Toshiro GreyHawk
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Posted - 2008.12.31 06:48:00 -
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To the OP ... the problem with trying to answer your question is that the real factors have a lot to do with both the equipment that is available and the activities of the characters involved. Some equipment will let you do more than others and some activities lend themselves more to the efficient use of multiple accounts than others do.
I have multiple computers and multiple monitors.
The way I do things depends on a combination of the equipment's capabilities and what I'm doing. So, I'm not running the same way all the time. For different tasks I run different configurations.
On my older systems I have trouble running more than one instance of EVE in a window, so if I'm running more than one account on one of those systems I tend to alt tab. The exception being if I have both accounts mining with industrials. There, the activity level required is so minimal that even though the computer runs the two sessions in windows very badly, it lets me see what is going on with each one and I don't have to interact with it much.
On my newer system I can easily run more than one account in a window at the same time.
If I'm alt-tabbing I can run more accounts per system than if I'm windowing.
I rarely run more than one account windowed on one monitor. If I'm running Windowed Clients it's almost always on separate monitors.
Mining works very well with multiple accounts. I don't have the efficiency of several real people but can make good use of several accounts at the same time, some mining and some hauling.
Mission running it is useful but not as nearly as efficient. I can have one guy Keep Distance from the other so I only have to steer one ship but I'm really not popping rats any faster since I'm popping them faster than I can target new ones with just one account. Same thing during salvaging. The only thing I really save on, is if I have one ship as the combat ship and the other as the salvager, whom I usually leave orbiting the acceleration gate until I'm done with the zone, then I fly him in to salvage it before going on to the next.
Alternatively, I'll have one account running and salvaging missions by itself while others mine in industrials. That seems to work out the best. Then when it comes time to haul to market I may use several accounts to do that depending on how much I need to haul.
The other thing having multiple accounts has gotten me was the availability of alts to run R&D agents. They don't do anything but sit in the Agents base and run his missions once a day, then I go run my mains.
One thing to keep in mind. Having more than one account is in no way as efficient as having two people run those accounts. You have a lot of over head just running characters around that takes away from the time you can be productive. Also, you end up diluting your resources. The more accounts/characters you have the more ships and skill books you need to buy to support them - and since you are not as efficient as if a separate person were running each account, you can have trouble making enough money to support them all. Of course overall playing time is a factor in that. My biggest problem is that I set myself up to play the game in a certain way - but then real life comes along and interferes with my gaming so that I'm not able to play the way I had planned. So, I've still got all these characters to support - but I'm not able to play as much as I'd like and thus am always having cash flow problems. If I could have played as much as I expected when I planned what I was going to do - I'd be fine ... but those character over heads are there whether your making money with them or not. So ... more characters means more over head. Think about that before you add another account.
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