Multi-Boxing. Finally. The facts.

TL;DR; Know what you are arguing about before arguing about it!



Most up to date semi official response:

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Charan wrote:

And they won't respond.

We had a bigger issue with multiboxing/boosting in the closed beta. Much bigger. So GGG responded by adding level requirements to the various difficulties and, I believe, reducing the experience gained unless you're near each other. That was their response.

They're not going to ban multiboxing. Aint happening. Accounts are free, and what you do with them provided you do not automate is entirely up to you.

As others have pointed out, multiboxing does not necessarily mean botting. That's like saying drinking alcohol makes you an alcoholic; all alcoholics drink, not all who drink alcohol are alcoholics. All bot-users use multiboxing of some sort; not all multiboxers are bot-users.

It's pretty simple.

I think, given the length, this should be the sanctioned 'talk about multiboxing' thread. Expect us to close duplicates as time goes by.

I see endless arguing on these forums about multi-boxing. As the saying goes, I see a lot of heat but very little light.

People are all arguing pretty much about the Emperor's new clothes (i.e. a problem that doesn't exist). At best they haven't even agreed what multi-boxing is exactly, yet prepared to attack it/defend it ad nauseum.

Since I have followed almost every thread about this subject I will try at least to add some clarity, then maybe you can decide exactly what you are arguing about.

1. Definition of Multi-boxing:

From Wikipedia.

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Multiboxing is a term used mostly in MMORPGs to refer to playing as multiple separate characters simultaneously. This can either be achieved by using multiple separate machines to run the game or by running multiple separate instances of the game.

As an enthusiastic and somewhat successful ex multi-boxer, I agree with this definition.


2. Multi-Boxing is NOT:

It is not logging on extra characters to a boss fight, in order to get better loot drops. Since I don't have an official definition for this let's call it multi-logging. People spend way too much time arguing about multi-logging, assuming it is multi-boxing. They are related but not the same thing.


3. TOS, TOS, TOS

Everyone keeps on bringing up the TOS and of course 3rd party software. Well in POE it is called The Terms of Use or TOU. There is no mention of use of 3rd party software in the TOU. As far as the TOU is concerned you can use any and all 3rd party software that does not break any other clause in the TOU. Which brings us to the next point.


4. Automated Software

Automated Software is mentioned in the TOU and it is illegal. Now we are at one of the main points of contention.

This is taken from the GGG TOU:

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Utilising any form of automated software in relation to your access or use of the Website, Materials or Services is prohibited.

Before I go any further let me show you something taken directly from the Blizzard TOU for WoW:

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You agree that you will not, under any circumstances:

A. use cheats, automation software (bots), hacks, mods or any other unauthorized third-party software designed to modify the World of Warcraft experience;

Clearly GGG and Blizzard feel much the same about Automation. It is illegal and prohibited.

Yet Blizzard EXPLICITLY allows multi-boxing and what is more they are just one of many other top game developers that do allow multi-boxing.

There are many official responses from Blizzard about multiboxing, here is just one:

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“Multi-boxing is not a violation of the Terms of Use, Sincast. On the contrary, it’s a fairly common practice and extremely fun to watch. ”

Syndri, Customer Service Member

Now there must be a logical reason why so many companies that clearly do not allow automation, allow multi-boxing. The answer to that is that multi-boxing is NOT AUTOMATION. It relies on either software or hardware or a bit of both to REPLICATE key strokes and mouse movements.

This is not automation, this is replication and is allowed. The simple fact is that if it was not, then multi-boxing would not be possible or nearly impossible.

At the end of the day, you can argue to you are blue in the face that replication is automation but a lot of people smarter than you have considered these arguments and would disagree. In fact not only would they disagree, they officially disagree and allow multi-boxing, even though they prohibit automation.

Really can't make it much more clear than this.


5. So why do people multi-box?

There are many reasons but in the main I can say as a member of a few multi-boxing forums over several years, that people do it for the challenge. Multi-boxing is not a /faceroll, it is technically challenging and can make a game more interesting. It is in fact a style of play, much like Hardcore or Default.

In POE multi-boxing would be extremely challenging because there is no /follow command and no in game macros. Think about it. How do you keep your characters together in POE without a /follow command? How would you move them through a dungeon, with all those twists and turns, with constant obstacles and mobs to fight. Just 1 of many, many challenges to multi-boxing. I would be hugely impressed by someone that could multi-box 6 characters in Hardcore to high levels. It would be a true challenge.

I will let Wikipedia have the last word:

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Overall, Multiboxing is a play style choice. Many people find the additional strategy of multiboxing to be very challenging and, with those additional efforts, very rewarding. Rather than require the collaboration and cooperation of multiple human players, people who multibox instead rely upon themselves to intelligently control multiple game characters and utilize their own cunning as a replacement for human cooperation.

While multiboxing, the player does not necessarily have to spend time looking for a group to join in an adventure with, but rather can run dungeons by himself repeatedly without the risk of someone leaving in the middle of the run.

.

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Alienchild wrote:

5. So why do people multi-box?

Because it gives me a free 250% item quantity and I can stack item rarity up to ~400% without too much trouble. It's barely any effort to port the alts into the boss room and back out and it results in me finding a ton of rares for x2 chaos recipes and uniques.

That said, I understand why people with low spec PCs would be upset.
Maybe a /players x command would be a good solution to the issue, allowing everyone to do this.

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Alienchild wrote:

Since I don't have an official definition for this let's call it multi-logging.

I think its called multi-client

But otherwise good read.... something that people should actually read before dismissing.

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AintCare wrote:

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Alienchild wrote:

TL;DR; Know what you are arguing about before arguing about it!


I see endless arguing on these forums about multi-boxing. As the saying goes, I see a lot of heat but very little light.

People are all arguing pretty much about the Emperor's new clothes (i.e. a problem that doesn't exist). At best they haven't even agreed what multi-boxing is exactly, yet prepared to attack it/defend it ad nauseum.

Since I have followed almost every thread about this subject I will try at least to add some clarity, then maybe you can decide exactly what you are arguing about.

1. Definition of Multi-boxing:

From Wikipedia.

I stopped reading after that, Wiki is NOT source- I can go there and edit it myself, wtf is that suppose to prove... multiboxing is cheating and p2w (better computer).. do I care- NO, people cheat everywhere, so why is this any different... deal with it

"Anyone with a better computer than me, who can play games on high with better framerates than I get at low should be banned!"

If you could play shooters, would you complain about losing to people who have a higher framerate than you do? Because I can definitively state that a smoother fps will result in better performance in that type of game, if not PoE.

When people ask, I say multiboxing is not disallowed.

This isn't the same as encouraged or enthusiastically supported. It just means GGG knows it happens. They made accounts free. They'd have to be ridiculously naive to not realise that multiboxing would be a direct result of free accounts.

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AintCare wrote:

yet it is considered cheating.. there is no automation in multi account I am talking about..

Maybe to you, but I dont consider it cheating. Alot of people dont consider it cheating, including the people who made this game. Alot of companies dont see multiboxing as cheating. Just because you see it as cheating doesnt give you the right to spout insults at people who are trying to explain what it is.

Botting is cheating. Hacking is cheating. RMT is considered cheating here. Multiboxing is allowed, and your in the wrong place if you think its cheating.

If you are not the one physically imputing keystrokes to control toons (Using a bot program) in any way then and only then you are in the territory of cheating, but that's just my say the main dev of this game Chris supports clever workarounds/exploits that are not full out cheating. I'd say multiboxing is completely fine.

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AintCare wrote:

if its not cheating how come I don't have the option to enable it within the game? again just because it is not violating TOS through a stupid loophole does not make it right...

and if its allowed why the fuck would you even make a post defending it? are you scared it might be banned in the future? like it suppose to be?

Because you have to open multiple clients, but the software supports it. I can think of one company that doesnt support multibox, but its a rare one and one not many people play. Perfect World doesnt allow multiboxing. If you think Multiboxing is cheating, consider playing that game then. They only allow a maximum of 2 game clients to be run from a single IP address at one time.

I didnt make this post, but we have to try to defend it from people who claim its cheating when it is clearly not cheating because of people like you.

Why the fuck are people trying to justify their cheating bullshit? FUCKING MAN UP , pussy fucks