Raiding guilds without an army of multiboxing warlocks have significant advantage on securing world boss kills. Far greater than a multiboxer would.
Non-Multiboxed players of a full group can farm more efficiently than any multiboxer in the game, adding more gold to the economy which leads to greater degrees of inflation. Far greater than a multiboxer would.
Non-Multiboxed players trivialize pvp encounters and turns guilds and live streamers into wrecking machines. Far greater than a multiboxer would.
Ian Malcolm: Your multiboxers were so preoccupied with whether or not they could they didn’t stop to think whether or not the should!
Alan Grant: I don’t want to jump to any conclusions but look: Soloers and multiboxers, two species separated by extra hardware and a bigger monthly commitment are just thrown into the mix together how could we possibly have any idea what to expect?
John Hammond: I don’t believe it! You’re meant to come down and defend me against these characters and the only one on my side is the blood sucking leveler!
The bottom line:
Just because you have a truthful statement that multiboxers have an unfair advantage over one person doesn’t mean it’s a valid argument. The reason is because all groups have an unfair advantage over one person and this applies to all MMORPGs not just WoW Classic. When you argue against multiboxers and unfairness you are arguing against the design of how MMORPGs work.
Jurassic Park scientist: You’re suggesting that a single player taking advantage of group mechanics that was designed with the idea that each player would be, you know, their own human being is…the same?
This is the way the discussion usually goes. First there is the ‘unfairness’ of it all and then after it’s determined that the ‘unfairness’ is a bogus argument then it gets to how the multiboxer plays (the multiboxers play style) versus how a full group does it. And then we find after discussing it all the way through that a full group of players has a distinct advantage over the multiboxer group in all aspects of game play including PvP (Player versus Player) and PvE (Player versus Environment) but it takes quite a bit of time to get to this point because of all the people that don’t understand the design of how MMORPGs work.
So let’s now take a look at a multiboxer and compare to full groups equaling the same size shall we? We’ll compare apples to apples now. Let’s first take a look at PvP. Where in PvP can we make the most closest comparison of a full group multiboxed versus a full of players? Answer: Arena. The /follow command works in retail and when we take a look at the list of ranked players in Arena, how many multiboxers do we see? Answer: NONE. It’s so difficult to get a higher rating in arena when you compare the right things, gear, level, etc that the multiboxer has a severe disadvantage. So bad that only one person ever attempted to live stream their rating increase. When that one person did it under the absolute best case (all hunters) the person multiboxing one about 40% of their games. Less than half under the most optimal conditions possible.
Now let’s take a look at PvE: When a multiboxer goes through a dungeon for gear, loot or selling the stuff, the multiboxer is forced to loot everything because, well there isn’t anyone else there. This slows down the process of going through the dungeon significantly over a full group of players not multiboxing. The multiboxer doesn’t have to look for a group, just joins his group through an in-game macro and goes to the dungeon. The non-multiboxed group must form before joining the dungeon and that takes time. However when going through the dungeon the multiboxer takes longer time to set up for each encounter and for looting it takes longer. So as far as clearing a dungeon from start to finish it’s hard to judge which will be faster. It might also depend on gear and loot distribution. The point is there is no significant speed advantage from the multiboxer standpoint.
Who cares about multiboxers in instanced content where they can’t annoy anyone else but themselves?
Yes, I can group up with others out in the world to increase my efficiency if the situation presents itself, but therein lies the difference: the situation doesn’t always present itself, whereas the multiboxer knows they’re going to be “overcharactered” for whatever they need to do.
The only downside to multiboxers in PvP is actually for the team the multiboxer is on because now 15-25% of their team comp is essentially one person.
The only downside to multiboxers in dungeons is potentially flooding the market and driving the lucrativeness of such activities down overall.
The main downside to multiboxers in the open world is they hog popular questing areas, refuse to group because that’s the whole reason they’re multiboxing in the first place, and they always look like an amoeba trying to assimilate itself.
For several characters with one mind, the same goals. A group that is always there when ever you want to play. One you never have to spend time looking for. For the easiest quests to the hardest quests. A group that will help you farm for as long as you want and let you have every drop. A group that you never have to do anything you don’t want in return.
You’re buying a significant advantage that no one can get in this game for free. It’s pay to win.
And then, it’s a subjective value judgement. Most people won’t play a game that has too many ways to pay to win. Most people want what they see as fair play. Most companies that create games limit pay to win because they know that. That’s why football teams can’t buy a few extra line backers. Baseball players can’t buy an extra strike. It’s why multiboxing is banned in The Elder Scrolls on line. It’s why blizzard banned buying gold, buying boosted characters, etc.