Alts. Love them, hate them, or face addiction with them - they're out there and they're here to stay. With the changes to the badge/loot system, plus heirlooms and LFD, it's extremely easy to level up an alt and gear them out in T9 loot in no time. While this is a huge boon for guilds going through the inevitable end game bleedout, it can be a nightmare as well.
Now don't get me wrong. I have my own stable of level 80 alts, as well as a smattering of others that are in the process of leveling. They're fun to play, and I enjoy learning how the other tank/healing classes work. Yes, of all my alts I only have a single lvl 80 that is a pure DPSer. I'm sick that way.
Back to the point
My issue comes up when during a progression raid someone wants to bring this or that alt because "they don't need gear any more" for their main. Well that's great Sparky, I'm glad the RNG has worked well for you. Unfortunately there's 9/24 others who aren't in that position. Or what if it's the MT or your star healer? Very often they don't get the opportunity to ever swap out for an alt (even on alt run nights) because they're geared specifically to handle those encounters.
More to the point however, is that your output on your alt will probably not be near that of your main toon. They don't have the gear, you aren't as familiar with the rotation/positioning, etc. All of these combine to make a farm run just a little bit longer, or even cause a wipe or two. You're asking everyone else to sacrifice a little, just because you want to gear up another character.
The very rare occasion
Sometimes, I will admit, it's necessary to bring in an alt. We do it fairly regularly with our Warrior/Rogue, because he's had to switch toons to allow us to continue raiding. If he hadn't switched, we would have stalled - and so now we keep bringing him on some fights (i.e. gunship) where there's a specific piece of tank gear he needs. This however is definitely the exception, and not the rule.
GDKP
Now, here's a place where I LOVE to see your alt (as long as you've got the cash). Players who know the fights, and are willing to shell out for their gear - instead of asking to be carried through for no cost. In the two weeks that we've been running GDKPs we've rolled in over 7k per person. It's not huge, but it makes me feel better about giving gear to a 2k DPS alt running around in heroic dungeon gear.
Wrap up
So go, and play your alts. Frolic in the joy of no pressure raiding. Spend your gold in my GDKP, and take your chances in PUGs. Just don't ask to come to my main raids. At least not without some serious cash in your pocket.
"My alt is totally geared enough to raid ICC."
ReplyDeleteNo, no he's not (your trinkets/jewelry/weapons suck). Altoholism it is a pain for the leaders of a guild. I get frequent offers of players wanting to switch to their resto/holy alts "to help us out" when we're actually fine on healers. A player truly wishing to support the guild will play his main.
And like you said, most of us don't get the option to alt even on alt nights because our mains are so ingrained into the roster. I don't particularly "need" any more gear, either, but I would give my GM a coronary if I even mentioned disinterest in my holy paladin. It's not bitterness to say "if I can't, you can't", it's fairness. Allowing one person to switch would give permission for everyone else to do it, too, and we'd be perpetually re-progressing on bosses we already know.
Great post! :)
Definitely agreed on all counts. We've had people switch mains in order to fill a crucial role we were lacking, but I'm not going to take people's alts on progression nights. A specific alt run is a different story, where everyone brings a character they aren't used to playing and the comedy wipes aren't detrimental to what we're trying to do, nor taking advantage of other people's geared mains.
ReplyDeleteWe had one guy who "switched mains" three times... From a hunter, to a warlock, and finally a shaman. He'd get everything he wanted and then suddenly want to "help us out," exactly so. I wasn't too upset when he gquit.
Ugh yes.
ReplyDeleteAlso - please don't bring in a PUG'd member for a progression raid and then get fussy when progress isn't made.
I've been in that unfortunate situation with a slightly less than professional raiding guild. I am a friend of their main tank, and once they've exhausted their other resources, they would often ask me if I'd like to come and fill a DPS spot. I'm not -bad-, but frankly... they were struggling with their progression and I was not equally geared. I was wearing the best badge gear I could get and a few raiding pieces I had picked up while filling in older raids with the same group.
It was just really uncomfortable to wipe over and over on Festergut in those days and hear the conversation about lacking DPS, seeing myself not quite at the bottom (hurray!)... and then offering to drop if they could get a geared guild member to come in. Once, I was told they needed me there because they didn't have a warlock.
C'mon... you can't do without what? A portal? Some 5k healthstones? A soulstone that 80% of people forget to use? Pft.
But - yes. I still have a lil 'group leader' left in me from the past and the fastest way to bug me is to say "My main doesn't need the gear, let me bring my alt" to a fight that's considered "progression".
*ramble, ramble*