What are the actual roadblocks with alts in FFXIV?

[Omedon]

I came from a decade of on and off activity in World of Warcraft, where I have about 30 characters within 10 levels of the cap, and it is the height of understatement to say that I looked at how FFXIV handles alts and said "hmm... guess they really don't want you rolling alts here." I've now been subbed for over a year, my singular FFXIV character is a "one man altoholic" and... I still have that opinion for the most part

I get it as an incentivization to buy storage on your singular character, I get it as a social conditioning to "be good on your avatar, making a new one is a pain," and from all those angles, this game still comes off as not just alt-unfriendly, but straight up intentionally alt-averse.

But man... those forthcoming trusts in the MSQ are tempting me.

I guess the question I'm asking in this thread is what are the barriers that people make a bigger deal out of than they actually are for rolling alternate characters, and what are the actual pain in the ass barriers that many people don't realize? I can think of a lot when I think of reasons not to bother with alts: Not sharing resources is a big one (I don't expect to pass gil or items around via an FC bank, I'm very much a loner, thus my excitement for trusts), starting all over again with unlocking all the features is another.

For those deep in the alt game, well, with all due respect, you're crazy, but I'd still like to pick your brain because... as a 30-character altoholic in WoW (where alts are not as... "logistically disrespected" as they are in FFXIV, but WoW could still do better), I think I might try... just one. Is there some great attractive draw that's going to dump me down a crazy rabbit hole of more and more alts? What are the actual barriers I should be wary of? What are the ones that are not as bad as I might think?

Thanks in advance for any and all helpful replies!

[Undeadfire]

Alts are only worth it if you're running Week 1 Savage Raids, otherwise utterly devoid of any reason spending more monthly for alts. Alts make gear progression twice as fast to BIS raid peeps.

[Omedon]

Alts are only worth it if you're running Week 1 Savage Raids, otherwise utterly devoid of any reason spending more monthly for alts. Alts make gear progression twice as fast to BIS raid peeps.

I guess I should be clear: I'm a 100% loner player with no real gearing or particularly raiding ambition, who likes leveling via trusts and is just going to potentially roll on another realm and remain at the "one character per realm" sub level.

Now, if your response is essentially "it's pointless unless you ARE raid-ambitious," that's helpful feedback, and thank you. But I feel I should mention that I'm not even "ambitious" on my main haha.

[Zetsumei_Tsunarashi]

The only real "barrier" is just the fact you have to pay more money per month to have more characters. If you want to make an alt, do it. There's not really a good reason to do it, but if you want to go through the MSQ, level up, and unlock everything again, go ahead and do it. What is considered a 'big deal' or 'pain in the ass' is entirely subjective and therefore its up to you to decide that for yourself.

[ValkyriaCrystalis]

Since new game + I personally don’t see the interest of an alt, but I know many people like to replay the game with a completely different character (race wise or job wise for people who are playing only one job per character for background or rp reasons).

But before new game + was a thing it was tempting to replay the whole story again, since all dialogues aren’t recorded on the inn room book thing (adventurer’s book ? Don’t know the name in English version, I play with french texts)

[Superskull85]

The only real "barrier" is just the fact you have to pay more money per month to have more characters. If you want to make an alt, do it. There's not really a good reason to do it, but if you want to go through the MSQ, level up, and unlock everything again, go ahead and do it. What is considered a 'big deal' or 'pain in the ass' is entirely subjective and therefore its up to you to decide that for yourself.

You do not need to pay more per month for alts. The cheapest option allows for 1 active character per world.

[AmpelioB]

ALTernaly, you can just do New Game +. And the real barrier is doing the MSQ a second time and all contents unlocking, one of my alts is forever trapped in heavensward and another I bought story skip to raid with friends from another data center is in a slump is shadowbringers.

[Rowde]

I do the 3 month sub plans, which gives me a small discount on price and gives me access to alts.

However, I very much twink my alts by trading them gear and currency from my main via FC chest.

Other benefits for me... additional chances at WT and Faux Hollows per week. I either trade unique rewards (that can be traded) back to my main or sell them off for gil that I funnel back to my main. Custom Deliveries and Beast Tribes are also very quick activities and can generate more resources that I funnel back to my main too.

[DPZ2]

The only real "barrier" is just the fact you have to pay more money per month to have more characters. If you want to make an alt, do it. There's not really a good reason to do it, but if you want to go through the MSQ, level up, and unlock everything again, go ahead and do it. What is considered a 'big deal' or 'pain in the ass' is entirely subjective and therefore its up to you to decide that for yourself.

Um, alternate characters are free for subscribed players. You pay no more money per month and can have a lot more of them than you are likely to want to create. If you purchase additional Retainers, that number is also available to alternate characters without additional payment (so, 6 retainers = 6 retainers for each alt you have as well).

Reasons to play alts: you want to play as a male Viera while your current main is a male Miqo'te. No need to purchase additional Fantasia to see what your Paladin would look like as a Hyur. You want to go through ARR again to see how high your level can get before you hit Heavensward. You want to create a character for Role-Playing on an RP realm, but still do battles on your main.

Downsides to play alts: you have to go through the MSQ, again. Not so much of a difficulty if you enjoy running through the lower level dungeons at the correct iLevel/job level.

[Cinno]

Um, alternate characters are free for subscribed players. You pay no more money per month and can have a lot more of them than you are likely to want to create.

It costs extra to have alt characters on the same world though. You can make as many alts as there are worlds at the Entry level account (one character per world), but if you want to create an alt on the same world as your main character, its a different subscription option that costs more per month.