Viola! I canz multi-box the interwebz!!! ....Now what?

Hello all

Just a note of introduction - I've been playing LOTRO (My first and only MMO) off and on since Christmas 2007. I play this game because I have been a fan of Tolkien's work since I first read The Hobbit some 35 years ago and I have little interest in playing other MMO's. Well, I've tried DDO and have interest in AOC and STO - but only because I grew up with those works as well - so its a nostalgia thing with me, I'm not a gearhead or a gamehead. What I am is; So sick of PUG'ing nightmares - Kinship Drama - dealing with the juveniles at the kids table on the OCC (I mean F2p free regions) and the off/on reliability factor concerning the few compatible mates that I have managed to connect with (a mutual feeling I'm sure.) that I decided to try Multi-boxing.

So - I recently built a decent gaming machine, made 3 F2p accounts, installed Inner Space and ISBoxer and Viola! I canz multi-box the interwebz!!! ....Now what?

I'm such a noob, and all this stuff is so foreign to me, I don't even know what to ask... I guess I want to map keys to get my team to follow my main with 1 click of a button (clicking on each member screen and then selecting follow, each and every time lost it's charm some time ago) - getting them to perform an action or skill would be nice - ummmmm? I guess some kind of Key mapping understanding is needed... I've tried to read the users guide and documentation, and i have no doubt that they are comprehensive and nicely done, but there are so many terms and concepts that I don't yet understand, that I find my self getting lost in the tangent of pages following links and researching sidebars.

Now I know I'm gonna have to put in some time paying me dues along the way and learn this stuff - but honestly friends, time is at a premium (for us all) and I just really, really want to play the game with the little time I do have and experiment as I go.

Is there a "you're prolly too stupid for this technology, but we're gonna let you try anyway" guide or post? Perhaps basic ISBoxer configurations from users with ID10T-proof procedures? I don't know? I'm just lost in a maze of information that I cant get my head around and really need some guidance for a simpler and faster way to get going.

Any response is appreciated.
Thx
W.

You can start with:

http://isboxer.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=185

Then read other postings in this board.

Thanks tanker - just what the doctor ordered.

up the irons
W

Wanderlust

Just to add my 2 cents here for ya. I started Multi boxing because I had a friend do it and I was intrigued. That was a long time ago (EQ1). Then came WoW and I played single characters for the longest time. I ran into the same kind of things that MB'ers complain about and started up again. WoW was comparatively easy to MB compared to Lotro, it is a more popular game. So when I started up on Lotro I was in for a big surprise, this is a lot harder to MB.

So I had already decided that I was going to MB Lotro or bust trying it. Let me say that you came to the right place for MB software. It ain't free but it IS the best. Naturally it is the best because it covers sooo much. And it does take awhile to learn and it has a pretty steep learning curve...BUT you will get so much out of it. So my suggestion is to ... ready?...READ THIS FORUM FROM TOP TO BOTTOM. I learned so much from doing just that one thing. Then (and here is a big one) make sure that when you start up the game to play you have ISBoxer up and running as well. This way you can make changes to your setup while still playing the game. So much easier than logging out, then making changes and then logging all your chars back in. That was a game changer for me. I know some will say "well, DUH, you didn't know that?" Nope I didn't for the longest time. shrug.

Biggest thing is to learn the new lingo of this software, then to use examples of stuff listed in this forum and then to finally customize it to you preferences. F or instance, you mentioned in your post about getting all your char to follow. Well at the top of this forum...1st post is "I can't get follow to work". Check that out, it has a ton of great info in it. Notice that post was started by moi? Don't be afraid to ask specific questions, and it lets other users get answers that they would not have if you hadn't asked the question. A lot of great people here to help you. Simple huh? Hehe but very time consuming. Nice thing is that when you go to play your next game, you will already have this knowledge.

Couple more tips to consider (ones I found useful anyways), not in any particular order, nor actual need.

1. 2 Monitors - preferably the same resolution. I put my leader char on 1 monitor and the other 3 on the other.
2. Lots of memory - 8gb or better, and don't forget that to utilize more than 4gb you need Win 64 bit OS.
3. Pretty good Video card - self explanatory
4. Lower graphics settings on all char except your main char.

I got up to 4 chars at one time before my PC started puking and I got 4 Hunters up to lvl 65. It was a blast, 4 Hunters just tear stuff up. But, alas, my sojourn in Middle Earth has come to an end. Like the bumper sticker once said "My other car is STARWARS" hehe sorry I couldn't resist. Starwars MMO is soon (sigh) to be released and I will definitely play that. I have 4 friends lined up to play with me, so again, I will just play a single char until I learn the game and all my friends quit or the guild breaks up or whatever and then I will probably box it. Only 4 chars to a group.

The biggest thing I can say to you is that your embarking on a journey that will take you to some strange places. You have to learn alot of new things. Your whole play style will change. People will ridicule you and call you all kinds of non-complimentary things. But most importantly you have to have fun doing it or it is really NOT worth it. So have fun.

UPDATE:

So I played around with the tutorial and the config file all weekend - I managed to get my team launched and in game, I can target and follow the leader with a click of my mouse (actually two clicks) I can broadcast and do things like accept quests, ride horses to new locations, interact with NPCs and accept quest - I can loot, and interact with quest items (like get everyone to pick up pile of filth at the same time) I can even attack a mob and get my hunters to shoot arrows while my captain, guard and mini attacks with hand to hand melee - and then loot - Im pretty stoked!!!

Im pretty slow at it and there is still a lot of room for refinement - keymapping savy and shutz -but at least i am getting results from my tweaking in ISBoxer - I can even follow some of the conversations on this board and make it past a topic or two without feeling overwhelmed.

Many thanks to all who replied and pointed me in the right direction.

I do have to comment that multi boxing is drawing more attention then i want in the game - most people just stop and look at me and my team for a while and then some actually follow me around and "join" in the parade - lol dorks!

Some people ask questions while some actually get offended - i been told that MB is cheating - frowned upon - and been threatened to be reported .... wow - didnt expect the hostility

Anyway i did go and buy a Logitech G500 gaming mouse to help with the mapping - I looked at the G15 pad - but thought i would wait a bit before i pop down 80 bucks for something im still new at

anyways i think im hook and am quite enjoying the darkside - lol

take care
W

Just a follow on to your update.

I bought a re conditioned Logitech G11 keyboard from Ebay for $55. It made MBing so much easier because you have 16 keys (48 with cntl, alt and shift combos) situated right under your left hand. With a little re conditioning you can use your pinky finger to hit a lot of those keys. BTW I found that I only use just the 16 keys and that is enough. Make sure to do a little research first, write out a list of commands that you want to perform and their timing (cast time) and try to match those as close as you can. Then put them in some order that makes sense to you.

Another trick I learned from these forums is the Mount command, check it out, mount and dismount for all char at the same time. I bound it to one of my mouse buttons. Another is making all your char Jump and move forward and then re follow automatically. Man that was a real time saver. Just to add that I found ways to bind most of my most used commands to buttons on my mouse. Using cntl and alt for various buttons. All you have to do is make sure you know how your particular mouse buttons are labeled (button 1 is which one?) And then memorizing the commands and button combo's. Reduced my playtime considerably. Just keep reading these forums, it's what I did and I have a setup that I am comfortable with.

Understand that you WILL be slower. It just takes more actual time to make 4-6 chars do what you want them to do than just one char. Everything is slower. Vendors, quests, banking, auctioning, mailing or worse, trading stuff back and forth. Mailing is much easier than trading as far as I am concerned. A ton less clicking back and forth that's for sure. And the great conundrum hehe. To Craft or not to Craft. I mean after all you have all these chars, you can cover the whole gamut of crafting with them. But OMG what a pain in the ass it is to keep track of and talk about slow? Sheesh, you can literally spend 100's of hours just crafting. I did it for awhile, got 6 different char to Guild level crafting, and covered all the different crafts. And also did the auctioning thing (more hours spent making, listing, checking mail, re listing etc, etc ad nauseum). And all these char now have maxed out banks and tons of crap for crafting. BUT I made a butt load of money while I was doing it too. So it payed off and I do very little anymore. Just outfit my own chars and that's it. Way too time consuming.

Lastly, your last post described exactly how other people view MBing. Some are curious, some hate it, some think its great, some will call you a back stabbing cheatin son of a bitch, or words thereof hehe. Basically your gonna have to grow some thicker skin for those that want to name call. A lot of us just learned to ignore them. I tried something different this time, I made 4 hunters, all hobbit girls. LMAO you should hear the ladies oooh and ahhh over them. "Oh they are soooo cute", it actually worked, I get more good comments than BS. Shrug. When I first started doing this I would try to explain and or argue about it with people. It was like trying to swim upstream. It just got harder and harder to do. I finally resorted to good ole psychology and IGNORED them and went on doing what I was doing. Hehe, I mean why are you MBing anyways? To get away from assholes like these, right? The purpose of MBing is to play multiple char at the same time with the least amount of hassle and still enjoy the game... The key part of that sentence was "have fun". For heavens sake if your not having fun then by all means DON'T do it. But I can tell you that if you get into an instance with YOUR 6 char and beat it, you'll be hooked. It is such a rush.

I have 4 char (not 6) because I have 2 RL friends that I play with, they take care of the Tanking and healing and I DPS with the 4 Hunters. We have tried other combos but that one works the best. My friends started out very skeptical, and really complained at the time it would take. And then one day we decided to do a GS. And we went right through the whole thing. I was literally sweating at the end but had a HUGE grin on my face. You couldn't get me to quit now. Not only that but my 2 friends were so impressed that they wanted to start doing it too. So now we have 4 different teams of 2 char each. It sure cuts down on the time and we are getting better at it. So that makes 6 total 65th level char for me. And 6 more between 40-60. OMG 4 Runekeepers a Guard and a Minstrel are fricking awesome. We can run Grand Stairs with our eyes closed now, we have done it that many times. We use Skype to communicate and this is how I realized I was having fun. The last fight in GS is with Ignash and just before him is the big group of Orcs. When I or one of my friends is giggling, yes I said giggling at the end of that fight I KNOW we are having fun. And that it is all worth it. I know it sounds stupid, but that's how I gauge it.