Alt Detection

It seems that some people run a pair of alts as a couple, either married or perhaps as sisters. I've even seen couples where the profiles are word-for-word similar!

My official alt is X7 Mubble, a featureless and characterless black ball that does nothing and says nothing.

Any other alts I might have rarely log in and when they do they never infringe on my territory.

FWIW, this sometimes is an indication that the avies are two RL-married people, and one of them doesn't play SL very often.
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So far, I've concluded that the whole point about people having an alt is to be detected. Otherwise, why not just change avatar? For some reason (put shrug anim here) I seem to collect people who join SL because they have met me elsewhere, and want to see what behaviour they can get out of me here. From my perspective, these characters might as well be alts: the really, fundamentally, bizarrely strange thing about them is that *their* behaviour is of course all a strategem undertaken by a sane individual, while *mine* must be deeply revelatory of my inner sickness and mental imbalance.

When I point this illogicality out to them, they get very angry... which is a case of "alt-ing the alt" and I find deeply satisfying.

(put "muharharhar" thing here)

Pay attention to the typing characteristics in chat along with the use of language. Do they misspell the same words or use the same phrases? I had an SL friend once whose first language was not English. He had certain English phrases that were very unique to him. I met another av who claimed to be a friend of my friend. This one used the exact same phrases. I'm certain they were alts, and it was fun being with them once I figured this out.

Yep they are generally alts, alright. Sometimes not, but usually they are.

Alts are for three reasons: peace and quiet, testing stuff, or to run from a situation.

Trouble is, in the last case it doesn't work. 99% of the time the situation is caused by the interaction of the person's personality with other people. Even if it is not 'their fault' per se.

So they can run, but they can't hide from themselves.

And yeah, I'm an alt.

Let me guess, your main had owns alot of land and has the initials "AC".

HAHAHA! Well, they ARE both short and have dark hair.

<.<
>.>

Alts are among us! Run away! Run away!

Because a shy and submissive slavegirl with the name "Peter Machoman" hovering over her head looks rediculous? Because a buff truck driver named Tina Tinkerbell looks even more insane?

Yes, you can change your appearance and even gender. But you can't change that name hovering over your head.

I have over 80 avatar forms as Ceera Murakami, and most of them are female, some of them are male, and some fit neither gender role. When I use a male or herm form on my main account, it is the female shapeshifter Ceera who has altered her form. But I don't expect anyone to believe for an instant that just because they see a 7 foot tall male, the avatar really is male. No more so than Disney expected audiances to believe Snow White accepted an Apple from an innocent old lady, when we all saw the wicked queen transform herself into that old lady. And not when the name and profile pic are for a well-known female.

I also have a couple of male alts that are for when I want to *believably* play a male character. Where as far as those interacting with them are concerned, he's "just another guy".

A rolling stone gathers no moss...

Good one. That really did make me LOL!

--
Aes

I believe then we are all in trouble.....

80?!?!?!? Damn I bet you throw some wild parties, you could crash a sim with your alts!

The 80 refers to the number of "avatar forms" or "shapes/etc" for the single account Ceera. An "alt" is an entirely different account with a different name.

Or to play in a different 'gear'.

I have several alts for the simple reason that it's too difficult to play different roles with the same av: not unlike the way actors are sometimes difficult to separate from other roles they have played.

Nevertheless, all my accounts can be easily recognised or 'connected' by their profiles, which are minimal but of a very particular style nonetheless. Anyone who knows me well can easily 'suss' me out without my having to spoil the fun with unneccessarily explicit statements to that effect.

Since I don't 'do' relationships or any form of business in SL, there is no question of exploiting alternative identities to nefarious ends.

... And I have to say I strongly resent the careless behaviour of both victims and perpetrators that has led to SL being infested with unneccessary drama and suspicion for as long as I can recall and very likely well before that. In-world socialising can be almost, but not quite, as bad as these forums in that respect.

I was accused of being an alt of someone's friend when I first started playing SL. I just wasn't as stupid as your average noob.

Yeah. That. I have several alts as well. None are for the purpose of deceiving anyone
and I don't care if everyone knows they're all 'me'.

Well, may be except for that one...she's kind of hard to control and gets up to things the rest of my alts don't entirely approve of, but anyway...

I really enjoy RP areas I couldn't possibly keep track of my inventory if I tried to outfit all these characters with one AV.

LittleMe is Correct. I was referring to how many different shapes, skins, furry avatars and the like are owned by my main account, not alts. Ceera is normally an anthro fox with three tails. She can also be a wolf (4 colors, multiple gender choices), a huge red dragon, a tiny puppy dog, an anthro horse, a human woman, a quad collie dog... over 80 variations. One login, many forms, but all "Ceera Murakami". Why? Because she is, in character, a very powerful mage with a gift for shapeshifting.

One of my alts, Ceera Magic, has only one form. A purple female three-tailed anthro fox. Everything about her is purple, except for her green eyes. Purple fur, purple tint to her hair, purple clothes, even a purple hair clip in her hair. She's used primarily for group access testing, to se if someone who is NOT in a group can get into what is supposed to be an access controlled area. And sometimes I use her simply because I am feeling whimsical and want nothing at all to do with my in-world business duties.

some of us noobs just got lucky to have friends that helped us learn fast... and some money to make ourselves pretty. People always ask if this is my alt.
I say...

Just watch them...
if its her she'll slip up like your friend said.

Nope. This is a common issue in SLife.

I try and take everyone at face value, unless proven otherwise. In this case, I would simply say to your new acquaintance, "That's private, between me and my friend." That would apply no matter WHO is really behind that avatar.

About that "proven otherwise", though...whenever I find that someone has been playing alt head games, my policy is an immediate Mute and Ban. I don't like it, and I don't have to put up with it.

I couldn't agree more!

Pep (is a little insanely paranoid as well)

Also "fresh start", which isn't necessarily running from a situation. Also, a new persona. I'm sure there are lots more reasons, but I think you hit 3 of the top 4.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The simplest (but not foolproof) alt test: get them both together, and see if they can both move at the same time. When running two avs the normal way (on one computer), it's very diifficult to get them both walking at the same time.

Not foolproof because a very resourceful type could find workarounds for this, or they could be using two computers (and be pretty coordinated and good at multiasking!)

IMHO, the best plan is to be undeceitful and judge each avatar on their merits. It's definitely the simplest plan.

I can usually tell when I've just met an alt of someone I know. But I have been socializing online since the late 80s sometimes (starting with IRC, moving on to MUDs, then MMORPGs).

There are some things that are hard to change. Patterns in speech. Patterns in punctuation. Long, slow sentences vs. short, rapid-fire communication. Perfect spelling and grammar vs. AOL-speak. The way in which the person sets up profile. Frequent crashes vs. smooth operation. Similarities in music liked.

With a little research, you can test the B.S. factor that you are getting. If you suspect they might be the same, but one likes death metal and the other likes bluegrass, do a bit of research on each type of music, and see if you can test each suspected alt's depth of knowledge. Do they claim to be from different places? Do research and see if they know facts that someone in the region should know (e.g., someone from Ireland should most likely know the Irish prime minister, but someone outside of Ireland probably doesn't have that in casual knowledge). Tell one of the suspected alts one thing about yourself, say the exact opposite to the other, and see how they react. Does the second one have an immediate suspicion you are lying?

Having tried the trick of operating two different avatars on two different computers, I can confirm that yes, it is almost impossible to move both at the same time. Or at least it takes hand-eye coordination that I just don't have. I assume someone could code their way out of the problem, but I'd have to think that would involve a huge time investment.

Now, of course, very skilled roleplayers (or very skilled deceivers) know all the things that can give them away, and thus actively make sure their characters are different in the things that might give them away. You can't catch everyone.

And then sometimes, there are just coincidences between the way two people act. I've had that experient before too- I was sure that person A was the alt of person B for a ton of reasons, until I just got that one piece of information that seemed to make it an impossibility.

Ultimately, though, only play the who's-the-alt game for fun. If get yourself into situations in which you have to be actively paranoid in Second Life, you can't be having fun. If you have that SL partner, as long as you are truthful and loyal to that partner, you never have to worry about being caught in a lie. (Better yet, don't have SL partners). If you live a drama free life in Second Life, it probably doesn't really matter to you who may be spying on you with an alt.

Of course, you always want to be able to have some sort of expectation of privacy when you talk to someone. But never say anything if you aren't prepared for what you say getting out somehow.

Not necessary.

Just keep yourself to yourself.

Drama llamas will eventually pack up and move to another parcel if you refuse to give them their fix. Somebody else is always holdin'.

On the topic of alt accusations, a pet peeve is someone insisting they 'know me' when they darn well don't. Not unless THEY have an alt, that is, which makes their allegations a tad hypocritical.

In the end, who really cares? Treat others well and nothing much can come back to bite your polygons in the butt.

Evil twin(s).