I use my alt for two reasons: 1) because different sides of my personality come out when I'm using each avatar, and I have ended up with a different social dynamic when I go to places; sometimes I just feel more connected to the social group with one than with the other; and 2) because Lette Ponnier is really frigging busy, and it's nice to have a lesser-known av that doesn't have to do announcements and host games but can still play trivia and talk with the friends who know that both are me. I can deal with trivia business to whatever extent I want with my alt, and if the person I'm talking to wants to get too professional on me, I can just say, "Sorry, but I left that info in my other inventory."
There were other reasons that I was upset about what happened; in particular, there was disclosure of RL info in the mix, too, for which I ARed his ass. What made me really upset, though, was the moral arrogance he conveyed throughout the entire thing. He seemed to consider the use of alts inherently wrong and deceptive, regardless of their purpose. When one of his confidantes informed him that she too had more than one av, he merely expressed shock and ended the conversation. To my knowledge he hasn't chatted with her since. Plenty of people don't use alts and don't ever want to, but this attitude of moral righteousness was a first for me. It seems like it hadn't occurred to him that alts, far from being the tools of the wicked, are often part of the day-to-day of SL. The room I was in when I heard about what happened contained at least nine people whom I knew had more than one avatar... and that's only the people I knew of.
So here are some questions, and don't forget that if you want to post anonymously, you may do so. How do you feel about alts? In trivia or otherwise? Do you have any? What do you use them for? Do you have any experiences, good or bad, that have contributed to how you feel about them? Are there things that you're ok with people using alts for and others you're not? If so, what? If you don't have alts, why not? And because this is a trivia blog, I'd be especially interested to know how the use or non-use of alts figures into playing or hosting for you, including whether your awareness of alts affects how you run an event.
Now posting from:
Rev, Nelly, Maggie, Pinklady, Sharon, and Carrie avoid the diner smells by hanging in the lotSharon's Diner holds trivia most weekday mornings from 9:00 to 11:00am, http://slurl.com/secondlife/Doldari/113/120/67
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I have 2 alts - most people on my friends list know this and know who they are. They keep the names to themselvs simply because they know I don't want everyone else to know.
ReplyDeleteWhy do I have them? well the first was my original av, and I simply stopped using her when Cully developed in to more the person I am. The other alt I made because I got fed up with men hitting on me all the time simply because I was a woman. (Yes I have a male alt) I use them both as a way of simply moving quietly round the grid when I simply don't want to be recognised. This isn't an attempt to deceive anybody. We all have days when we just want to switch off and not be bothered - these alts allow me the 'space' I sometimes need to do this.
Do they go to trivia- not really these days. If they did go it would merely be a way of me taking more of a low profile. They have both been to trivia in the past - they may go again. I really don't see how this would 'deceive' anybody on the trivia circuit, as I wouldn't be able to do anything that I can't as Cully.
We all need a bit of space sometimes, and this is the best way to do this. I'm sure there are a lot of alts on the trivia circuit, and yes I'm always curious, but it's none of my business who you choose to play as. You're still there with the intention of enjoying the event.
I only have one problem with alts - when I find out one is someone's who I thought was a close friend. If I don't find out I'm peachy. Most of mine say Chadd in the profile...
ReplyDeleteI do like to be in more than one place at once , that is the main reason I use them. I wish we could login more than once as one person - I might not have any alts then. (See http://jira.secondlife.com/browse/SVC-4171 ). They are also essential for testing clothes/building/transactional items.
It seems I am one of the very few avatars in SL who doesn't have an alt. My feeling is that Lou is just Lou, and she doesn't need to be much more complicated than that. I have enough trouble keeping myself together; trying to manage another avatar would just make things worse.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was getting started in Second Life and first found out about alts, I was kinda taken aback. I didn't understand why anyone would want one. Then I just sort of considered alts a way people game the system: say their avatar is banned someplace, they just make an alt and go back anyway. Whatever.
I've since run into people who use alts in ways I'd consider completely legit. Like Chadd says, being two places at once is a good one. Some people have alts for completely different purposes: a friend has one account for "work" (his university is in SL and he teaches) and another for personal use. Some people have different alts in different social circles - one person I know has an alt that appears exclusively at live music performances, and another that likes SL in-world sailing culture. Some people have bots that perform interesting in-world function. I'm aware of several alts within the trivia community and it doesn't make much difference to me one way or the other. I try to take people at face value and follow the golden rule.
However, I am considering setting up an alt myself. The main reason would be for testing stuff I create - scripts, transaction processing, objects, jewelry, etc. - because I can't see how that stuff will behave for other people unless someone else tries it. An alt would also have let me log in to hang out with my friends the day SL decided to have me floating around in limbo for 20-odd hours.
All this said: I have run into a few people who do use alts deceptively, including to snoop on friends or partners, to play with people's heads, or just to indulge in sheer spite. That sort of thing continues to bug me...but you know what? In those cases I don't want to be hanging out with the main avatar either.
Heh, Lou, I was just thinking about your anti-alt status and wondering how you test your scripts. ;)
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, just saw this on another blog:
"Linden Lab condones, allows, is aware of and has posted that at LEAST 1/3 of all SL accounts are known alts. Many believe this figure to be as much as 50% or higher."Alts are a part of everyday SL, and the vast majority of power SL users utilize them (Torley, himself a man of many alts, even has a tutorial about how to run multiple viewers at the same time). I like alts. There's nothing inherently deceptive or wicked about a puppetmaster having more than one puppet. The moral arrogance is total bullshit.
What do I use alts for? Like most builders, to test and debug things I've made. I also use them to push myself as an artist and dabble in different kinds of photography and character development, to try and make the most of SL as a creative playground. And I use them to be in SL without being "on duty" -- to my in-world business, to my friends list, to my trivia reputation... ok, that last one is a joke, though it is nice to occasionally attend a trivia event as an alt and be able to disengage slightly and cheerfully suck without getting an IM like "Wow, off your game today?" lol.
I don't use my alts (or my main av, for that matter) to scam, deceive, stalk or grief. Beyond a few close friends who are in the know, my alts don't even socialize much. I also don't alt up to be in two places at once, as in attend two simultaneous events -- that seems eccessive to me. But then, I'm a crap multitasker and my brain (not to mention my computer) would likely explode if I tried it.
It makes no difference to me if an alt shows up for trivia, whether I'm a player or host. Though it can be frustrating (and funny) when you know someone is logged in with multiple accounts, playing two trivia games in separate places, and still beating you to the answers. ;)
Torley's tutorial about multiple viewers (on blogs.secondlife.com): http://tinyurl.com/q84sd9
A particularly excellent comment on that tutorial: http://tinyurl.com/q84sd9
I actually have 6 different avs. Out of those, one was my original, one is my paid, and there's the one I'm in world regularly with. The other three were just experiments or because I wanted a surname and the chance to make a new shape/look/profile to experiment.
ReplyDeleteI'm a writer, so to me making alts is like making a character. My original avatar was actually heavily into roleplaying in Avilion, so when I decided to get a paid account, I made a whole new one, thinking she would be less used. Then she turned into my main.
Until I saw the surname of Magic come up and wanted to have it. Annnnnnd... away we went. These days I pretty much only log in as Amaranth, though my others are there for if I ever get bored and my paid account is there for linden transactions and holding down my piece of land.
It's been tempting a few times to look up people I knew on the two alts that actually had social lives but I don't know as Amaranth. However, I've squashed the urge because anyone who KNOWS who I was before is someone I consider a friend. Anyone I didn't move over? I really shouldn't bother with.
Mako: I've mostly been imposing on other people to test scripts and builds. My peeps have been very patient with me, but it's clearly not a sustainable solution.
ReplyDelete