When to delete an alt?

I alt a lot. I hear people deleting alts all the time, but I have deleted maybe 5 toons since i3. I can't seem to do it. My rationale is that sometimes I think I hate an alt (like my bubbler defender), then I come back to it after shelving it for months and realize I like it, just maybe not for everyday use.

My other rationale is that, although I may not like the powerset (like my elec/devices blaster), who knows what changes may be made to it by the devs? Most of my shelved toons are 50s because I am a little OCD so it seems pointless to delete an alpha-unlocked 50, even if I don't play them. Maybe something will happen where a new TF works best with an electric/devices blaster (yes, I know I am reaching).

So I was wondering if anyone else experiences this and if anyone has criteria they use for deleting an alt. Who knows? Maybe you will convince me not to sit on old, unused toons.

One last thing, I guess I should say that, even though I alt a lot, I still have plenty of slots, so for me, at least, this is not a reason to delete yet.

Never!

I mean... Why would you? Especially since you mentioned slots are not a problem (with all the servers we got, plus extra slots, and more servers coming over, I don't get this problem of too few slots - that would be a whole lot of characters! - unless you are adamant about playing only with the same crowd in the same server), what do you gain by deleting? By NOT deleting, you keep the result of whatever time you invested in the character (and not just levels and loot, but also the story and costumes and all that), even if you decide not to play it much anymore.

Personally, I never created a character I haven't liked. Even the ones that are sitting at level 12 for some 3 years I still like, I just like the other ones even better. There may be characters I might have enjoyed more if I had used a different, previously non-existant powerset, or some optimal combination of powersets I did not think of at the time, or a less silly name... but I still enjoy playing them all. And, now that I'm actually teaming in TFs and the WST to get incarnate stuff, it seems my team mates enjoy me playing any of my characters, too.

Plus, like you said, powersets can and do improve now and then. Look what happened to Fire Armor... The second character I created was a Fire/Fire tanker who sat as a lowbie for years... Then they fixed FA and bam!, his journey to 50 was a blast, and quick, and now he's probably my favorite melee character (maybe tied with my Spines/DA Scrapper, but does spines really count as melee?).

Sorry if the answer was the opposite of what you asked... :-/

The only times I've deleted a character are:

1) Before extra slots and server transfers, I deleted and remade some characters on new servers to free up room.
2) On a few occasions, I've decided that a character would work much better with a different powerset, so I deleted and remade them with it.
3) When Going Rogue came out, I deleted and remade a bunch of characters who fit in better in Praetoria.
4) I've deleted a handful of entirely horrible characters that I made as a joke, but later didn't find amusing, just embarrassing, and had absolutely no attachment to, or any intentions of ever playing.

Of those three categories, only #4 really even counts, since the rest involve remaking the character.

Yeah. I fully subscribe to the 'I might like them again later' theory. (And it's proved true multiple times, so hey! )

When I look at them still at level 4 and they haven't been played in something like 265 days, then I think it might be time. Not that I've done it yet though.

Usually I end up doing it when I need a character slot to make another altoholic-fix, who will also end up sitting there at level 4, etc.

Out of the group of say 10 new toons I made in the wake of GR, I've only really played three.

I've deleted a few. I was really really sure they were not going to get used again. I was right. Never regretted it.

I also delete characters if I want to remake the same one with different powers, or to reuse the name. My own namesake character GavinRuneblade is currently a Fire/DB tank, but has also been a nin/dark stalker, DB/Dark stalker, DB/Dark scrapper, BS/Fire Scrapper, Axe/Elec brute and now his current tank version.

My thought is, if they are taking a slot I know I would like to use for another character I want to play then I'll think about deleting them. If I have spare slots on the server, there is no reason to delete.

I rarely delete a character over level 20. Usually I can decide if I like the power combo or not by then, and usually re-use the same name and concept with better fitting powers on the replacement.
I have a character concept that I really really liked, but his powers werent really fitting. Went from stone/stone tank, to stone/willpower brute, to shields (with a stone shield)/stone tank. On the third rebuild he is perfect and I love playing it.
If I cant think of better power choices I might let a character sit for over a year before just saving the costume and deleting them for a future version.

Thanks for the responses. Makes me feel better about the fact that I haven't deleted many at all.

What about all the people in the game that I play with on PUGs that are always saying, "I deleted so many"? You guys have any input?

I'm incredibly picky about characters, and as a result, I'm a ruthless alt-deleter. Pretty much...

0010 Am I going to be able to muster up the enthusiasm to keep playing this character and make significant progress in the forseeable future?
0020 If NO, delete.
0030 If YES, goto next character.

50s are kind of exempt, since significant progress is harder to define there (especially since I refuse to do the Incarnate grind more than once at the present) but below that level, everything's game. I've deleted several characters in their forties, a dozen or two in the thirties, and probably drawing up on a hundred in the twenties.* Very, very rarely have I regretted it. By this point, I know enough about what I like to tell when I'm just not going to click with a character.

Out of all the characters I've deleted, I can think of three I regret: One when I deleted my first 50 way back when we had a handful of slots to work with and I lost a couple of dozen HOs as a result, one when I deleted a character who was boring on teams and I didn't realize she would solo well, and one when I deleted a character whose name I loved and somebody else snatched it up almost immediately.

* I once made a list of every alt I could think of that I'd deleted. This list was, as I recall, 112 alts long. Back around i3.

When my wife decides to play on my account and her home server (triumph) has no character slots available...

Memphis Bill says NO!

LOL

Actually his guide alt Altism is pretty good.

Because of it I dusted off my Grav/FF and gave her another shot

I have deleted many an alt over the years. Including 50's.

If it sits uplayed in the barn for a long time, everytime I log in, it is a reminder that that toon just doesnt have enough.... whatever to keep me amused. So goodbye charlie.

Considering it takes no time to get to lvl 30 these days, even if I did regret it(I dont) It would take no time at all to re-roll it.

Just to clarify, I tend to say "Don't do it" if you're one of those going "I get a character to 20-30 and delete it to start over." If you're in my position - several 50s - it's not quite the same.

I'll tend to delete if it's an exact duplicate of something else - if I have, say, my Emp/Dark at 30 and another Emp/Dark I haven't played for a while at 6, the second Emp/Dark is likely going to be deleted at some point, unless I *really* like the character itself.

Of course, I may make one specifically *because* it's a duplicate... f'rinstance, my first 50 was an elec/elec blaster. Got her there in I4. I've rolled her again on another server just to play with inventions on the way up, and on yet another as part of a "project group."

See my Guides and Tutorials

I only delete characters when I need the slot and don't want to buy more slots. So there have only been a handfull of deleted characters and most of them were because I rerolled them as something better. Like my EM/WP brute to SS/WP or a Fire tank into a brute. Also PB's, I can't seem to get a PB to make it past 30ish. He's been deleted 3 times now to make room.

I've deleted a few. Generally I feel I know, by about the mid-20's, whether or not they will entertain me enough for a longer haul. Some characters don't make it past that, either because they aren't interesting enough conceptually, or because the powersets don't click, and will get deleted.

I've never deleted a 50, however, and I don't plan to, though sometimes I'll transfer unused characters or old versions of characters to other servers when free transfers are offered. I had a chaos-causing but largely "helpful" Radiation character who felt righter as a Controller manipulating dimensional time and space than a Defender blasting at things, and now her Defender version is on Infinity while her now-main Controller version is on Virtue.

I delete alts with dumb names. If they have cool names, I never delete them without grabbing the name again.

Deleting is really no big deal unless you are super IO'd out. You can always make a new set/set with a cooler costume.

I've deleted all ranged of leveled characters, even level 50. I usually do it when I've run out of room on my server, as I have all 36 slots opened. I try to wait a bit, move it if I can, or just strip it and delete. I deleted stuff that I ended up re-rolling at a later date, but its not the big of a deal, really.

I only make toons on guardian, i want to be in my SGs, and i refuse to buy slots of characters. So i find myself deleting plenty of alts, so far the rule has been anything that isnt 50. And there is one toon i dont play on lvling, the 1st one i ever actually played (like frostfire, 1st AV etc.), that is sitting at 35 that i have kept. Right now though i am definitely waiting for the next free server xfers.

I deleted an Alt on Freedom in January. She was an Electric Control Controller. She had reached level 29 but she didn't fit with my long term goals. My long term goals was to have a barn of Dominators and Masterminds. I have one hero controller who I will delete once her replacement, a hero dominator reaches maturation.

Also, I deleted several on Defiant(7) because the server was too low volume and I didn't want to pay to transfer them to Union.

My questions now for whether to delete an Alt follows:

1. Do I like what I've created?
2. Will I alpha slot this alt?
3. Can the alt(s) maintain themselves? If an Alt has no offensive powers. You can't Alpha quickly or it will be painful. This is why I'm deleting my controller.

The alpha slotting has changed my attitude toward my toons because it requires so much effort. If I don't 100% love my character, he/she is going to the delete bin. I'm not creating characters to do maintenance. Less is more with me.

The highest alt I ever deleted was a Claws/Regen Stalker at 31 back before they fixed Claws...and Stalkers...and Regen. No big loss...not like she had the perfect name or anything.

I've recently thought about deleting a lvl 50 Ice/Ice tank because the build seems just too busy for me. After checking out alternatives on Mids I'm going to do a respec and see if he works then. Otherwise out the door.

For me the toon has to be fun to play...period. I won't make a toon with a joke name...I don't see the point. I spend more time doing names and costumes some days than I spend playing but that's just me.

If space isn't a problem hold onto them for a while. Sometimes old friends come back around for you...

1. It's ok to delete a toon
2. It's ok to not delete a toon
3. It's ok to have toons completely "finished" and shiny and IO'd/Incarnated
4. It's ok to have toons "incomplete"

Make a decision; I say save them and learn to be comfortable with "unfinished" products. It's an important skill.

For me I was deleting things because they became lack lustre or I just didn't enjoy the premise of their story. I have also deleted earlier toons because I borked their builds, and their second builds too.

I have since stopped deleting and have a 5 toons I take out regularly. All really different AT types. My Scrapper is my slowest to level because I have to get used to the melee game.

You think I would because my fave is my widow, but scrappers have little range options and I hate running things so my Widow makes sure things do not run away. Plus I love that PSsssstch sound of Poison Dart for some reason.

For me I need a combination of things to start/stay interested in an alt:
- good concept (EG I have a scrapper whose ambition was to move to the Rogue Isles because she hated the people she had to save - character made 30th July 2008 long long before GR)
- good costume (same scrapper almost deleted due to previous costume involving red fishnets )
- name I like
- enjoyable to play (sometimes that may been I have be 'in the mood' for that char but never log on and think "ugh")

I have moved a few chars that meet some of the criteria but not all. Not 'quite' delete-worthy but nothing I really like to play. EG a bots/ff MM which I like the background story of, the costume, the name but bores me rigid after 15 minutes. Same with a thug/traps MM; just ... sloooooow. My thug/dark MM however LOVE THAT CHAR!

Generally if it makes it to 20 then it is likely to hit 50 at some point. Having said that, the last thing I deleted was a 38 stone/stone brute because I think tank would be better. Some I remake, some I don't.

I have a nasty habit of using some parked chars either as marketeers or salvage holders so deleting them is more aggro than it's worth. For example, I have one char full of wings/boots and another couple with memorized recipies. In fact that thug/trapper moved from red to blue, moved servers and is now my crafter for my (hopefully enjoyable) alts there.

Because I will usually bring 'whatever the team needs', I also keep a couple of alts that I will play but only if requested. My FF controller is one. I saw a Wartroller concept, was intrigued and so made a Mind/FF troller. She can solo but not quickly (I've been too lazy to set IO her) but while I prefer to play something else if someone wants a bubbler but not my sonic, then she is around. Same with my kins. I only play them under protest but if there's a stoner then I'll break her out if the team is people I know.

The only alts I cheerfully deleted were from Praet. I just don't like it there and I remade them red/blue.

When my character slots on that server are full and I am unwilling to go to a new server but really want to try something different than what I have. I've deleted a lot of characters over the years ranging from level 1 to 50.