Multiple profiles?

I use my profile all the time, I think it is the best way for a residents to get to know quite a bit about each other. Sometimes I really like to roleplay and I know there are residents out there like me who like to play many different roles at certain times. I don't want to have to change my profile to reflect a new persona each time I swich roles, but I do want it to be in continuity with my current role. I don't know if this is possible, but I think it would be nice if they can add a way for us to set up multiple profiles (each with all four tabs), even if there's a limit. That way we can feel free to play different roles and have our profile reflect who we are at the same time, without having to edit out profile eveytime.

That's what alts are mostly for...

Yea, I though about that but, I still think it should be in.

I'd advise using Picks for multiple profiles unless/until this gets accepted... Great way to have a lot of anything..

I fail to understand the purpose of "multiple profiles", Jais. If you're seriously into roleplaying, then you really should have different alts, with different profiles, styles, and, of course, avatars That way, you can have different friends lists, live in different places, etc. You can have completely separate "second lifes".

The ability to have multiple profiles for a single avatar eludes me. Sure, I guess you can roleplay a bit on a single avatar, but for long-term roleplaying, it's definitely better to have completely different alts. I mean, people you've befriended will find it strange that suddenly your profile changed, and you have to explain them that it's really you, just playing a different role for a moment, and that you should wait a bit until you revert back to another role instead...

I actually would mind a lot hearing that from a friend. I expect them to be what they claim to be on their profiles, and not change the profile at their whim. Then again, I'm fully aware that several of my friends really do have alts where they play different roles - but this doesn't bother me at all (rather the contrary!). These are different persona that I have never met, and never had any conversations with - so, they're different people to me. Some people roleplay a lot - and that's why they have different alts. That's one of the (good) reasons for alts to exist .

My point is, if you can have this functionality using multiple alts (and grab them, they're for free for the next 3 days!), why ask for costly developer's hours, instead of using those to give you functionality that you don't have at all?

I think this is just coming up because of the recent Tiny invasion.
You have a lot of folks being "someone else" lately, but in the same avatar.

IMO it makes little sense, though the profile dialogue does seem in desperate need of an overhaul. Lots of wasted space there.

Gwyn I understand your point, but for the poeple who don't yet have alts what about there seperate cirles of frineds? There are some gropus who may know them as one persona and other who may know them as something different. Besides, I don't think it would be too costy or difficult for them impliment this feature.

Well, I guess I really don't understand your point... what does it mean, "people who don't yet have alts"? From what I understood, you're describing one of the best reasons for having alts - roleplaying different and separate persona, with total anonymity, and absolute isolation from each other.

If you have three separate circles of friends, and you don't want to use alts, how are they really "three separate circles of friends"? I mean, in your proposal, do you suggest that the multiple profiles be available for all groups to see? If yes, how will that prevent your friends to understand that you're role-playing three different persona? If no (ie. you'd select an "active" profile; the multiple profiles you'll see will be hidden from other users), then, how will you prevent a group of friends of reading the "wrong" profile by mistake?

That's what I meant about being quite hard to implement. You'd need to have a number of separate "friends lists" (in theory, an unlimited number). Each "friend list" would be assigned a different profile, to make sure they'll only be able to see the "correct" one. You'd have a "default" profile depending on your current roleplaying mood, but could switch it for any "new" people that you'd met - while having the three separate groups still viewing the appropriate profile.

Now, I cannot claim to be an expert in estimating Linden Lab's developers' time to implement such a system, but we're talking about a much larger amount of man-hours that you probably imagine. It's not so simple as "click here, and we get an infinite number of separate friends lists; click there, and we can assign a different profile to each list". We're talking about a few dozens of programming hours under my own estimate (LL's programmers may be much quicker, of course - I can only speak about my own limited experience in working with programmers and trying to estimate how much time it would take...). This would amount to a few thousand dollars of programming costs. And the net result would be a crippled system - usable, yes, but not perfect - that could be done much better by simply registering a few alts (and they're being given away for free for the next few days, anyway ).

Just my L$ 0.02, though.

Ok, Gwyn, you made your point...more then once! I understand where your coming from and that you disagree, and I disagree with you. I still think it should be in, but...whatever....