two avatars at the same time ?

I read that it is possible to open two 2nd life windows at the same time and join as 2 different people ?

I think that 2 of my 'friends' might actually be one person, how can I tell ? Is there someting in the profile ?

I cant seem to open two 2nd life windows so perhaps I'm wrong

Thanks

oxy

Search the forum for "--multiple" (may be --multiples, not sure). You can open two copies of the viewer that way (this is a command line tag you add to the viewer shortcut). Then look through the forum for "alts", which is the term for what you're describing. Very difficult to know if you're dealing with an alt...for example, one may ask you what you think of the other alt and that can be difficult. You can sign up for several alt id's, all of which can be Basic accounts. LL will cap you according to the TOS after (I think) 5 alts? Lots of discussion on alts in various threads. Hope this helps, Jackie.

Yes, you can run two (or more) viewers at the same time, through various methods. Including using a second computer.

The only way I know to find out if two avatars are the same person is to ask them. Unless they're messing with you, who cares?

Yes, it's possible to have multiple accounts open at the same time.

No, it is NOT possible to verify with 100% certanty that any two accounts ARE alts of the same person, nor is it possible for those two people to prove that they are NOT alts of each other.

Even if you told Player A some secret that you've never told another living soul, and the next day player B knew that secret, it does not mean they are the same person. Player B could have been in the same room with Player A, looking over their shoulder, when you told the secret. Or Player A could have mentioned the secret to Player B. Or Player B could have been in the next sim and spyng on you both by camming in close...

To run more than one viewer, right-click the sl shortcut on your desktop and choose "properties". In the "Target:" box, add " -multiple" (without the quotation marks) to the end of the line, so it says something like:

"C:\Program Files\SecondLife\SecondLife.exe" -multiple

You can also set this in preferences or debug settings somewhere, I believe.

There is no way that I know of to prove absolutely that two avatars are the same person. I have heard that you can find a person's IP address if they are listening to the media stream, so if they are in the same place at the same time it might be possible to determine if they have the same IP address. This would make it likely that they were alts.

I have on occasion logged in two av's at once, in the same place (just for fun, and with the full knowledge of all present), and I have to say, it can be VERY difficult not to slip up and respond as the wrong av in a conversation as the viewers show essentially the same scene. I had to resort to big hud attachments with pics of my av's so I would remember who I was. It should be fairly easy to make them slip up by starting some complicated conversation, asking them both frequent questions, etc., especially if you use both open chat and IM.

In the end, though, I don't think you can prove it either way.

When I read the thread title my mind immediately jumped to Office Space.

Peter: "What would you do with a million dollars?"

Lawrence: "Two avatars at the same time man..."

To be on-topic... sometimes you'll find that running two instances of SL at the same time is a bit much for your PC to handle. If you need two be logged in with two separate AVs, it might be worth logging one of them in using a light-weigth, non-graphical client like metabolt.

That's true...I usually run my laptop for my original (Jackie Version 1) SJackB Northman and my desktop for /me. Even with a 3ghz core 2 dual processor on my HP tower I think I'd just get confused jumping between windows, but if you only have 1 machine then it would be worth a try. Jackie

Can Second Life track IP addresses?

Not directly. But if you run a media stream on a parcel, and if a resident connects to that stream to listen, there are ways to tell from the media streaming server's end what IP addresses are connected.

Things run a little smoother if you minimise the two windows alternately, rather than just switching between them, but even so, expect a lower framerate.

If you minimize, the avatar who is minimized goes "AFK", and appears to be asleep.

Oh yeah! Duh! I forgot that ... there's not a setting for turning off the AFK thing altogether?

Not if you minimize the window, no.

Moving the second window into the background without minimizing it will do nearly the same thing without putting your avatar AFK. The window in the foreground gets most of the resources.

A fast multi-core CPU and a good video card can easily handle two instances of the viewer.

Although this depends a lot on your system resources.

I have two systems that I use for accessing SL normally, and as a content creator I frequently use multiple accounts at once.

One is an older Win XP system, with a single Pentium 4 2.26 GHz CPU and 2 GB of RAM, and a Nvidia GeForce Ti 4400 video card that is displaying 1600 by 1200 pixels, and has 256 MB of VRAM. On that system, I can run two instances of SL at once, but only one of the sessions usually performs normally. (Unpredictable which one, and at random it flip-flops). The other session has lousy frame rates, and sluggish response, amd sometimes has very strange video glitches. Running in two fairly small windows makes it bearable...

My better system is a quad-core Mac Pro tower, with more ram, and far better video, displaying 1920 x 1280 pixels. (Can't quote exact specs, as someone else is using it right now). On that system, I can get up to SIX instances of SL running at once, and they all perform rather well!

As a general rule of thumb, more instances at once needs more system RAM, and needs a more powerful video card. It also helps to configure SL to use the amount of VRAM your card has divided by the number of instances you are running. (256 MB VRAM and 2 istances = configure SL for 128 MB VRAM).

Even if both 'friends' have the same ip that don't mean they are the same.
its possible the are using the same router and i know that some isp in europe
share a ip with different customers.

here you can find all option you can use with the sl viewer:
http://wiki.secondlife.com/wiki/Client_parameters

Back in the '90s on one text-based virtual world the joke was that EVERYONE was an alt of the same person, they hadn't realized it yet.

They never move move, text-chat or talk at the same time. That's the easiest giveaway even if someone's running multiple instances of SL client at the same time. Speaking as someone who's run anything up to 8 avatars at the same time, it can be *alot* of running around and computer-hopping behind the screen. Fun for a short while, but exhausting, confusing (especially once you lose track of who you're supposed to be) and ultimately pointless.

Yes, RP can be great fun, but even the most adept RP'er can get in a muddle playing multiple characters simultaneously.

Unless the RL operator has 2 computers right next to each other and is ambidextrous!!!

That leaves me out, I'm ambiclumsy.

Is this a clue ? If I talk to someone who often goes AFK for a short period, does that suggest he/she is playing another avatar ?

oxy

Or that they're checking their e-mail while they're talking to you and don't realize they're going AFK when they do it.

No, because you have no idea why they went AFK. The phone mught be ringing. They might need a bathroom break, they may be checking e-mail or surfing these foruns while on-line in SL... the possibilities are infinite.

Just get used to the idea that the only way to have some assurance that two avatars have the same owner is if they both TELL YOU that they are alts of each other. And even then, they may be lying about that!

never mind that people can create gesture for basic conversational phrases and key those with a touch.... I knew a person that played their own sub rather convincingly. (plus a bot could be controlled by a single person inworld at a single keyboard)