how much would you pay to be able to dual build with different powersets?

Pfft.

It takes a year or two on average for me, and I play a lot. But I also lock XP a lot because I play for storylines, not to outlevel them, and to play them in a way that makes sense in time and space (not to have to go back and do them some day via Ouro). But it's not because leveling is hard. When I'm ready to gain a level (or a few), even if I don't take a booster I get my levels in no time--and I never farm.

I love this game, so that's not a complaint, but sometimes I do scratch my head over it. I feel like I earn my way through a lot of rewards in this game, but XP isn't one of them. When I turn XP on, it's like turning on a faucet. XP stopped being a "reward" in my mind about a year into the game, when I realized it was actually detrimental to the experience I'm after. I turn it on only when I'm ready to advance deeper into a storyline chain.

I'm basically that guy who the writers have a job in order to keep satisfied. I actually read those walls of text. If you were wondering. Yes. I exist. I'm out there somewhere in ur levelz.

Sure, because of the way you play.

if you really wanted to get a character to 50 in a week you could. You just don't.

I have one level 50 after 5 years of play. Getting to level 50 is not a big deal to me, I don't care about achieving it.

The point is, suppose you want AT's at level 50. You could level each to 50, or you could level one to 50 and get an alternate build with the other AT.

If getting to 50 is something you really want to do, you can get the second one to 50 in hours. So forcing you to go to AE and farm to level it had very little impact on your overall playtime.

Lol n00bs

I can get a lvl 50 in a week or two and I often don't play the game at all but yeah, I turn off XP so I can farm. Farm content, farm merits, farm tickets, farm badges etc. So it takes longer to get to 50 sometimes.

Speaking of turning off xp, I wanted to try Night Ward on my 29 Rad/Dark Blaster so I turned off xp and farmed First Ward first, doing the whole arc that leads up to NW. My difficulty is set at -1/x4 no bosses which is just enough mobs to get loads of inspirations (and salvage to sell) but when I got to the last mission, it didn't get me to lvl 30.

I still started the intro into NW, doing the mission to free Katie but...it seems those Night Ward mobs don't have a lvl 29 equivalent so...the mission turned out to be +1/x4 >_>

That sucked so bad, it's traumatized me and I'm actually a bit afraid of those mobs now I scared to go in NW

Anyway, sharing aside, I have expressed the desire for 'linked alts' for a while now. Basically they're alternate characters (build, AT, incarnate powers, etc) but with shared/linked accounting status (name, inf, auction, badges, etc). The question isn't is it balanced but how it'd work. Would I only have to log into one and there be an NPC that basically logs one out and another in? Or would I have to log out myself and pick the character from the list?

Either or, I feel it'd kind of harken to my days on FFXI. While the game itself was a painful mess, it did have the ability to roll an avatar and that avatar would be able to do anything; level lots of crafts, be a lot of different jobs and basically be you in the community. But I'd hardly count our alt-friendly environment as such since no one can see your global unless they search for it and it's difficult to actually pin a specific character to a specific player since there's nothing to feel common to.

Not that I'd want to duplicate that feel exactly, but I feel less and less like I have an in-game presence the more alts I make. The closest thing to such a presence is having an account on the forums.

It would probably have some excessively lame drawback, like sticking a stupid looking spider leg backpack on your second build.

Much, much MUUUUCH simpler to implement than my suggestion I bet, and more versatile in terms of choices, options, possibilites, concepts. Good idea Tormentoso. *Signed!*

FredrikSvanberg suggested it first

That is not at ALL what Tormentoso is suggesting and I wouldn't put my approval on that idea in a million years. The comic book nerd in me would basically implode, and it wouldn't be good for the business side of things, either.

Tormentoso's idea is limited in scope and fair in compromises, which is why I like it.

Edit: Although on a re-read, even Tormentoso seems to be into the idea of an unlimited number of characters attached to the same name. So nevermind. Two characters per name, maximum, I suggest.

Well, the characters I have often have more than just 2 kinds of builds too.

I had a few rolled that were only 2 builds but as more sets roll out, if a set or AT performs more like how I envision or is capable of what I feel my character is capable of, I'll reroll them or sideroll them.

If a new sword set comes out (again), that will just be another main I'll have to make as my main uses all sword sets (except Broadsword, yuk...but maybe when it gets some new animations) + a low level in Martial Arts...although with the fighting pool coming out, I may just have to specialize him in that pool just to give the pool the old college try.

But anyway, I wouldn't be opposed to only 2 characters sharing the same name but I have to wonder why only 2?

I'm going to show you a picture and I need you to pick out the two you think are Batman. Please pick no more than 2:

















The correct answer is

Stop bringing up reasonable counter-points that threaten to shatter my fragile interpretation of game mechanics as a framework inside the fourth wall. *Shakes fist.*

Now I'm going to have to re-think my previous statements and hold a press conference in the morning.