Give me a reason for alts...

[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.

[Violet_Galaxy]

No, I mean it. I don't want why I shouldn't bother with alt characters, I want reasons as to why I should make alts, (I'm a altoholic on other games) no matter how superficial!

Yes I'm trying to level everything on my main... and yet I still want to make other characters...

Fellow altoholic here (and masochist)...o/...You'll never get bored in this game that's for sure. Oh and if you like to RP or play with players on different servers that's cool too. Getting though the post 2.0 slog is a pita though so good luck with that.

[Sprinks]

Fellow altoholic, too! I do it for housing (I buy new rooms in my FC house), glamour, and free storage. Why pay for the retainer when I can just make another character, race through the MSQ, and get my 2 new retainers that way!

[RitsukoSonoda]

From a general gameplay prospective there isn't really much of a reason for alts considering we can freely change jobs and there isn't anything special really from a mechanics standpoint to your race selection unless a roe is actually too big to dodge AoE spam on certain battles by standing in the tiny wire thin space between the markers like I can as a skinny cat.

Some considerations.

Weekly lockouts/tome cap. You can repeat it every week for each character if you want

Aesthetics of having characters of different race/gender to swap to without having to go through the fantasia process.

Each character has its own retainers.

Things basically working against alts.

No easy way to mail stuff to your own characters on the same world.

Characters on the same world don't share personal house/Apartments

Mounts/emotes/minions/orchestron scores/many mogstation glamours and items falling into the already mentioned categories not being account wide unlocks.

[Lissandra]

My main reason is to be able to play the other races, so I don't suffer the fantasia syndrome and change every other month or something.

[Pixiehawk]

I started my alts to see the other city's starter MSQ. Once the stories synched up I pretty much left them alone. Now, I just use them when I want to relax, away from everything. When I'm on them I dont have to worry about any goals but fun. I only dust them off every few months for a day or so. Great way to recharge.

Oh, and to run them through all the events. LOL

[OMega_ARcane]

If you own an FC you could create another seconday FC JUST for more storage and more retainer storage or just to sell more stuff

[Kacho_Nacho]

My cast for an upcoming FFXIV based web comic.

[Hazama999]

I could not give you any, to be honest. I'm in third year of medical school, time is extremely limited, and so I have to weigh my options:
On the one hand, I can play as another race and/or start in a different city with a different class, thereby giving me a bit of a fresh experience.
On the other hand, I got... literally all content ahead of me, again. This last point tips the scale far too much into the direction of "nope, won't bother" in my case. That "fresh" feeling of playing as a different race, class, and starting city just doesn't last long enough for it to be a good time investment.

Of course, that's me. If you are the kind of person who'd find it enjoyable to go through the story again, by all means, do so, though I suppose you could also wait for that New Game+ feature they talked about a while back.