Give me a reason for alts...

[Shougun]

I know in WoW you have account wide glamour log (nearly all the items in the game), account wide achievements, and heirlooms which are a bit like the Aetheryte earring in concept (except for other slots too, which is good and bad).

In SWTOR you have legacy which lets you create your own family tree and rewards you based on progress this family makes, including new races to play (although I've heard the system really ended up being a sort of RP only feature as it wasn't touched much beyond creation).

There is a neat skyrim mod that allows you to view your other save characters in a shrine, and even call upon them to inhabit the world (companion, enemy, etc). https://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/54509/

Account wide apartment, housing, airship, etc support.

A problem though is FFXIV has the job system so giving an incentive for alts (imo) goes against that "you only need one character to enjoy this game to the fullest" experience, which I actually quite like about FFXIV - so hopefully if they gave a reason it was one that doesn't move the "one character can rule them all" feeling. Like QoL account wide glamour log or easier leveling up via heirloom items (account bound) could work here, or if any of the alt features had counterparts like that skyrim mod would use delivery NPC/retainer/Trust instead if you don't set it up with an alt.

[MsQi]

I know in WoW you have account wide glamour log (nearly all the items in the game), account wide achievements, and heirlooms which are a bit like the Aetheryte earring in concept (except for other slots too, which is good and bad).

In SWTOR you have legacy which lets you create your own family tree and rewards you based on progress this family makes, including new races to play (although I've heard the system really ended up being a sort of RP only feature as it wasn't touched much beyond creation).

Wow also has account wide pets (minions) and mounts. They started adding account wide stuff in the 3rd expansion after years of saying they wouldn't.

The legacy in SWOTR is on each server. All characters on any one server are technically in the same "family" which could be annoying, but it really doesn't effect gameplay much. Strongholds (their housing system) are legacy wide and last I checked you could have 4 houses on your legacy. SWTOR also has a collection system that is somewhat cumbersome, but allows you to buy many items (mounts, pets, clothing) for other characters once one has obtained it.

Rift has an interesting account wide "glamour" system. Any character obtains any item just in their inventory and it's style is added to the account collection. You can buy things on the auction house just to learn the style and then put the item right back up for sale. (however free players have limitations on the auction house)

Of course these are all games where you have only one class per character.

[Shougun]

Wow also has account wide pets (minions) and mounts. They started adding account wide stuff in the 3rd expansion after years of saying they wouldn't.

The legacy in SWOTR is on each server. All characters on any one server are technically in the same "family" which could be annoying, but it really doesn't effect gameplay much. Strongholds (their housing system) are legacy wide and last I checked you could have 4 houses on your legacy. SWTOR also has a collection system that is somewhat cumbersome, but allows you to buy many items (mounts, pets, clothing) for other characters once one has obtained it.

Rift has an interesting account wide "glamour" system. Any character obtains any item just in their inventory and it's style is added to the account collection. You can buy things on the auction house just to learn the style and then put the item right back up for sale. (however free players have limitations on the auction house)

Of course these are all games where you have only one class per character.

Thanks for expanding on the legacy system, I've never played the game but was just vaguely aware of it from a friend. It sounds kind of cute to me (better than I thought even), and I really don't mind seeing alts getting neat little tie ins like that but if there are a bunch of rewards in these systems then I would hope that non-alt players could partake in a way. For example if we could create delivery NPCs or something in place of an alt character, "alt light" character, so I don't need to do the MSQ again if I don't want to (but someone who wants to really customize their character story could do so). If it's mostly RP / aesthetic or QoL between characters (like easier mailing) then that's fine though (I just mean content rewards unique to a system that works with alts, hopefully has some other method to interact with it too - like NPC/Trust).

Also way to make me sad about the housing system lol. Another game that lets you be where you want without worry about memory limitations, and is cross alt :3. ("sorry Shirogane Large, full no can do - can have a small goblet though or leave your server ;/").

The rift system sounds a bit like WoW's is that an accurate assessment? In WoW you get cross character glamour log that can hold nearly every item in the game, big difference between Rift and WoW might be though that WoW requires you to bind the item to you.. so.. can't resell it lol. I hope FFXIV can get to that tier of glamour log, that'll be really neat.

[MsQi]

Thanks for expanding on the legacy system, I've never played the game but was just vaguely aware of it from a friend. It sounds kind of cute to me (better than I thought even), and I really don't mind seeing alts getting neat little tie ins like that but if there are a bunch of rewards in these systems then I would hope that non-alt players could partake in a way. For example if we could create delivery NPCs or something in place of an alt character, "alt light" character, so I don't need to do the MSQ again if I don't want to (but someone who wants to really customize their character story could do so). If it's mostly RP / aesthetic or QoL between characters (like easier mailing) then that's fine though (I just mean content rewards unique to a system that works with alts, hopefully has some other method to interact with it too - like NPC/Trust).

Also way to make me sad about the housing system lol. Another game that lets you be where you want without worry about memory limitations, and is cross alt :3. ("sorry Shirogane Large, full no can do - can have a small goblet though or leave your server ;/").

The rift system sounds a bit like WoW's is that an accurate assessment? In WoW you get cross character glamour log that can hold nearly every item in the game, big difference between Rift and WoW might be though that WoW requires you to bind the item to you.. so.. can't resell it lol. I hope FFXIV can get to that tier of glamour log, that'll be really neat.

Legacy was cool if wanted several characters with the same last name. If you didn't want one alt to be related you could hide the legacy name, but you couldn't have a different last name. With Strongholds they added a legacy cargo hold (bank) which made sharing items easier. I believe you could even craft using mats in you personal or legacy hold without transferring it to your personal inventory. It seems odd so many other mmos can just add inventory so easily. Some make you pay for it, but it's usually one time, not subscription based. On wow I had a few "bank alts". I guess some people did it to remain anonymous on the auction house which isn't an issue with retainers. Also there was the convenience of extra inventory and only doing auctions on one character.

Wow and Rift are similar, but WOW is more limited. like you said it had to become bound, and last time I checked in WoW armor styles would only be learned if it was the character's primary armor type (warriors could not collect cloth styles). IIRC Rift has no limits on armor types and very few weapon limitations. Even though your mage is actually wearing cloth and has a staff, it could look like full plate and 2H sword. You can also change it whenever and wherever you want. It was nice on Rift not worrying if the wrong character got a cool piece of amor, but mounts and pets were per character. Most of those could be mailed though.