Boom...out of the blue...."reported for multiboxing"

[Darev]

I got that whisper tonight while doing my Hoth rampage kill count on the Darth Malgus server tonight.

 

My first thought was "Whaaatttt?" Then "Seriously?" Then it was "this person has nothing better to do?"

 

So, technically, how I play is not multi-boxing.

Multi-Boxing is running multiple clients on one computer and "somehow" controlling multiple characters with a single keystroke.

 

THAT is very much against the TOS / EULA of this game.

THAT is not what I do.

 

I pay for two subscriptions. I have two gaming computers set up on my desk side by side, complete with two keyboards and two mice and 4 monitors (3 for my "GOOD" computer and 1 for my older computer).

Account number 2 is generally set to /follow account 1.

 

That's how I play the game the majority of the time. That's how I get conquest points.

That is my fun in this game.

 

Even after I started a conversation with the person who sent me that message (because I was in a good mood, I wasn't angry) they (he or she...have no idea) still felt I was multi-boxing. The conversation ended with them "The GMs will decide."

 

Ok. NO problem with that. I've been playing this way for over 5 years now, and have even posted about it in the forums under both this forum name and my other account forum name (darevsool).

 

I did this with 8 paid accounts when I was playing Star Wars Galaxies, in front of their devs.

It's how I have fun in MMO's

 

To share in the fun, I even decided to record a brief video of my doing one of the Ilum flashpoints (for conquest points) and posted it to YouTube.

 

Two computers. Two keyboards. Two mice. all side by side.

 

Not multi-boxing.

 

Using the correct words is important.

 

Edited October 17, 2018 by Darev

[Darevsool]

And...account two

 

Both up to date subscription accounts.

[tweekbrand]

Multiboxing is controlling multiple PCs (boxes) with one keyboard and one mouse. Pretty easy to do.

 

I sucks in open world pvp when 10 rogues all back stab you at once and you just die.

 

Don't really have that problem in SWTOR since you can just change instances if you don't want to open world pvp.

 

If you can afford multiple subs, then have at it.

[SteveTheCynic]

I refer you all to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-boxing where the definition of multiboxing is not restricted to "single source of input". If you have two (separate) computers, each with its own mouse and keyboard, and you don't use "input copying" software, it's still "multi" (more than one) "boxing" (from "box" == computer).

 

Different games have different rules on this, but it's pretty much universally bannable if you use a single source of input and some sort of input-copying system. GW2, for example, prohibits running multiple instances on one computer (leaving aside questions of virtual machines, thanks), and prohibits running one instance per computer with input "copied" from one computer to the other(s), but if you have one hand on each keyboard/mouse or you move one character at a time using that computer's controls, that's OK.

 

Be warned that I don't know off the top of my head what SWTOR's *real* multiboxing rules are, but the Rules of Conduct at https://www.swtor.com/legalnotices/rulesofconduct are *ambiguous* on the question, depending on what exactly you are achieving by it. (I'd guess, for example, that if you are saving time by having two accounts gather materials from decorations, each in its own stronghold, that's permitted, but doing that and then transferring the results to one of the accounts is walking into a grey area.)

[SteveTheCynic]

And...account two

 

Both up to date subscription accounts.

I'll also add that although GW2 permits one person to have multiple accounts, using more than one of them on the forums is a big no-no, and will result in all but the "first" being permanently banned from the forums. (Policy: one person, one voice)

 

EDIT: YMMV here.

Edited October 17, 2018 by SteveTheCynic

[merovejec]

You can even run more accounts on one computer, the only issue is the control, if you activate the function of controlling all the accounts at once THAT is against the rules. So you can run more clients on one computer, but you just have to alt+tab each time not to control them at once.

 

Controlling them at once puts far more pressure on the server performance than anything else and it really hurts the game, mainly if your computer is not up for it.

[Lhancelot]

Reminds me of Sam Deathwalker on EQ1 ages ago who ran 4-8 different toons with multiboxing. I remember the first time I seen it, I was aghast. It looked so unnatural to me watching one toon run around with a bunch of clones following the lead toon. I guess Sam was a pioneer of multiboxing. Who knew that multiboxing would become popular 15-16 years later?

[Darevsool]

I'll also add that although GW2 permits one person to have multiple accounts, using more than one of them on the forums is a big no-no, and will result in all but the "first" being permanently banned from the forums. (Policy: one person, one voice)

 

EDIT: YMMV here.

 

Those rules might be relevant for GW2, but this game isn't that game.

 

SWTOR and SWG are the only MMOs I've ever played.

[WayOfTheWarriorx]

I got that whisper tonight while doing my Hoth rampage kill count on the Darth Malgus server tonight.

 

My first thought was "Whaaatttt?" Then "Seriously?" Then it was "this person has nothing better to do?"

 

So, technically, how I play is not multi-boxing.

Multi-Boxing is running multiple clients on one computer and "somehow" controlling multiple characters with a single keystroke.

 

THAT is very much against the TOS / EULA of this game.

THAT is not what I do.

 

I pay for two subscriptions. I have two gaming computers set up on my desk side by side, complete with two keyboards and two mice and 4 monitors (3 for my "GOOD" computer and 1 for my older computer).

Account number 2 is generally set to /follow account 1.

 

That's how I play the game the majority of the time. That's how I get conquest points.

That is my fun in this game.

 

Even after I started a conversation with the person who sent me that message (because I was in a good mood, I wasn't angry) they (he or she...have no idea) still felt I was multi-boxing. The conversation ended with them "The GMs will decide."

 

Ok. NO problem with that. I've been playing this way for over 5 years now, and have even posted about it in the forums under both this forum name and my other account forum name (darevsool).

 

I did this with 8 paid accounts when I was playing Star Wars Galaxies, in front of their devs.

It's how I have fun in MMO's

 

To share in the fun, I even decided to record a brief video of my doing one of the Ilum flashpoints (for conquest points) and posted it to YouTube.

 

Two computers. Two keyboards. Two mice. all side by side.

 

Not multi-boxing.

 

Using the correct words is important.

 

 

Friendly heads up - Do yourself a favor and take this post down and don't mention some of the practices present else where on the forums. There are certain things that you are not really suppose to be by TOS.

Edited October 17, 2018 by WayOfTheWarriorx

[Lhancelot]

Friendly heads up - Do yourself a favor and take this post down and don't mention some of the practices present else where on the forums. There are certain things that you are not really suppose to be by TOS.

 

I agree. Sometimes you are better keeping your dilemma to yourself.

 

By looking for common agreement and acceptance of your playing style on the forums you have also brought activities you do that could be considered in the grey area.

 

Some overzealous, heavy handed tyrant of the game might see this post and decide to banhammer you when the guide contacted by that petition might feel what you are doing is no big deal.

[TUXs]

I hope you get cleared...what you're doing is playing two accounts, not multi-boxing imo. What you do is no different than me having my son follow me around while I kill stuff for him, or me putting a friend on follow while I go AFK. I think what you did falls within the acceptable rules.

[cyrusramsey]

These things have been discussed several times over the years, and while by my knowledge BW has never explicitly stated that this was okay, they have been in threads where it was being discussed and only pressed the matter that some other have raised here, of automating control in some manner.

 

Them neglecting to tell anyone not to multibox in general tells me that it's something they tolerate, even if they're not especially thrilled by the idea.

Edited October 18, 2018 by cyrusramsey

[Andryah]

Be warned that I don't know off the top of my head what SWTOR's *real* multiboxing rules are, but the Rules of Conduct at https://www.swtor.com/legalnotices/rulesofconduct are *ambiguous* on the question, depending on what exactly you are achieving by it. (I'd guess, for example, that if you are saving time by having two accounts gather materials from decorations, each in its own stronghold, that's permitted, but doing that and then transferring the results to one of the accounts is walking into a grey area.)

 

This has been covered before by the studio in gold posts.

 

Basically... their position is simple and logical: one keystroke = one character action . They don't really care if you are an acrobatic gerbil and can manage sequentially hitting keystrokes on multiple computers using multiple accounts and characters... AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT BREAK the one keystroke = one character action rule.

 

You CANNOT DO this ------> https://technabob.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/eve_multiboxing_1.jpg or anything absurdly similar.

 

And the one keystroke = one character action means NO MACROS...even though it is pretty easy to use smart keyboard and mice to trigger one keystroke = many keystoke driven character actions. This can be hard for the studio to detect if a player is putting random delays in spacing between the keystrokes in the marco... but it is a bannable offense if they catch you. Bots are obviously macro driven so they are clearly bannable when reported/detected.

 

Any given player in game can get bent about any other player and report them for virtually anything they choose to... but that does not make it a violation of the ToS, nor trigger a studio action.

Edited October 17, 2018 by Andryah

[Darevsool]

Friendly heads up - Do yourself a favor and take this post down and don't mention some of the practices present else where on the forums. There are certain things that you are not really suppose to be by TOS.

 

Haven't heard anything one way or the other from official sources. No contact, no message stating "hey we're looking into this" as far as I know they person last night was all talk and no action.

 

It's not surprising that the opinions here are split. I get questions in game pretty frequently enough (a few times a year).

I'm a stickler for the 1 keystroke = 1 action rule.

As TUX mentioned, what I do is no different from if I had a room-mate / girlfriend / child tagging along with me.

 

If, at some point an actual Bioware employee turns up on their official account and says otherwise, I am going to keep doing what I've done for 5 years (or more) now.

 

Until that happens, there's only one person who gets to tell me how to play, and it's the person who pays my subscription....me

[Darevsool]

This has been covered before by the studio in gold posts.

 

Basically... their position is simple and logical: one keystroke = one character action . They don't really care if you are an acrobatic gerbil and can manage sequentially hitting keystrokes on multiple computers using multiple accounts and characters... AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT BREAK the one keystroke = one character action rule.

 

You CANNOT DO this ------> https://technabob.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/eve_multiboxing_1.jpg or anything absurdly similar.

 

And the one keystroke = one character action means NO MACROS...even though it is pretty easy to use smart keyboard and mice to trigger one keystroke = many keystoke driven character actions. This can be hard for the studio to detect if a player is putting random delays in spacing between the keystrokes in the marco... but it is a bannable offense if they catch you. Bots are obviously macro driven so they are clearly bannable when reported/detected.

 

Any given player in game can get bent about any other player and report them for virtually anything they choose to... but that does not make it a violation of the ToS, nor trigger a studio action.

 

lol, that picture is awesome!

[SteveTheCynic]

Those rules might be relevant for GW2, but this game isn't that game.

 

SWTOR and SWG are the only MMOs I've ever played.

Whence the comment about "YMMV here". It's a gentle warning that there might be a thing here about it, because it's a thing somewhere else, and it's the sort of thing *I'd* have as a rule if I was running a game forum.

[Andryah]

Haven't heard anything one way or the other from official sources. No contact, no message stating "hey we're looking into this" as far as I know they person last night was all talk and no action.

 

I doubt the other player even bothered to report you. It's just a common tactic in game to try to troll you or grief you via chat with hollow threats.

 

And if they did report you... I doubt the studio will find you did anything wrong when they review the report and check the logs. You will never hear from the studio when you are reported by some other player unless a studio review found grounds to validate the report and issue you a sanction. It's not that difficult for them to actually check the logs and see if the time stamps show multiple characters receiving keystroke commands at exactly the same moment in time.

Edited October 17, 2018 by Andryah

[olagatonjedi]

Reminds me of Sam Deathwalker on EQ1 ages ago who ran 4-8 different toons with multiboxing. I remember the first time I seen it, I was aghast. It looked so unnatural to me watching one toon run around with a bunch of clones following the lead toon. I guess Sam was a pioneer of multiboxing. Who knew that multiboxing would become popular 15-16 years later?

Lol, he had much more than 4-8 toons. Last i had counted, at least 10 years ago, he was multiboxing 16 toons at the same time.

[Xina_LA]

If someone has two subscriptions, two PCs, and two keyboards... no software linking them... how could they tell the difference between one person typing on two keyboards and friends sitting side-by-side, coordinating their actions? How could it be proved, one way or another? Edited October 25, 2018 by Xina_LA

[Totemdancer]

I got that whisper tonight while doing my Hoth rampage kill count on the Darth Malgus server tonight.

 

My first thought was "Whaaatttt?" Then "Seriously?" Then it was "this person has nothing better to do?"

 

So, technically, how I play is not multi-boxing.

Multi-Boxing is running multiple clients on one computer and "somehow" controlling multiple characters with a single keystroke.

 

THAT is very much against the TOS / EULA of this game.

THAT is not what I do.

 

I pay for two subscriptions. I have two gaming computers set up on my desk side by side, complete with two keyboards and two mice and 4 monitors (3 for my "GOOD" computer and 1 for my older computer).

Account number 2 is generally set to /follow account 1.

 

That's how I play the game the majority of the time. That's how I get conquest points.

That is my fun in this game.

 

Even after I started a conversation with the person who sent me that message (because I was in a good mood, I wasn't angry) they (he or she...have no idea) still felt I was multi-boxing. The conversation ended with them "The GMs will decide."

 

Ok. NO problem with that. I've been playing this way for over 5 years now, and have even posted about it in the forums under both this forum name and my other account forum name (darevsool).

 

I did this with 8 paid accounts when I was playing Star Wars Galaxies, in front of their devs.

It's how I have fun in MMO's

 

To share in the fun, I even decided to record a brief video of my doing one of the Ilum flashpoints (for conquest points) and posted it to YouTube.

 

Two computers. Two keyboards. Two mice. all side by side.

 

Not multi-boxing.

 

Using the correct words is important.

 

 

I often do this for my wife when we are playing and she has to go do something, like make dinner, go buy groceries or put the washing out.

I just tell her to put her self on follow and I run around doing stuff for us. It’s especially handy during double XP events and we’re farming kiliks in the alderrann tunnels. I just grind away till she comes back and I dont have sit waiting for her.

[NeoBlakkrstal]

I refer you all to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multi-boxing where the definition of multiboxing is not restricted to "single source of input". If you have two (separate) computers, each with its own mouse and keyboard, and you don't use "input copying" software, it's still "multi" (more than one) "boxing" (from "box" == computer).

 

Different games have different rules on this, but it's pretty much universally bannable if you use a single source of input and some sort of input-copying system. GW2, for example, prohibits running multiple instances on one computer (leaving aside questions of virtual machines, thanks), and prohibits running one instance per computer with input "copied" from one computer to the other(s), but if you have one hand on each keyboard/mouse or you move one character at a time using that computer's controls, that's OK.

 

Be warned that I don't know off the top of my head what SWTOR's *real* multiboxing rules are, but the Rules of Conduct at https://www.swtor.com/legalnotices/rulesofconduct are *ambiguous* on the question, depending on what exactly you are achieving by it. (I'd guess, for example, that if you are saving time by having two accounts gather materials from decorations, each in its own stronghold, that's permitted, but doing that and then transferring the results to one of the accounts is walking into a grey area.)

 

Unfortunately enforcement of the rules is also arbitrary. In my house we have 5 people, all were playing the game, each with their own account, 3 of them subscribers. When they gave out the red astromech pet, all of us logged in to get the pet. EAware in its infinite lack of wisdom, decided it was 1 person with 5 accounts, and terminated all but 1, mine. Fortunately there were some people in EA customer service without a logic issue, and 3 of the 4 other accounts were restored. My wife's account was not, the moron that was "attempting" to assist decided that EAware was correct, this in spite of being supplied evidence showing that there were 5 individuals playing and not 1 person, and refused to fix the problem. And now, we can't even get a response from EAware, my wife is just hosed. Cost me 40 bucks as we had just purchased her game time, a set of armor I sent her, 5 million credits I sent her, and a CM weapon she bought with Cartel Coins. All because EAware has no logic, and an arbitrary enforcement policy. Good luck to the guy with those 2 accounts, you may or may not get banned. It's your funeral.

[Lhancelot]

Lol, he had much more than 4-8 toons. Last i had counted, at least 10 years ago, he was multiboxing 16 toons at the same time.

 

wow. well, when I played that game I believe most I seen was 8, lol.