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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsAsk WoW Insider: Defining mains and alts
by Mike Schramm 
Aug 18th 2008 at 5:00PM
There's a ton of asking going on around this site lately -- between "Ask a Lore Nerd" and "Ask a Beta Tester," you guys are asking more questions than a two-year old who just learned what "why" means. But this column, Ask WoW Insider, is the O.G. of Ask columns here on the site, and unlike all of the other Ask columns, we put the question back to you readers. Chippen of EU Doomhammer sent in this great question this week:We are having a discussion in our guild whether alts have priority on loot before guild members and we do have different views on this. Some say that an alt is an alt, and need to wait to be geared up, while others can't really see the problem. What is a main and what is an alt?If you're asking me, I'd say it's definitely possible to switch mains (I've done it a few times) -- your main is currently the character that's getting the majority of your playtime, and the one where loot matters the most to you. Some guilds ask you to declare a main, so that they can make a clear distinction for passing out loot, while other guilds just have players switch alts depending only on what situations require what.
I suppose a main is the...well...I don't know. The first character I created? Or is it the character I play the most? Or is it the character I want to play the most and also enjoying playing the most? When does an alt become a main, and is it possible to swap between the two?
So let's show up those other Ask columns and give this great, open-ended question out to you, our dear readers: what is a main and what is an alt? And what's the difference between the two?
If you've got a question for our readers to be posted right here in the original Ask column, be sure to send it along to ask@wow.com. And there's lots more Ask WoW Insider, including this question on abusing the /roll, and how to make friends and influence raiders on a new server.Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Virtual selves, Guilds, Ask WoW Insider, Making money
Reader Comments (Page 2 of 4)
Phoulmouth Aug 18th 2008 5:28PM
When you are a raiding guild every member should specify a "MAIN" raiding character. This is the character they want to raid on and the only character the person will ever get progression raid spots with. All other characters are Alts.
And alt character should NEVER take loot over a main character because the main character will be in more raids. This means the main character will be more beneficial to the overall progress of the guild in general.
If you want to get technical a MAIN character should also be a specific spec and only that one spec. This is so that that person can get better and better at there specific role in the raid and so that loot is distributed based on main character/main spec.
Example:
A shaman can raid as elemental, enhance or resto. If your main is a restoration shaman you technically have dibs on resto gear over the person that raids as an enhancement shaman.
How fair would it be for you to be the guilds only resto shaman but the enhancement shamans take all the resto gear from you?
How would that assist in your guilds overall progression? It wouldn't!
Any guild that is serious about raid progression understands the needs for main characters main specs to get gear over alt characters or main characters alt specs.
Any guild serious about raid progression also understands the importance of regulating who is what spec for raid purposes.
dan Aug 18th 2008 5:40PM
100% agree.
Saelorn Aug 18th 2008 5:44PM
I mostly agree, but even then you're only defining "main" vs. "alt" for the small subset of people who are in progression-based raiding guilds. Some guilds don't raid, some guilds are happy to just farm Kara and ignore progression until the expansion, and some people aren't even in guilds!
Of course, you could always counter that, if you're not in a raiding guild, it doesn't matter what your definition of main is, since consistent vocabulary only matters for large groups of people.
Naix Aug 18th 2008 5:30PM
The toon your currently playing more than twice a week is your main. Alts are fun to do money runs, lower instances with friends that are not doing BT, and world pvp with.
johnnyc Aug 18th 2008 6:27PM
I guess it depends on whether you're talking about a raider or a non-raider.
Raiders apparently follow the rules outlined by others above.
For us non-raiders, a main is most likely the character(s) you enjoy playing the most. I have two mains, my hunter and my priest. I have several alts. The hunter and priest get about equal play time each week.
Naix Aug 19th 2008 9:37AM
Following the "rules" means I am not playing the game my way. I want to have fun and raid and I do very very well.
*shrug*
obarthelemy Aug 18th 2008 5:41PM
Hot topic in my guild, too. We've cleaned Hyjal, and have killed Gurtogg.
We've decided that:
- There is one, and only one, main character per player. Some insisted they had 2 of those oO
- You can switch mains, as you can switch talent trees but we expect you to ask beforehand, and be prepared not to have priority raid spots with your new main/spec, depending on the raid's needs.
- Alts only get gear no Main (in their spec) want, or get to beg for drops in private with other interested players. We'll handle case by case the hibrid case where, say, a DPS warrior alt and a Tank both want DPS gear. The rationale: is the short run, alts do help out. In the long run, we'd rather have a full raid of fully-geared mains, than a spotty roster of half-geared mains and alts. If we need alts for raids, it means we need to recruit (yet again ^^).
With the new badge loot, we find that badge+craft equipped toons can help even in BT/Hyjal.
Since I am one of the heaviest players in my guild, I suffer a lot from that rule, as I often have to play a non-loonting alt instead of my main, even on bosses where my main still needs drops. Even though, I find the rule clear, simple, logical, and somewhat fair. At least, it is the same for everyone.
skreed Aug 18th 2008 5:43PM
I generally consider any sub-70 character and those on realms I dont play that often as 'Alts.' Once I get a toon (on my primary server) to the level cap, they just become like an extension of the same character. Its like having an extra tree to spec into.
My guild is pretty cool in that they try to accomodate whoever wants to run our farm content (Heroics or Kara), whether its a main, alt, or newly-designated main. So, between my Warrior (best geared), Pally (highest gearing priority) and Druid (nearing 70 so he's taking up most of my solo time), I dont really have a 'main.' I bring whoever we need to balance the group and make the content managable.
Mark Aug 18th 2008 5:50PM
Wow, did you guys pick a controversial topic.
Many people feel that you should only have one character for raiding, so that you gear that character, learn that character, and allow other people to get gear as well.
Other people constantly want to come on raids - or even specific bosses - with their alts. Sometimes that would directly screw other people present in the raid, sometimes it wouldn't.
I've had enough of both types of people: My only raid-guilded character now is my rogue, while my T4/5-having characters (HPriest, mage, warlock, and tankadin) are all in an 'alt' guild.
I do this to make it CLEAR that my rogue is who I want to raid on, and who I want to gear up. Sometimes if my raiding guild needs help for a specific encounter I'll bring one of my 'alts' (even though they are more geared than my main) to help out.
Raco Aug 18th 2008 5:51PM
Here's how I see it and my guildies on the Thrall-US server alliance side. Why the hell should you be able to gear TWO characters when someone else doesn't have the gear for ONE? I think that's enough said. Don't be greedy. Play nice. People like you more then.
Jellodyne Aug 18th 2008 6:08PM
If you were asked to bring your tank or your healer or whatever over your main, then its probably because your guild needed a tank or healer or whatever more than whatever your 'main' is. And whatever your guild needs, they probably need as well geared as possible.
So if our guild asks you to bring an 'alt' then you have the same rights to roll on gear as anyone else, but if you chose to bring one (because, say, your main doesn't need anything out of a farm run) then you take whatever anyone's mains don't need.
Jellodyne Aug 18th 2008 6:09PM
P.S. ALL of your characters should be 'the one you play for fun' -- its a GAME!
Clarick Aug 18th 2008 6:05PM
In our guild we have the members define a main as the toon they like to Raid with the most with the understanding that mains get priority over Alts. The exception to the rule is when the raid leader needs someones alt for some function (say we need shackle or banish for some reason) then they have an alt.
It also helps with guild organization. YOu may have 160 level 70 toons but only 60 accounts in your guild. Well if you only have 60 Main toons you know your acctual count of real people in the guild
Lab Monkey Aug 18th 2008 6:06PM
If a guild has already helped gear up one of your toons I think you have an obligation to let the rest of the group get gear before you take a second serving.
ZekeGrimsblade Aug 18th 2008 6:19PM
This I can agree on. It just pains me that I'm going to have to roll something else because nobody wants my hunter, at least not as first, second, or third choice.
Jaem Aug 18th 2008 6:17PM
Our guild makes it very easy . We have our raiding guild which is full of our 'Mains' . Then we have our alt guild with all our other toons in it . In the event an ALT is needed which is very rare as we have built our raid guild on having balanced numbers needed for raiding then they receive DKP and RAP like any other raiding toon , which they are entilted to spend anyway they like . DKP and RAP
are given to the toon not the account.
Daddywarbuck of Farstriders Aug 18th 2008 6:19PM
As a person who's only had 1 70, but will soon have a second:
There are a *lot* of loot systems that handle this very well.
Suicide Kings, where each person or each character is on the list, handles it quite elegantly (You only accrue "position" on the list when you're in the raid, the more the raid insists your "alt" comes, the more your alt gets high on the list).
DKP per person or per character: The more you're there, the more you earn. You spend it as you see fit.
Note this conflict only comes up in situations where you work on gearing up people for the good of the group. You act like the group doesn't *want* to get gear, and won't work hard if there are more sinks.
It might be different if the guild spent the cost of all consumables and repairs, including those for all the runs required to get up to raid gearing, the guild would have room to talk. Most WOW guilds don't invest that much in their characters. Each person farmed that stuff and brought it to raid, and deserves payback in the form of loot when it drops.
If I start hearing my alt is not welcome to gear, you will immediately see me withdraw access to my main from that group.
Your group harmony is shit if you try to decide "what is best for the whole". Always always causes drama and infighting.
Jason Aug 22nd 2008 12:26AM
Here's the problem with that logic,
why should you get 2 geared toons while someone who is there for almost every progression fight be passed on loot for his toon so that it goes to you?
Now, if it comes to where they need your alt more than your "main" for raids, the alt should be considered a main charector (and your main is now an alt). But no player should have highest loot priority on two toons simultaneously.
I am a holy priest, but recently we lost some of our core raiding shadow priests so I was asked to respec. Our "main" raiding shadow priest still gets loot priority for shadow gear, while I am still considered a holy priest when it comes to healing gear. This means that I still have high loot priority, but I'm not getting a second set of gear at the expense of another player.
But we clear TK, SSC, most of Hyjal and half of BT almost every week. Not to mention bear runs, etc. We frequently bring alts/off spec to T4 and T5 content, and if you don't get that "uber" piece for your alt because a main needed it for progression, you'll get it the next time.
As I stated in another post, we use a Loot Council system, with 9 voting members (Our GM only votes if there is a tie, and people who want the gear for themselves generally let the others vote for them). The only time we've ever had drama over how we distribute loot is when someone who had 4 geared toons was complaining because he didn't get the upgrade everytime one dropped.
The key to loot is to be open about how it is given out, and to have set rules that everyone, including the council has to follow.
Daddywarbuck of Farstriders Aug 22nd 2008 4:28AM
With both of the systems I talk about, either making it per person or per toon, each *person* only gets as much loot as he/she raids.
IE, sally raids 10 hours a week, Jane raids 120, jane gets more loot if she can use it, because her priority moves up more. (In DKP systems, she'd get more points, in SK systems, she'd watch other people use their priorty more, therefore would move up on the lists more).
It doesn't matter if the systems are per toon or per person: each person will end up getting a similar amount of loot. Barring multiboxing, the amount of priority you accrue to a given toon is basically P=t*C where C is some constant. Now if you only have one toon, the time played (t) is greater for the toon than someone who has 5 toons. Therefore the single toon player will move up in the lists/accrue more dkp either collectively among several toons, or to the person (depending on how the group does it).
Either way, you preserve the effort->reward ratio, and you have no humans in the systems making decisions for other people. That last part is what cuts down on drama.
--D
Loot Councils have all sorts of moral hazards in them, and also *appear* to be unfair, even if they're not (what human is truly impartial). That's why written law is so much better than unwritten law: everyone can go figure out how it will go down.
Deacon Aug 18th 2008 6:38PM
This is why I don't want to be in a large raiding guild and I'm glad Blizz is changing raiding to 10 and 25 man. Our guild never has this kind of gear drama. We raid for fun and the possible change to upgrade a piece. Plus, with the badge system, everyone feels they leave the instance with something.
We master loot everything and after it drops, a discussion is had. Since we're talking about BOP stuff here, the characters there have the option to take it and roll for it. Your toon is there, you should have a chance. Sometimes there is some discussion like "While our tank could use that piece, it would be a bigger upgrade for our rogue." We are friendly and discuss it.
Here's an idea... stop raiding for loot.