Most, if not all, World of Warcraft players have at least one “alt”. If you just recently started playing WoW for the first time, then maybe you haven’t rolled an alt – yet. It’s only a matter of time until you decide to make an alt (or two, or six…).
According to WoWWiki an alt is: “an abbreviation for alternative character, or alter-ego.” An alt is “a character to which a person devotes less time and effort than the person’s main character”. In other words, an alt is not your main character that you spend most of your time working on, leveling, and finding awesome gear for. It’s some other toon that you decided to create one day, for whatever reason, and that you sometimes play.
What do you do with your alts? The answer to that question could be slightly different, depending on who you ask. Here is a quick explanation of what many people do with their alts.
Bank Alt
You really needed more space in your bank, but couldn’t bear to part with any of the treasures you stored there. This is how bank alts are born! You roll a character for the specific purpose of obtaining more bank space. You never intend to play this character, because if you did, you might end up wanting to store the stuff he or she got into their bank. That bank is for your main to store extra stuff in!
This character mostly hangs out in the bank of the nearest city from the zone that they started in. See that level one toon that ran out of the bank, stopped at the mailbox, and returned to the bank? That’s a bank alt. Another way to spot a bank alt is to see if their name contains the word “bank” or the word “slots”. The screenshot above that shows “Professor TyraBanksy” is, more than likely, a bank alt.
Stealth Mode
Sometimes, you want to play WoW, but don’t feel like being social. One way to do this is to roll an alt that no one knows you created. Don’t add this alt to your guild. The people you have connected to through Real ID or battle tag can still tell that you are online, but other players won’t be able to figure out who you are.
Buffet Style
What class should you choose? What race? Do you want to be Alliance or Horde? Which professions should you pick? Can’t decide? No problem – just roll some alts. Have a little bit of everything that looks good to you. Try out something new, and see if you like it. Keep the alts that were satisfying, and delete the ones that didn’t taste good. You may discover that playing a Gnome is really fun, or that playing an Undead is creepy (which could be good or bad, depending on how you see it).
All in a Row
Today, you started playing WoW by selecting your main. After a certain amount of time, (or when a specific goal was accomplished), you switched over to an alt. You played that alt for a while, and then switched to the next alt. If you didn’t have enough time to complete the entire rotation then you start with the next toon on the list the next time you start playing WoW. You still spend most of your time on your main, and none of your alts are completely neglected.
