Hot topics: is multiboxing good or bad?

I know multiboxing is a big part of the Eve Online community, and other members' posts verify that. Personally, I have several accounts with multiple characters on each, mainly to avoid clone jumping. These are primarily trading or production alts. I rarely use them simultaneously, but when I do, it's usually for running COSMOS agents, where I might use my character with an Orca as a mobile platform.

I think it's great that CCP Games has allowed this type of gameplay since the beginning. Most MMOs ban multiboxing, and it has always puzzled me why. Eve's approach adds a unique layer of strategy and flexibility to the game.

Yes!

As a player that only does PvP Gameplay, multiboxxing is a vital tool in order to increase my chances for an enjoyable eve online evening. I mostly use my second account only for intel gathering/scouting/inital tackling of targets. Proper multiboxing setups, like drone bunnies or 15 marauders like the ones used in pochven are not something I did.

But in general my opinion is that players who invest more time & effort into their multiboxing setups should reap the benefits from it. I don't see it as destructive playstyle for eve online.

I'm someone who engages in multiboxing, including high-risk PVP. It would be insane for me to say that multiboxing is bad, as it's what keeps me invested in Eve Online.

I'm in a unique position, which you might call semi-retirement. After playing the game for over 20 years, many people around me have left. At one point, I found myself alone as everyone in my corp quit the game. I could have joined another corp, but with a new family and work projects, I wasn't ready for serious commitments, and joining a casual corp didn't appeal to me either.

I needed to adapt or leave. So, I created a concept to fulfill my fantasy of playing a nomadic fleet. I live in very hostile space, with no friends or stations, and I avoid gates. All my characters utilize covert technologies and covert portals, allowing me to travel relatively safely, engage in PVE, ambush PVP, and observe big alliances from a distance. I live in the shadows and enjoy this type of gameplay, which is impossible with a single account.

For the social aspect, I'm active in an in-game chat with a mix of pilots from various backgrounds—loners like me, big corps, small corps, gankers, and PVErs. There are about 250 people who almost never meet in person or in the game but have known each other for a decade. I could probably call them friends, why not?

I do not multibox at the moment, as my second account is currently alpha. I have two utility alts on both my main and my secondary account, my main character on the first account and a char especially trained to work in tandem with the first one on the second account. What I most enjoyed about multiboxing so far, is having a scout when traveling or hauling and being able to avoid asking corpmates or friends to help me with tedious work.

In PvP situations, the second char is useful as backpack links, scout, cloaked hauler or fast reship, but overall I would say it takes a lot of training to be able to fly two or more ships well and consistently. I think every player that is good enough to fly more than one ship in serious PvP should be allowed to do so, as it takes a lot of training and dedication and brings no serious disadvantage to their targets that could not be brought in by calling friends.

In PvE, multiboxing is certainly a big question. Multiboxing Ishtars in 0.0, frigates in abyss and Algoses in FW plexes is very common. In my opinion it is good and every players own choice as long as they use it to farm rapidly renewable sites. I see no problem in multiboxing Abyss or missions, and I cannot say how it applies to nullsec. What I do know, is that it is very unpleasant to encounter Algos or Coercer fleets in factional warfare sites. They destroy the market, run sites that were supposed to be ran by small fleets and even attack friendly targets. The drone assist and sometimes even illegal input broadcast programs allow them to be highly efficient in PvP and there is little means of taking them down. So far I do not have any idea on how to remove this problem without causing other players to loose important abilities such as drone assist against kiters or training newbies in high-payout sites.

I am not a miner, but I am not sure I could afford the ships I like to fly if there were no multiboxing miners. At least in highsec, it seems like the high respawn rate of the asteroids allow them to consistently gain their income and keep the industry and markets stocked without causing harm to others.

All in all is multiboxing no way to replace space friends. It can be useful in many situations, but in the end a good friend is worth more than an alt. Alts do not listen to you, they don't laugh with you when you fly a silly fit, they don't suffer with you over a lost ship. The friendships made in Eve can be stronger than current allegiance, in the end, the game is not about pixels, ISK or even spaceships, it is about the people you meet on your way. Of course hardcore solo players will not conquer with this and everyone can play as they like, but in my opinion, Eve is about people, not places.

(btw, I want my people&places tab back, I miss having everything in one window :p )

I usually play with 10 accounts because it takes the same amount of time to earn enough ISK to pay for their subscriptions as it would for just one account. However, this isn't true for all activities since it's unlikely you can effectively manage 10 ships in T6 Abyssal sites or similar high-intensity situations.

If you play solo with one account, it's probably easiest and most enjoyable to pay for Omega directly and only grind ISK for your next goal, ship, or skill points.

I have mixed feelings about boxing. On one hand, it’s a great way to increase efficiency. On the other hand, many activities, especially in PvE, become monotonous.

In PvP, while boxing, I always risk 10 times what a normal player would by default. However, it's rare that an enemy outnumbers me or can even destroy one of my ships.

Boxing in EVE is an integral part of the game, similar to Old School RuneScape. Removing it would likely see the active "player" count drop by at least half, if not more.