Why Do You Use An Alt?

Simple question, ..why would you use an alternative avatar in Second Life?

Two reasons for me.

1. My groups need a co-owner.

2. 25 Groups isn't enough for me.

I use one for if I need to do something against the TOS.. lol

One holds my money and is in case I can't get into Oki Rayna (Thats this alt), and holds land tier as well

for super secret stealth mode building and quiet exploration time.

Role Play Characters

I don't

Testing scripts. (Also testing that stuff set for sale has all the right permissions.) I'd have no friends left if I made them test all the crap I dream up that requires more than one avatar, or avatars with different permissions or group memberships or permutations of size and shape.

In contrast, my alts are incredibly patient with me.

It's so good that someone has finally asked that question here. Thought it would never happen.

So when you show your grandparents what you do in Second Life, they can't actually see what you do in Second Life.

To keep funds separate, since SL doesn't allow one avatar to have more than one linden acount.

To serve as a dummy or mannequin for various purposes like building avatars or testing clothing or animations.

For taking pictures of your photogenic av.

So that you can have one account in which you claim to be a 65 year old male god fearing Republican, one in which you claim to be 18 year old svelte libertine atheist, etc.

So you can have a bunch of cool names.

So you can run libsecondlife programs while using your normal account. In some cases this will mean you have 70 or more alts.

So you can get your money's worth out of your expensive sex-having-system when you can't find someone you want to use it with you. Or can't find enough.

So when the thread you worked so hard to make controversial doesn't get enough attention to suit you, you can post a variety of increasingly inflammatory contradictory viewpoints.

So you can sway the outcomes of forum polls.

So you post enough abuse reports to get a response from the abuse department without having to get anyone else to.

For building and scripting, there are things you need to test about permissons that involve transferring objects to another avatar - you can't test it properly when you are the creator and owner, so you have to either have an alt to use or get someone else to help you. In many such cases it will be easier to do it yourself using an alt.

To escape from group chat.

To join more groups so you can have even more group chat.

Thats the main thing for me also. I find it hard to tell people "I'm busy", I know it's easy to do, but it makes me feel bad....so instead I just hide from them with an alt

1. To be the second on my groups.

2. To hold group membership I need notices from (updates to required tools such as a favorite vendor or texture organizer or advertising source)

3. Probably the most important for me as an estate owner that prohibits banlines is the unverified, unpaid anything alt (the others are premium members) that flies around now and then to check for banlines.

Char

- to sit on the other ball while working on cuddly animations
- to test scripts and object perms
- to let me indulge in playing Barbie since fashion shopping is 234897234 times more fun for female avatars

To plot my Sl demise!

The more accounts you have, the better person you are.

TPV = VOAP * NOA

Total Personal Value = Value Of Actual Person * Number Of Accounts

Why do you have a second life? Why not a third? Or more?

Be alt that you can be.

I don't need an alt to be invisible -- I'm pretty invisible already. But it's fun. That's the only reason. It's fun to start over again.

Never have

Same here, but just as irritating is the following typical IM dialog:

[Other]: Whatcha doing?
[Me]: I'm busy trying to get my next product packaged up.
[Other]: Cool. How's it going?
[Me]: Really slow. I keep getting overwhelmed with IMs, even though I'm in Busy mode.
[Other]: That's a shame. Some people just don't have a clue.
... long pause with no reply from me...
[Other]: So, you want to go out and dance?

... Log off and log on as my 3rd alt...

test scripts for owner - client usage

maybe as a business alt as i`m stained with a record of being myself

I suppose alt use could result from Multiple Personality Disorder.

If a person with alts due to MPD gets one alt banned due to one personality's misbehavior, should the other personality's alts have to be banned also?

hmm good question, what did you do?

So I can have that cool new last name that wasn't available when I first joined.

So I can be a girl and not a boy. (It's amazing how much more attention a girl gets.)

So I can go into stealth mode and not be bothered by anyone.

I use my alts to check if my products work, if the permissions are set correctly and if the vendors are set to the right price and work correctly. I've recently had to use an alt to sit quietly while I adjust animation positions. Sometimes I use my alt to model as she has a lot more clothes and more skins than I do.

LOL SuezanneC, If I ever need a reason, I'll look up what you wrote.

I only did it because I could. What other reason do you need? Although, those who invented atomic bombs probably should have held off.

To fool around with other females without being seen? Not that I do it but...

25 groups is NO WHERE NEAR ENOUGH to cunduct buisness or rent land in SL even in a small way. It's barely enough if enough to go club hopping

Alts for group membership and store/land admin/acess groups only

Wow, looks like we know the same people! I also get the ones who want to come hang out with me even through I tell them I'm working at my store, so then they stand around and rezz cars or bouncy balls and other annoying things cause they're bored...again, I'm too nice to say anything, so I say I need to go...sign off, and then back on as an alt in my super secret spot where no one can find me. I do love my friends....its just for those "had enough" times.