Ask WoW Insider: Defining mains and alts
Aug 18th, 2008
There's a ton of asking going on around this site lately -- between "Ask a Lore Nerd" and "Ask a Beta Tester," you guys are asking more questions than a two-year old who just learned what "why" means. But this column, Ask WoW Insider, is the O.G. of Ask columns here on the site, and unlike all of the other Ask columns, we put the question back to you readers. Chippen of EU Doomhammer sent in this great question this week:We are having a discussion in our guild whether alts have priority on loot before guild members and we do have different views on this. Some say that an alt is an alt, and need to wait to be geared up, while others can't really see the problem. What is a main and what is an alt?If you're asking me, I'd say it's definitely possible to switch mains (I've done it a few times) -- your main is currently the character that's getting the majority of your playtime, and the one where loot matters the most to you. Some guilds ask you to declare a main, so that they can make a clear distinction for passing out loot, while other guilds just have players switch alts depending only on what situations require what.
I suppose a main is the...well...I don't know. The first character I created? Or is it the character I play the most? Or is it the character I want to play the most and also enjoying playing the most? When does an alt become a main, and is it possible to swap between the two?
So let's show up those other Ask columns and give this great, open-ended question out to you, our dear readers: what is a main and what is an alt? And what's the difference between the two?
If you've got a question for our readers to be posted right here in the original Ask column, be sure to send it along to ask@wowinsider.com. And there's lots more Ask WoW Insider, including this question on abusing the /roll, and how to make friends and influence raiders on a new server. Recent Posts
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 4)
8-18-2008 @ 5:05PM
Warlia said...
The main, IMO is the one who, if supposedly, blizzard were to say, due to money issues you can only keep 1 character, you would keep it. ( because blizzard is losing money, right? :p) Also, I think the difference between your main and your alt is that your main should always be first priority in the gear department, but definitely not time playing.
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8-18-2008 @ 5:09PM
Spring said...
We are clear in our guild that it doesn't really matter lootwise if the character playing in the raid is a "main" or "alt." It is the person playing the character that matters and that is the same. In general, there is usually a "main" character that someone has chosen to gear up and raid with. However, due to raid composition that person may be asked to bring a different character for the greater benefit of the raid. That character is just as entitled to loot as if the "main" had come to the raid.
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8-18-2008 @ 5:57PM
Barth said...
I'd agree for the most part. if a person is asked to bring their alt Pally because the guild needs heals, then yeah they deserve loot the same as mains. If however, a person brings their rogue-alt who they've been leveling just because they want to pew pew for a change, they shouldn't get loot over those who's mains are rogues. Not to pick on DPS, but that's what usually happens and starts these discussions. If you have a regular raid spot on a particular toon, and the guild depends on it, then that is the main.
8-18-2008 @ 5:11PM
Birdfall said...
Your main is the character you decide to focus on. Alts are the ones you play for fun.
For our family raid guild, people are allowed to change their main but only every once in a while because we want them to focus on gearing out one character and keep that character in raiding to help the rest of the guild. I decided recently to split raiding and pvp among 2 characters, so now I have a priest raiding main and a druid pvp main.
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8-19-2008 @ 2:43PM
Omestes said...
So you don't play your main for fun? I play all my toons for fun, my main is just the one I put the most work into, and have the most pride in. Right now it is a lv48 warlock, while my 70 shaman is my alt.
8-19-2008 @ 6:40PM
Birdfall said...
Fun/casual. Instead of fun/hardcore.
8-18-2008 @ 5:11PM
Kai_Svenson said...
I go with a tier approach:
Main main - The one character if asked was mine when I played WoW would pop instantly to mind.
Personally, my tank.
Mains, plural - Secondary characters I keep up with and in good working condition. If guns, these would be the ones I kept oiled and clean, but would rarely use except for target practice here and there. Should some major mechanics overhaul cause me to need to abandon my Main Main, these are ready to step up.
Alts - Toons either created just for profession mules or a bit rusty sitting there in the cabinent.
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8-18-2008 @ 5:13PM
Brian said...
Sorry, but most of the reasons a user brings in an alt is because the guild usually asks for it.
If my guild needed a tank for a run and I'm normally a DPS class, then I expect to be able to roll on any tank gear the dropped as I was asked to attend as a tank.
If you run an alt just because your main is geared up already, then use your common sense and give your other guildies a chance for better loot. We usually look at this as mains roll first for main-spec. Alts roll if nobody needs it for main-spec. Again, I bypass this rule if I was required to show up with my alt.
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8-18-2008 @ 5:13PM
Hesed said...
I have a Main Ally, a Main Horde, and a PvP Main Shaman. all others a just alts.
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8-18-2008 @ 5:16PM
VaMinion said...
Main: If someone asks who I play, this is the name or class I give out. My main is a rogue.
Alt: Anything else that I play, whether it's my soonn to be 70 tankadin or my 21 shaman.
Reply
8-18-2008 @ 5:17PM
dan said...
Not so open-ended really. You've already hit the nail on the head in the main post.
Main: The toon a player prefers to play the most.
Alt: a toon a player uses to pass the time.
Mains should get loot priorities over alts since the main is the one that's going to be used 9 times out of 10.
Reply
8-18-2008 @ 5:25PM
Manatank said...
Yeah, well I have 3 toons at max level. One tank, one healer and one DPS. I like to play them all. Why would one be a main?
8-18-2008 @ 5:30PM
lazarel said...
It's only as simple as you state, if the player believes and behaves as you do.
I don't have one toon I prefer play all the time. And my guild doesn't expect me to. We have a set of rules though that covers the circumstances and I agree to them when I raid.
We have to declare who our Main is every 3 month (set time)
When you sign up to raid, it's with your Main.
If asked to bring an Alt instead, it raids as your main for that run.
Pretty simple.
Take the subjectivity out of it, and just come up with a fair set of rules.
Agree or move on.
8-18-2008 @ 5:28PM
Phoulmouth said...
When you are a raiding guild every member should specify a "MAIN" raiding character. This is the character they want to raid on and the only character the person will ever get progression raid spots with. All other characters are Alts.
And alt character should NEVER take loot over a main character because the main character will be in more raids. This means the main character will be more beneficial to the overall progress of the guild in general.
If you want to get technical a MAIN character should also be a specific spec and only that one spec. This is so that that person can get better and better at there specific role in the raid and so that loot is distributed based on main character/main spec.
Example:
A shaman can raid as elemental, enhance or resto. If your main is a restoration shaman you technically have dibs on resto gear over the person that raids as an enhancement shaman.
How fair would it be for you to be the guilds only resto shaman but the enhancement shamans take all the resto gear from you?
How would that assist in your guilds overall progression? It wouldn't!
Any guild that is serious about raid progression understands the needs for main characters main specs to get gear over alt characters or main characters alt specs.
Any guild serious about raid progression also understands the importance of regulating who is what spec for raid purposes.
Reply
8-18-2008 @ 5:40PM
dan said...
100% agree.
8-18-2008 @ 5:44PM
Saelorn said...
I mostly agree, but even then you're only defining "main" vs. "alt" for the small subset of people who are in progression-based raiding guilds. Some guilds don't raid, some guilds are happy to just farm Kara and ignore progression until the expansion, and some people aren't even in guilds!
Of course, you could always counter that, if you're not in a raiding guild, it doesn't matter what your definition of main is, since consistent vocabulary only matters for large groups of people.
8-18-2008 @ 5:30PM
Naix said...
The toon your currently playing more than twice a week is your main. Alts are fun to do money runs, lower instances with friends that are not doing BT, and world pvp with.
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8-18-2008 @ 6:27PM
johnnyc said...
I guess it depends on whether you're talking about a raider or a non-raider.
Raiders apparently follow the rules outlined by others above.
For us non-raiders, a main is most likely the character(s) you enjoy playing the most. I have two mains, my hunter and my priest. I have several alts. The hunter and priest get about equal play time each week.
8-19-2008 @ 9:37AM
Naix said...
Following the "rules" means I am not playing the game my way. I want to have fun and raid and I do very very well.
*shrug*
8-18-2008 @ 5:34PM
WNxSajuukCor said...
They way I see it is the Main is your character that is used to help progression. A Main should get gear to help progression over an Alt who is there to fill a tank/heal/dps slot for the time being. Giving progression gear to an Alt just means another week for a Main to get gear to progress to other bosses.
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