English

I am in a guild (The great "Grave of The Fireflies"), however, I still generally play by my self (or with myself) except when I want to level up in healing, because I NEED to be in a team to level healing.

My being in a guild doesn't preclude me from being in a guild. (if preclude means what I think it means)

However, I do not recall any dicussion of the skill it takes to play solo. There is no one else to heal you when you die. You have to be aware of the levels of the things you try to kill. You have to have an escape strategy. It is much more difficult when you are alone, and requires different strategy. You have to take many things into consideration that a team does not need to think about.

And for the alts... that is not playing solo, you are playing with yourself.

Just saying....

This seems to be a semantic discussion where each side is using a different definition ....and i can see both sides. To my eyes playing "Solo" means I am playing a single toon and that toon is receiving no "outside benefit".

When a team of 3 fights kinchers, and all 3 people (healer, tank, ele) are sharing the XP as intended, that is 3 individual players working as a team.

When I solo plants cause no one around to team with at my level, again "the entire team" is sharing the XP.

However, I also do understand and concur with GDs designation of the term "Cheater Alt", tho not in the manner which some have chosen to take offense. In youth basketball, a non-regulation height hoop which was commonly built for younger kids was called a "cheaper hoop" when played on by older kids.

The term is also used commonly in the trades such as "cheater bar" And, I am not taking about a club where peeps cheat on their spouses / significant others but a bar that is fitted on the end of a wrench or lever to gain more leverage. Cheater Stones are small stones placed in front of a boulder to assist in rock climbing.

When a toon is healed by an "out of team" alt, the main toon is not sharing the XP and therefore is "cheating" the alt out of theirs. This would apply to any situation where the main toon benefit is increased by the use of an alt as opposed to a team member where there is no additional benefit.

There is a similar discussion going on right now in baseball where Pete Rose's hits total has been surpassed by Ichiro Suzuki ... Ichiro's 1st 7 years were spent in a league where the level of competition was not up to par with MLB. Therefore, Ichiro's accomplishment .. at least at his point ... will never be considered by puyrists as equal to Rose's as the latter's path was the more difficult one.

I remember watching a player on Ari manage several alts (2 Digging / 2 CPing) and laughing as .... I play the game to relax ... controlling 4 tunes requires focus and that is not relaxing. In the case of 2 master digger toons and 2 CPers digging for the benefit of one toon's craft skill, I think the term "cheater alt" is again apt simply because it is descriptive in the common vernacular, not with respect to something unethical, but for a mechanism or tool that "makes things easier".

So, I am not saying that this is cheating as in an unethical "game exploit" ... I'm saying it's like using a "cheater bar" to power thru something you couldn't do (as fast) on your own. In that same vein, one "feature" I think one should be able to turn on / turn off is cats. Pre-merge ... cats were scarce and, at least for me, reserved for crafting. I don't fell comfortable having them applied to every skill ... I feel like I'm "cheating" myself out of time on Atys.

When I play a game like Witcher 3 at the 2nd hardest level, my kids tease me for playing the "cheater difficulty level". I see no need to take offense to the tease as that level is plenty challenging given the limited range of finger movement I have in my hands. My fingers are simply not capable of repeated and sometimes complicated, fast finger movements without a misstep.

Now, all that being said, I will never use alts ... out of respect for my toon. My character intends to earn his way thru the world w/o any advantages and without taking any shortcuts. That's a personal decision. As to what other players do with their accounts and their toons, that's their decision. Some will choose to make things easier, some will not.

Does a kid who goes thru college, relying parental contributions "cheat his way thru college " ? No, of course not. But i do think he cheated himself out of something ... the satisfaction one gets from accomplishing something on your own. As an employer, I would be more impressed by a the 2nd kid's accomplishment. And that's it, personally, I get more satisfaction from playing FF "on his own" w/o any help from alts.