Multiple alts - why and what do YOU do with them?

[Da5id Weatherwax]

couple of "crash test dummies" for testing scripted items without me having to be using the item at the time. They also served as on-call models for promo pics when I was selling stuff.

One boy, one girl.

Because I'm silly that way, I created them backstories and gave them appropriate names, and have kept them up to date with in-character avs and modern, if limited, wardrobe appropriate to the personalities I decided they should have

[diamond Marchant]

On 7/8/2022 at 8:49 PM, Coffee Pancake said:

Having an alt acting as the camera is a solid win for photoshoots and one I wish I would remember to use more often

Just wondering, how does an alt facilitate photography?

[Lindal Kidd]

2 minutes ago, diamond Marchant said:

Just wondering, how does an alt facilitate photography?

One of you is the camera, one the model.

And if you have a spare alt or two, put facelights on them and let them be the lighting.

[LunaRavencroft]

I have several.

An alt that represents my other self.
An alt that acts as my bank/L$ holding wallet.
An alt that represents another of my faces.
An alt that represents one more of my faces.

But, no matter which alt I use, my partner knows all about them and they're all partnered with hers.

 

It is necessity.

Edited July 11, 2022 by LunaRavencroft

[HeathcliffMontague]

I guess I am technically an alt. My first accont was a female, but that was long before I knew what SL actually was. Cooler to slay dragons that way, I just thought.

But oh wow what you gals must go trough. Yes we guys can be one trick ponies, but in SL it literally is just that one trick for some it seems.
Been my male "alt" going on something like six years I guess. Hey Heath. Yep that's me. Original name is a conglomeration of way too much English Lit.

Edited July 11, 2022 by HeathcliffMontague
Edit: I blame Kate Bush a bit for the name as well...

[Fortyniner Beck]

I have a main and two “alts” although only one is used much nowadays.

The first was created when I used to DJ, my main avi was running a land business and the alt was a more outgoing character.

The second is more of a bot that was used until recently for group invites for new rentals.

All are male characters.  What I find interesting is that the DJ character allowed me to be a completely different personality, he would get on with everyone whereas my main is much more reserved.

[blissfulbreeze]

I use different accounts for different aspects of my personality. I also like to see how people react to my different looks. 

I try to think outside my normal box for each one. However, some end up similar lol.

[Da5id Weatherwax]

3 hours ago, HeathcliffMontague said:

Original name is a conglomeration of way too much English Lit.

Austen and Shakespeare? Way more highbrow than my combination of Snow Crash and Diskworld.

[Phil Deakins]

2 minutes ago, Da5id Weatherwax said:

Austen and Shakespeare? Way more highbrow than my combination of Snow Crash and Diskworld.

I suspect it was Bronte and whoever else, but your lowbrow Weatherwax is much more to my taste

 

[Da5id Weatherwax]

1 minute ago, Phil Deakins said:

I suspect it was Bronte and whoever else, but your lowbrow Weatherwax is much more to my taste

 

It was, I always get the Bronte sister's works and those of Jane Austen scrambled in my head. No idea why as their writing styes are all very different. It's just my "not normal" memory playing games with me.

And yeah, when Weatherwax was available as a surname how the heck could I not with my "eclectic" religious background. Couple it with the first name of a cyberpunk metaverses ubergeek and well.. you kinda got me

[HeathcliffMontague]

Bronte yes. and you, know Bill. Bill the Bard among frriends

[Maitimo]

I have two (besides this one).

One is my "evil twin who started as an "avatar-on-a-budget" challenge which I utterly failed. Now used for random testing perms, playing the SML gym game and for when I really want to be alone.

The other one is a roleplaying character. Or more accurately, five characters on one account.

[Louise Fyrewik]

On 7/9/2022 at 5:49 AM, Coffee Pancake said:

Having an alt acting as the camera is a solid win for photoshoots and one I wish I would remember to use more often

I deliberately do not use an alt for photoshoots, as I use Black Dragon for photoshoots and use the built in poser for pose corrections. This poser is much, much more versatile than any HUD poser available inworld. Sadly this poser only works on the avatar which is logged in to the viewer, hence using an alt to make the picture does not work. You could say use another viewer window with an alt, but the built in poser adaptations are not visible to other users.

[kali Wylder]

I knew a man once.  He made an exquisite avatar, very attractive.  I thought he was a friend.  He also made clothing. Nothing he considered good enough to sell but he would give me the outfits.  He had a long time partnership with another friend of mine.  He loved to flirt and was fun to talk to.  I flirted with him in local at the club I hosted at as did many others.  He seemed like a good guy and his flirtations were never serious because he was really in love with his partner.  He had another friend.  Rather quiet, didn't talk much to anyone just came and listened.  I got involved with him for a time.  He was divorced in RL and not happily.  Still pined for his wife who had left him for another man.  I knew these people for many years in SL.  We hung out together.  The man died in RL over a year ago.  When he died several of his "friends" disappeared too.  As it turns out he had a very busy second life in the guise of several avatars, all of whom had simultaneous relationships with other people within the same circle of friends.  Nobody knew.

The above scenario is not a good reason for having alts.  Many people were deeply hurt.  It does not automatically follow that a person with alts is pulling something devious off, but the possibility is there.

[Love Zhaoying]

28 minutes ago, kali Wylder said:

I knew a man once.  He made an exquisite avatar, very attractive.  I thought he was a friend.  He also made clothing. Nothing he considered good enough to sell but he would give me the outfits.  He had a long time partnership with another friend of mine.  He loved to flirt and was fun to talk to.  I flirted with him in local at the club I hosted at as did many others.  He seemed like a good guy and his flirtations were never serious because he was really in love with his partner.  He had another friend.  Rather quiet, didn't talk much to anyone just came and listened.  I got involved with him for a time.  He was divorced in RL and not happily.  Still pined for his wife who had left him for another man.  I knew these people for many years in SL.  We hung out together.  The man died in RL over a year ago.  When he died several of his "friends" disappeared too.  As it turns out he had a very busy second life in the guise of several avatars, all of whom had simultaneous relationships with other people within the same circle of friends.  Nobody knew.

The above scenario is not a good reason for having alts.  Many people were deeply hurt.  It does not automatically follow that a person with alts is pulling something devious off, but the possibility is there.

I think maintaining this kind of Second Lifestyle would be difficult. As some point, you have to tell backstories, have different personas, etc. and would get caught between different avatar stories and personas.  Probably, most people would need a spreadsheet!  *Edit* A person in this situation wouldn't be doing voice chat for multiple avatars to the same people, unless they were a good "character actor" or had a voice changer.

Edited July 11, 2022 by Love Zhaoying

[SorachaNicEoghain]

44 minutes ago, kali Wylder said:

I knew a man once.  He made an exquisite avatar, very attractive.  I thought he was a friend.  He also made clothing. Nothing he considered good enough to sell but he would give me the outfits.  He had a long time partnership with another friend of mine.  He loved to flirt and was fun to talk to.  I flirted with him in local at the club I hosted at as did many others.  He seemed like a good guy and his flirtations were never serious because he was really in love with his partner.  He had another friend.  Rather quiet, didn't talk much to anyone just came and listened.  I got involved with him for a time.  He was divorced in RL and not happily.  Still pined for his wife who had left him for another man.  I knew these people for many years in SL.  We hung out together.  The man died in RL over a year ago.  When he died several of his "friends" disappeared too.  As it turns out he had a very busy second life in the guise of several avatars, all of whom had simultaneous relationships with other people within the same circle of friends.  Nobody knew.

The above scenario is not a good reason for having alts.  Many people were deeply hurt.  It does not automatically follow that a person with alts is pulling something devious off, but the possibility is there.

Oh....my....God! This is why if you're in some kind of sl relationship, you really need to do voice at some point. 

Edited July 11, 2022 by SorachaNicEoghain

[kali Wylder]

44 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I think maintaining this kind of Second Lifestyle would be difficult. As some point, you have to tell backstories, have different personas, etc. and would get caught between different avatar stories and personas.  Probably, most people would need a spreadsheet!  *Edit* A person in this situation wouldn't be doing voice chat for multiple avatars to the same people, unless they were a good "character actor" or had a voice changer.

He was a complicated person. As it turned out, he was far more complicated than anyone realized.  We held a huge memorial for him.  At the time we hadn't figured out yet that the missing people were also him. He wrote beautiful vignettes and short stories. He was very creative.  We all had to rethink so many conversations we'd had with him.  I'm not sorry for having known him, although I was angry mostly with myself for not catching on.

[Love Zhaoying]

3 minutes ago, kali Wylder said:

He was a complicated person. As it turned out, he was far more complicated than anyone realized.  We held a huge memorial for him.  At the time we hadn't figured out yet that the missing people were also him. He wrote beautiful vignettes and short stories. He was very creative.  We all had to rethink so many conversations we'd had with him.  I'm not sorry for having known him, although I was angry mostly with myself for not catching on.

Definitely sounds like RL movies about people who led "double lives".

[Kiera Clutterbuck]

55 minutes ago, kali Wylder said:

He was a complicated person. As it turned out, he was far more complicated than anyone realized.  We held a huge memorial for him.  At the time we hadn't figured out yet that the missing people were also him. He wrote beautiful vignettes and short stories. He was very creative.  We all had to rethink so many conversations we'd had with him.  I'm not sorry for having known him, although I was angry mostly with myself for not catching on.

I'm sorry that happened to you, and I would imagine it makes trust difficult in SL? Or at the very least lends a kind of distance toward others knowing such things are possible?

Typically we share our secrets to a greater degree in romantic relationships, and this gives our partner the power to use that knowledge against us. Wise partners know when to share such knowledge with others outside the partnership, while unwise and/or abusive partners don't keep the secrets or use them against their partner if it's advantageous.

And so, this person you mentioned had greater power via having closer connections with many partners within a social circle. I'm curious, do you think he  actively abused this power by slanting situations to his advantage when it benefitted him, or did he just revel in the power without manipulating people overtly?

Either way, it's totally annoying and an abuse of power. I've heard many similar stories and am a bit perplexed as to why these types attempt to harm others in this way.

Edited July 11, 2022 by Kiera Clutterbuck

[LittleMe Jewell]

1 hour ago, SorachaNicEoghain said:

Oh....my....God! This is why if you're in some kind of sl relationship, you really need to do voice at some point. 

That just lets you hear the voice of the one you are involved with.  That wouldn't help anything if you never hear any of the alts in voice.

[kali Wylder]

2 hours ago, Kiera Clutterbuck said:

I'm sorry that happened to you, and I would imagine it makes trust difficult in SL? Or at the very least lends a kind of distance toward others knowing such things are possible?

Typically we share our secrets to a greater degree in romantic relationships, and this gives our partner the power to use that knowledge against us. Wise partners know when to share such knowledge with others outside the partnership, while unwise and/or abusive partners don't keep the secrets or use them against their partner if it's advantageous.

And so, this person you mentioned had greater power via having closer connections with many partners within a social circle. I'm curious, do you think he  actively abused this power by slanting situations to his advantage when it benefitted him, or did he just revel in the power without manipulating people overtly?

Either way, it's totally annoying and an abuse of power. I've heard many similar stories and am a bit perplexed as to why these types attempt to harm others in this way.

I think that maybe he was defending himself against his perception of his own lack of power.  I think it was his own lack of trust that made him who he was.  He wanted to know what others thought of him and he discussed himself from that third party perspective. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'll never know.  Maybe it all boils down to narcissism. Who hasn't wished they were a fly on the wall who could listen in unperceived to what others were saying about them? 

[Love Zhaoying]

1 minute ago, kali Wylder said:

I think that maybe he was defending himself against his perception of his own lack of power.  I think it was his own lack of trust that made him who he was.  He wanted to know what others thought of him and he discussed himself from that third party perspective. Maybe I'm wrong, but I'll never know.  Maybe it all boils down to narcissism. Who hasn't wished they were a fly on the wall who could listen in unperceived to what others were saying about them? 

I've known people to use an alt to find out what someone really thinks of their main, etc.

[Snugs McMasters]

18 minutes ago, Love Zhaoying said:

I've known people to use an alt to find out what someone really thinks of their main, etc.

With the exception of @Dave23McMasters (who's a real mama's boy), nobody has a lower opinion of Maddy than her alts.

Edited July 11, 2022 by Snugs McMasters

[Dave23McMasters]

Mooooooooooommmmmm!!!

[Coffee Pancake]

1 minute ago, Snugs McMasters said:

With the exception of Dave23 (who's a real mama's boy), nobody has a lower opinion of Maddy than her alts.

Unionize !