Multiboxing.tv lets you watch multiboxing as it happens
by Mike Schramm 
Jun 26th 2009 at 2:00PM
Our old friend Tim Sullivan, who worked at Wowhead way back in the day, just sent along a note that he's working on a brand new web video series all about something in World of Warcraft that's been gaining a lot of ground lately: multiboxing. Thanks to recruit-a-friend and all of the bonuses that come along with sponsoring a second account, quite a few people have shown an interest in running more than one character in the game, and Tim's series, called Multiboxing.tv, shows live feeds from his gameplay (all five screens of it, four Hunters and one Priest) while people can chat and learn live about multiboxing and how it all works. He's also leveling the group up -- they're currently around level 40, and he says he's headed to 80 eventually.You can check out his front page to see when he'll be streaming next (and someone told us he was streaming for something like fourteen hours the other day -- take care of yourself, Tim!), and if you're interested in how you might get started multiboxing, he and his chat channel are probably more than happy to help you figure out how to do it. He did say he'd be streaming every night this weekend, so if you're around then, you should be able to catch him. Personally (as you probably already know), I'm a big fan of the standard one character gameplay -- I have enough trouble figuring out one toon, much less five. But Turpster, as you've probably heard on our podcast, has dived into this kind of stuff headfirst and loves it, so if you're interested in seeing how it works, tune in to Tim's channel and find out.
Update: Apparently while this was presented to us (and appears to be) just a guy streaming his multiboxing, Tim may have some less generous motives -- he's apparently trying to sell multiboxing software, and you can see the comments below for some other shady moves that have been made. Watch at your own risk, and keep in mind that while the stream appeared legit to us, it may be an advertisement for software you certainly don't need to multibox.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Tips, Fan stuff, Odds and ends, Blizzard
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
lukeveach Jun 26th 2009 2:20PM
tim's product and marketing techniques are highly suspect...
more info here:
http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&postID=211921#post211921
jonnathantroublesome Jun 26th 2009 3:36PM
To everyone commenting this post : He spends all of the live stream time either doing content, answering peoples questions.
He talks about his software only when people ask what he uses to multibox, whether you go to the website to see it or buy it the stream keeps going, its still entertaining, and no one charges you anything.
Dual boxing.com flames him because his software competes with theres.
Qot Jun 26th 2009 6:06PM
I don't follow the multi-boxing community much (I'm busy with just one character), but this particular video stream doesn't appear to be explicit advertisement or anything nefarious. I've watched for a while now, both because his commentary is interesting and because he's covered a lot of topics.
It'll probably bring him some new customers, but it's impossible to do a broadcast and answer a question like "what are you using" without mentioning the program he's using. Two hours in, he just for the first time said that he thought Pwnboxer is the best program (in his opinion) while waiting for the BG queue. That's pretty much the highest content:promotion ratio I've seen in ad-free content.
My only criticism is that I didn't realize Pwnboxer was his program rather than the program he was using until I tabbed back to this site. Ironically, if he was more transparent in his affiliation with Pwnboxer, it'd result in more advertising for the program than his casual off-hand mentions.
julian Jun 26th 2009 9:05PM
He mentions his software once in a while, when someone asks a question about it. Other than that, it's just a guy multiboxing an instance and chatting to himself while doing it.
perkins767 Jun 26th 2009 11:56PM
Great stream
zjmill Jun 27th 2009 1:47AM
I'm really enjoying Tim's feed. While he does discuss the program hes using. he is very clear that you can use any program you want or even not at all. Hes been nothing but encouraging and helpful in regards to multi-boxing tips and what not.
Everyone should check out the feed and see for it themselves, though. You won't be dissappointed.
Tim, thanks again for sharing your experience with us. Much like WoWInsider you are just encouraging aspects of the game to enjoy. Keep it up, man!
biglou Jun 26th 2009 2:27PM
Personally, I still think multi-boxing gives an unfair advantage in PVP and should be banned from the game DESPITE Blizzards stance on the topic....you try surviving perfectly synchronized shadow bolts/chain lightning/. Doesnt seem fair. Just an opinion...let the flaming begin .
MazokuRanma Jun 26th 2009 3:31PM
I really don't see how getting insta-gibbed from 4 multi-boxing shamans is really any different from getting insta-gibbed by 4 people playing 4 different toons. 4 on 1 will almost certainly kill you every time, it doesn't matter the composition. Just because there's now a 1 second gap in some of the casts, it doesn't increase your survivability.
I just don't see how it matters in the end. If one guy running four toons kills me or four guys running one each kill me, I'm still dead. The fact that the four separate guys can't 'perfectly' sync their spells isn't going to save you.
It's a moot point anyway. That guy is paying four times as much as you, so Blizzard likes him four times better... ;)
Nick S Jun 26th 2009 4:17PM
In BC, this seemed like a bigger problem to me... now, when I get insta-gibbed, it's usually by a single player. 4 is just overdoing it.
Qot Jun 26th 2009 6:08PM
Watching him PvP, I'd say that multi-boxing is only unfair if you try to go 1 on 5 (just like any other well-coordinated team).
The fact that they're geared from instance drops probably makes them formidable as well.
skogsturken Jun 26th 2009 2:28PM
was pretty obvious that his streaming is only to get people to buy his software
Mike Schramm Jun 26th 2009 3:03PM
What software is that?
Jon Do Jun 26th 2009 3:12PM
It's even been added to Wikipedia by someone on June 10.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-boxing
Kemikalkadet Jun 26th 2009 3:17PM
Wow that's pretty low.. The piece was written by someone called "Centerkore".. his two contributions to Wikipedia? to advertise his software.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Contributions/Centerkore
Mike Schramm Jun 26th 2009 3:24PM
All right. This was presented to me as legit, and I watched the stream for about 30 minutes and explored the Justin.tv site before I wrote up this post, and didn't see any links or mentions of any multiboxing software. But I agree it now seems very shady -- I've updated the post with a mention of what you all have found. It seemed to me, and was shared with me, as just a guy streaming his leveling while multiboxing. But I agree that there are probably ulterior motives at work here.
lightningjynx Jun 26th 2009 3:33PM
@ Mike
He is using a program in his videos called Pwnboxer. It seems like a fairly decent software to use, pretty easy to setup and what not. /shrug i don't know any better advertising that he could do for his software.
Lexi Jun 26th 2009 3:35PM
Really?
I've been watching for 30 minutes now on the pre-recorded stuff and I haven't heard him advertise once. The only reason I knew anything about the software was because someone in the chat (not him) mentioned it. I clicked through to his profile to try to find a link to the website and couldn't find anything.
I fail to see how this is just a big infomercial, he's actually giving tips on multi-boxing and such with no mention of the software in the time I've been watching.
jonnathantroublesome Jun 26th 2009 3:39PM
Mike.. I feel that you are too quick to listen to people commenting on your blog who just want something to flame.
He only mentions the software when asked.. he spends ALL the time on the stream either entertaining or answering peoples questions in the channel.
Go flame something else.
Mike Schramm Jun 26th 2009 3:42PM
I hear what you're saying, Jonnathan, and obviously I didn't see any blatant advertising on the stream (or else I wouldn't have posted it here). Nevertheless, there's a bias here that I didn't know, and that I didn't indicate in the post. The update makes that clear, I think -- you can watch the stream or not, just know that the guy behind it has a vested interest in selling software. Issue over.
Qot Jun 26th 2009 6:51PM
To be honest, he's advertised WoW.com more than anything else.