recovery.  That one just hit 50 an hour ago, so I'll be maxing out his Incarnate stuff and may play him longer or switch to one or more of my 50s to help in the INF recovery before tackling the rest of those in process.

[JKCarrier]

I generally play one alt at a time. By the time I get to 50, I'm usually getting itchy to try something new, so I retire them and start a new one. 

I have one 50 that I pull out occasionally to see how many badges I can get for him. I also use him to craft common IOs for whatever alt I'm currently levelling, since he has all the recipes memorized. The rest just sit there.

[Apogee]

I suffer from Shiny Squirrel Syndrome.

I am an alt-aholic.

I play a character for awhile, then I see something shiny and go play that for awhile.

I have 140+ characters over 3 accounts, ranging from level 10-50+, half are Praetorian mirrors of the other half.

I run my 50's through DA or do solo TFs from time to time, tweaking their builds.

I have yet to retire anyone.

[Snarky]

I have maybe 3-4 i go back to regular.  Others occasionally, some very rarely.  Most never.  
 

part of it depends on what i am working at.  That is more an indicator than the exact toon.  As my playstyle evolved from heavy melee to ranged dps to danger close dps the characters have changed.  But i chase the concept and playstyle, experimenting with power sets and builds.   Actually liking blaster psy/mental/force.   It is a solid damage dealer.  The strangeness of drain psyche i am just beginning to get the feel of.  Force’s Personal Force Field is a very good “i miscalculated this HARD” button.  Looking forward to Force of Nature to add another bump to the lopsided wheel of my end recovery.  Now at 40, with a build that should have +35% range and +45% damage sitting stone cold.  Not a lot of defense, but played smartly it does the work.  And…i have always liked the brain in a jar.  Both philosophically and with how they added it to the game.  So i think this will end up having a chance to stay.  It fits my playstyle, i like the look and the concept.  The stars have to align carefully indeed.  

[Triumphant]

I have something like 30 or 40 characters.  Maybe 5 or 6 of these are level 50+.  Those are the ones I play the most.  I play a character until I either 1) decide I don't like one or both of the powersets I chose 2) Get bored with the character or 3) Think of new concept that really trips my trigger and that I want to try out (I happens somewhat frequently).  If I have a character I haven't played in about 4 to 6 months, I will often delete it.  As a result, my total number of characters mostly remains the same (more or less).

[WuTang]

I have to like the concept and play to keep going on a toon. I've built some homage toons but once the novelty wore off so to did my interest, with the exception of my "Hulk," him I still play. I find that my original concepts last much further after 50. I plan out my builds on MIDs before I create the toon. Most of the time I have a powerset in mind before the look and am usually working on my next toon while I'm leveling one. Especially if I run with someone who is using a powerset I haven't gotten to and they make it look cool or very effective, then I'm in. I don't typically choose the same powerset more than once, but I have across different ATs, so the flavor or playstyle is different enough to warrant the time and effort. For instance, I have an Ele/Ele Scrapper and Blaster, so I've not gone with electric on a Brute or any ranged AT since. I did build a Triple E Brute for my son, and I will admit it looks fun to play, but I just can't pull that trigger. I also take an interest in powersets if I hear they are "difficult" or challenging to use. My most recent Brute DM/SR, I initially only made because a buddy of mine said /SR a garbage set, and I was like "here hold my beer." I just hit 50, so we'll soon see how it pans out...

 

I only have about 9...11...(somehere in there) 50s, so really, it's not difficult to juggle time on each right now, but some here have gobs of 50s. Not sure how it'll be if I reach that level. 

 

I will say that I have an Illusion/Fire Dominator, that I hit 50 on and still haven't even bothered training out the last 5 levels....just lost interest.

 

There was a dude on Everlasting that recently retired from the game but only after he hit 40,000 vet levels.

Edited September 9 by WuTang

[Lusiphur Malache]

I semi-retire a character after I T4 my incarnate abilities.  I'll revisit them to scrape the rust off every now and again.  Right now I have 30 semi-retired.

I got 9 other 50s that are in various levels with their incarnate abilities.  I'll play one of them for the weekend.

I got 9 other alts that range from level 7 to level 47. I usually play them during the week.  Most of them are experiments that present different challenges.  Got a Dark/SS tank that i'm not taking Rage on.  A Kinetic Melee/Shield Defense Brute, because was on a pug with one and he died every fight, it was the player, not the AT.

 

I only allow myself one page of in progress 50s so the next one will be the last for awhile., until I retire some.  Don't know when my altitis will strike again or for how long.

[starro]

Some times the character runs out of steam by level 10, 20, 50 or incarnate and I walk away.  The character in my mind has gone to their story conclusion and it makes since.  Not every character should be an incarnate.  I also find it’s a power set that just doesn’t fit the way I want to play lately.  Sometimes a respec, new costume or content update gets the old spark going again or even an alignment change and I am off to Rogue Isles. 
 

i could not imagine this game with only 8 character slots on a server 😛 

[Neiska]

For me it’s fairly simple - when it’s not fun to play anymore or when I want to play something else. Sometimes I completely strip them down and delete them, others I’ll mothball them and play them once every blue moon. Just depends how much I enjoyed the character, really.

[arcane]

Any character that goes on my spreadsheet now has to check off the following boxes to be completed:

 

• Has Mini Mode
• Has a completed IO build
• Has at least one T4 Incarnate power in each of the 6 slots
• Has the 4 auto +hp/+end accolades 
• Has reached Veteran level 100

Beyond that, a few characters have special

goals. My main wants all accolades and costumes and vanity pets. A few of my best toons might stretch for additional accolades too here and there.

Edited September 9 by arcane

[Without_Pause]

I'm done when I stop playing them. I currently have only a few who are looking at doing Arcane's list, but with Vet Level 50. The goal is to get all of them 50, and then play those so hitting higher Vet levels will simply happen. 

[caradoc1979]

I usually stick with one Main and use alts to provide buffs like leadership/radiation/bubbles but also give them access to mayhem/safeguard missions out of level range. I do make alts to team with others at their level because it's more fun to play an alt at the same level as them than my overpowered 50.

[lemming]

6 hours ago, arcane said:

Any character that goes on my spreadsheet now has to check off the following boxes to be completed:

• Has Mini Mode
• Has a completed IO build
• Has at least one T4 Incarnate power in each of the 6 slots
• Has the 4 auto +hp/+end accolades 
• Has reached Veteran level 100

Beyond that, a few characters have special

goals. My main wants all accolades and costumes and vanity pets. A few of my best toons might stretch for additional accolades too here and there.

Very similar.   Though Mini only if it fits concept.  The other goals are all intended.

 

I feel if I don't feel like doing the other goals, I wind up retiring the char. Like arcane, I have a couple other chars that have other goals, my main who badges, picks them up and I try for the other goals to like most of the temp powers.   Currently playing them more to work on the mini pets in the Lab. No rush, but eventual goal.  (Hmm, might dip under 90 chars soon, just sent three to the chop shop)

[biostem]

On 9/8/2024 at 1:23 PM, Ukase said:

My question is directed mainly to folks that alt a fair amount, but typically reach 50 with most characters. 
When do you start a new one? Is there some objective like t-4 in all? All the accolades? All the badges?

For me, it's all about interest;  If a costume happens to be good enough, that'll get me to play a particular character.  If a backstory is also interesting, that'll keep me playing.  If I can get a combination of powersets that makes the character particularly effective or fun to play, even better!  In some rare instances, the costume, backstory, and powersets culminate in a character that I can keep playing, (or at least coming back to), time and again!

[LegionAlpha]

Just take a "break" from playing until the next update or new powerset comes out (or both) when I bored or done with them. 

[Ridiculous Girl]

i have a severe case of altitis... over two servers i have 850 alts. in total i have about 30+ level 50s.

 

most of those seem to get put on the shelf at about vet level 14, which means that they have at least a couple of tier 4 incarnates. then they get set aside for something else shiny and fun. one of my last 50s was an arsenal/trick arrow controller, that i played almost exclusively with no 2xp, and it took about a month to get to 50. it is still very playable and is at a vet level in the 30s. my main tank, Marvelous Chin, is fun to play and roleplay, his vet level is in the 50s. my main, Ridiculous Girl naturally, sits at about 205 vet levels and 1530 badges. she mostly sits in her tree, crafting and BSing on general.

 

but to get to level 50 these days, my alts needs;

1) a good name

2) with an appropriate power set combo/AT to go with that name

3) must have a good biography

4) be fun to play

 

i must have 40-50+, level 30-40s that are missing one or two of those must haves, and sit in a sort of permanent limbo.

i probably have several hundred, level 10-30s, that are missing two or three of those qualifications.

the rest most like are name inspirations, where i tried to make something work or needed to create lest i forgot immediately. 😄 but i am all for the name un-namifying (i cannot think of the right term) because i am too lazy to free up names from 700 likely candidates. 😁

[Greycat]

I'm done with a character when I'm done with their story. Might be done at 20, might be done years after hitting 50. Might not be done any time in the forseeable future.

[tidge]

I start a new character when I have an inspiration for one, because of power combinations, costume, name, whatever. Until then I play existing ones. The existing ones get played to:

• Accumulate Inf/Merits/Drops/whatever for new/future characters
• Play on 'themey' teams
• self-accumulate Incarnate components

I'm not a great fan of the Incarnate system... especially since we can choose powers earlier, and have easier access to all enhancements. Generally I find the Incarnate powers boring, and I have the feeling that its existence, and the way it can explicitly provide powers that characters otherwise would not have (for the AT), drives many players to a boring sort of focus on 45+ content.  Luckily, Homecoming hasn't forced players into a grindy Incarnate system, so players can max themselves out without doing any of the Incarnate content. I should disclose: I usually almost have a post-50 build planned, so I'll respec into that and then give it a whirl through varied content to try it out.

 

I'm not a complete iconoclast, I do try to make sure all my 50s slot an Alpha ability (because Tin Mage/Apex is popular) to +1 level shift, but I find myself making all sorts of oddball choices when I do slot Incarnate powers because there seem to be obvious 'defaults' and they bore me.

[Maelwys]

Technically I'm never completely done with any of my characters.
I like all my toons to be "useful for something"; and if I think one of them would make a better teammate than whatever I'm currently playing for a particular team then I'll switch to them.
Even the back-of-the-cabinet toons occasionally get logged back into and rejigged after developer power changes occur; since I'm OCD about them never being sub-par within whatever particular niche they occupy.

Realistically I'll usually switch "mains" once:
(i) Their planned Level-50-no-holds-barred Mids build is completed.
(ii) All the incarnate abilities they're likely to find useful are at T4. This nearly always means multiple T4'ed Lore, Destiny and Hybrid options.
(iii) They're at least Veteran level 100+ (so no more free Empy Merits!)
(iv) I've made back whatever I spent on them (although typically the process of getting them to Vet level 100 and fully T4ed ticks this box passively).

[lemming]

1 hour ago, tidge said:

I'm not a complete iconoclast, I do try to make sure all my 50s slot an Alpha ability (because Tin Mage/Apex is popular) to +1 level shift, but I find myself making all sorts of oddball choices when I do slot Incarnate powers because there seem to be obvious 'defaults' and they bore me.

I tend to get that Alpha shift as soon as I can and then the rest now are completely based on what feels right.  I do grab the other level shifts. 

(Though I try not to do Longbow & BP Lore, because they seem overused)   Destiny, for chars that I keep playing, wind up with one of each.

[Doomguide2005]

Done?  What is this done you speak of?  I've been working on my Claws/SR since i3 numerous paper respecs and now Mids in 2024 she's probably as close as I can get until some change occurs that would effect things.  But in general they are rarely truly finished as I keep tweaking things, working on alternative builds, updates occur etc..

[Jacke]

I tend to focus on only a few Toons, but I'm never really done with them.

 

My main and main Badger, AR/Devices Blaster, concept was 2005, ran it from L1 to L50 in 2006 to 2009, kept playing, played it on that awful day when I thought that was the last time I'd play City ever.  On HC recreated and went L1 to L50 from 2019 to 2021.  Still playing it, 2 copies, CB and HC on Everlasting.

 

Lost track of how many Respecs I've taken the AR/Devices through, latest just this last August.  Hard as it's the sole Toon I have multiple builds, 3 of them, all the same except for the Epic Pool and 3 Powers (so a low-Level change needs 6 Respecs), but it must be dozens.  It's also the only Toon I'm sure the build is close to the best.  I think.

 

Still playing the AR/Devices.  CB one just completed Safeguard and Mayhems, as well some low-level Flashbacks both Blue-side and Red-side.  On Everlasting the HC version previously completed Safeguard and Mayhems, now doing the Gold-side Flashbacks.

 

I'm just over 100 Toons on CB and HC combined.  Mostly focused on a few.  But as I'm not "finished" on the most played Toon I've ever had, I don't think I'll ever finish a single Toon.  Hey, I've yet to get a Completist Toon through to L50.

 

 

Edited September 10 by Jacke

[Crysis]

I routinely powerfarm an alt up to level 35 or so, generic name/costume, based on a fun thematic powered that i read about here on forums or just had as an inspiration at some point, often after watching someone else use one or both powersets in game.  They sit there at 35, unleveled, until I have a bio, name, costume and build ready for them.  Then I pull them out, clothe and level and slot them up, and solo Black Scorps arc to get a feel for the build and unlock the Patron Pools.

 

Then as long as it plays well I'll dedicate all my playtime on that one character until I unlock T3 for Alpha, Destiny and Lore.  If the character feels "powerful" to me I'll take them to T4 all incarnates, achieve several accolades and then park them in the Hive (for Hami raids) or other zones where I think they may still be fun to play.  Otherwise at T3 or T4 status achieved....they are stripped of all slotted IOs and deleted.

 

As a result, I've no "main" but rather several old alts I'm fond of playing now and then and a constant stream of noobs.