I'm answering this Roleplay wise only, as my stance differs a bit when talking about endgame.
1. What do you think is a main character?
The character you spend the most time on. It is absolutely possible for people who have a lot of time on their hands (Me) to spend the same amount of time on 2 or more characters. As I don't work, you'll see me on Armi and Loki pretty equally, so I consider them both my mains.
2. What do you think makes a character an alternate character?
Any character you don't spend a lot of time on OR a character who's entire character is meant to be used sparingly as more of a plot device.
3. Do people have a responsibility to make certain "mains pair with mains" if you sense an interesting relationship (friends/rivals/lovers/enemies/long-lost relatives) forming or is it okay that someone's just not going to be around at random or for long periods of time?
Generally, if my alt gets into a relationship - romantic or otherwise - I will start playing them more to be fair to the other person. An example I'll use is Aion. My main was Armi and, using romance as my example, Armi was in two relationships over her life there - one with a character named Siben and one with one named Lloire. Siben and Armi eventually fizzled out and the two remained friends, but for awhile it was "awkward" for Armi to be around him, because she was starting to have feelings for Lloire. SO to settle that, I started RPing with him with my alt - Tris. Tris had a backstory, but she was played so off the cuff I didn't even settle on a last name for her (She was a noble, so she had one for those who played the game
). As it turned out, Siben and Tris had quite the spark! I started playing Tris more in RP to round that story out and it worked very well. Armi was still doing her thing, but Tris was now coming out more often. We quit the game, but we eventually decided that Tris and Siben got married and lived happily ever after.
I also have a few examples of a non-romantic variety. I think that if your alt gets involved in a story, you do have a certain obligation to see that through.
4. Have you ever discovered that your main was paired off in one of those situations with someone's alt? They just didn't play them at all or played other characters? Did it stall out your story? What did you do?
Yes! Lloire was actually an alt of a guy in our guild, his main being Arakiel. Arakiel and Armi didn't have any connection to each other at all, even though we were in the same guild, surprisingly. XD Arakiel did what I said above, he got on Lloire more to see how the story played out. Spoiler Alert: Armi and Lloire eventually parted ways (Armi can't be happy, it's like a rule I have) and he played him a bit less to refocus back on his main. It worked out fine, he just switched the two out in certain conditions.
I have been "paired" (Not romantically) with people who have quit and THAT was harder than dealing with someone's alt.
5. What's the biggest stereotype you think of when you think of people who only have one main character?
That they can play the character super well because they are only concentrating on one.
6. What's the biggest stereotype you think of when you think of people who suffer alt-itis and swap characters often?
That they can't play any characters well enough or be on enough to do it, without knowing any other information. I have played 4 characters at once before and it worked out fine, no one even realized these characters were ALTs.
7. Which are you? A single or two main characters? 5 main characters? A bunch of alts?
I have 2 mains, 2 part times (My males, as I like to play men as well as women), and the rest are alts.
8. How did you usually break up your time between your main characters? Play on demand? Always on one, demand for the other? One with one group and when they all sign off switch to the other?
Roleplaying wise, I play who I feel like playing if their isn't a story line going on. If we're just going to Tavern RP for the day, I'll pick who I feel like playing. Some days if we're going to a bar I'll want to play Loki, some days Armi, and some days Daej.
If there is a storyline going on I look at two things. Do my guildies need a character to help facilitate their story? Then I'll probably hop on an alt to help them. If I'm in the middle of a story where one of my characters need to be there, then I'll just hop on. You'll see me on my mains the most, but sometimes I need a break from playing Ms. UberSnark and her sidekick Positive-o Girl. Plus, like I said before, I really enjoy playing males as well as females and my male characters get a lot of play (Though they are not my mains... except in TERA... but that was accidental)
1. What do you think is a main character?
The character you spend the most time on. It is absolutely possible for people who have a lot of time on their hands (Me) to spend the same amount of time on 2 or more characters. As I don't work, you'll see me on Armi and Loki pretty equally, so I consider them both my mains.
2. What do you think makes a character an alternate character?
Any character you don't spend a lot of time on OR a character who's entire character is meant to be used sparingly as more of a plot device.
3. Do people have a responsibility to make certain "mains pair with mains" if you sense an interesting relationship (friends/rivals/lovers/enemies/long-lost relatives) forming or is it okay that someone's just not going to be around at random or for long periods of time?
Generally, if my alt gets into a relationship - romantic or otherwise - I will start playing them more to be fair to the other person. An example I'll use is Aion. My main was Armi and, using romance as my example, Armi was in two relationships over her life there - one with a character named Siben and one with one named Lloire. Siben and Armi eventually fizzled out and the two remained friends, but for awhile it was "awkward" for Armi to be around him, because she was starting to have feelings for Lloire. SO to settle that, I started RPing with him with my alt - Tris. Tris had a backstory, but she was played so off the cuff I didn't even settle on a last name for her (She was a noble, so she had one for those who played the game
). As it turned out, Siben and Tris had quite the spark! I started playing Tris more in RP to round that story out and it worked very well. Armi was still doing her thing, but Tris was now coming out more often. We quit the game, but we eventually decided that Tris and Siben got married and lived happily ever after. I also have a few examples of a non-romantic variety. I think that if your alt gets involved in a story, you do have a certain obligation to see that through.
4. Have you ever discovered that your main was paired off in one of those situations with someone's alt? They just didn't play them at all or played other characters? Did it stall out your story? What did you do?
Yes! Lloire was actually an alt of a guy in our guild, his main being Arakiel. Arakiel and Armi didn't have any connection to each other at all, even though we were in the same guild, surprisingly. XD Arakiel did what I said above, he got on Lloire more to see how the story played out. Spoiler Alert: Armi and Lloire eventually parted ways (Armi can't be happy, it's like a rule I have) and he played him a bit less to refocus back on his main. It worked out fine, he just switched the two out in certain conditions.
I have been "paired" (Not romantically) with people who have quit and THAT was harder than dealing with someone's alt.
5. What's the biggest stereotype you think of when you think of people who only have one main character?
That they can play the character super well because they are only concentrating on one.
6. What's the biggest stereotype you think of when you think of people who suffer alt-itis and swap characters often?
That they can't play any characters well enough or be on enough to do it, without knowing any other information. I have played 4 characters at once before and it worked out fine, no one even realized these characters were ALTs.
7. Which are you? A single or two main characters? 5 main characters? A bunch of alts?
I have 2 mains, 2 part times (My males, as I like to play men as well as women), and the rest are alts.
8. How did you usually break up your time between your main characters? Play on demand? Always on one, demand for the other? One with one group and when they all sign off switch to the other?
Roleplaying wise, I play who I feel like playing if their isn't a story line going on. If we're just going to Tavern RP for the day, I'll pick who I feel like playing. Some days if we're going to a bar I'll want to play Loki, some days Armi, and some days Daej.
If there is a storyline going on I look at two things. Do my guildies need a character to help facilitate their story? Then I'll probably hop on an alt to help them. If I'm in the middle of a story where one of my characters need to be there, then I'll just hop on. You'll see me on my mains the most, but sometimes I need a break from playing Ms. UberSnark and her sidekick Positive-o Girl. Plus, like I said before, I really enjoy playing males as well as females and my male characters get a lot of play (Though they are not my mains... except in TERA... but that was accidental)
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