Wow, just wow. And a question..

[PhyrraM]

I found these forums about 1 month ago following links from the Xzin stories. I have to admit this stuff is fascinating. I've been reading almost everything posted here since then. Now, I've got to give it a go myself.

My weapon of choice is Warcraft, of course.

I think I'm pretty set up, only having to purchase a Keyclone license or two. I'll list my hardware and ideas. Please comment and poke holes where they are needed.

Rig #1

AMD A64 4400+ socket 939 dual core.
Nforce 4 SLI mobo
2x 6800GT SLIed
2 gigs
22" widescreen 1680x1050
Logitec g15 keyboard

Rig #2

AMD A64 3400+ socket 754 (single core)
Nforce 3 AGP mobo
7800GT AGP
1 gig
15" 1024x768
Zboard w/normal and either WoW keyset.

Other:
3 exsisting WoW accounts
Gigabit internal LAN, all hardwired
Verizon Fios 15/2Mbit ISP
Varios other computers that can run apps, but those are the only 2 that are on my desk.

I plan on starting with a 1 main + 2 alts setup. Haven't decide on classes yet. I figure I can setup the main on the single core rig. Move the G15 and widescreen to the single core rig. I can setup the dual core rig to run the 2 alts on the smaller screen.

It seems like I can set up the 18 extra keys on the G15 to all be 'shift/alt/control' keys and using Keyclone send them as any key I choose to the second computer. Yes? Set my keybindings and macros on the alt toons and give it a whirl. In the 2 years I've been playing WoW, I've never even used the Gkeys on the G15. Good time to start.

Another thought is that I can get a second 15" monitor, de-SLI the vid cards and run each alt toon on it's own monitor/vid card/CPU core. Possible?

Thoughts? Thanks!

[Bradster]

I found these forums about 1 month ago following links from the Xzin stories. I have to admit this stuff is fascinating. I've been reading almost everything posted here since then. Now, I've got to give it a go myself.

My weapon of choice is Warcraft, of course.

I think I'm pretty set up, only having to purchase a Keyclone license or two. I'll list my hardware and ideas. Please comment and poke holes where they are needed.

Rig #1

AMD A64 4400+ socket 939 dual core.
Nforce 4 SLI mobo
2x 6800GT SLIed
2 gigs
22" widescreen 1680x1050
Logitec g15 keyboard

Rig #2

AMD A64 3400+ socket 754 (single core)
Nforce 3 AGP mobo
7800GT AGP
1 gig
15" 1024x768
Zboard w/normal and either WoW keyset.

Other:
3 exsisting WoW accounts
Gigabit internal LAN, all hardwired
Verizon Fios 15/2Mbit ISP
Varios other computers that can run apps, but those are the only 2 that are on my desk.

I plan on starting with a 1 main + 2 alts setup. Haven't decide on classes yet. I figure I can setup the main on the single core rig. Move the G15 and widescreen to the single core rig. I can setup the dual core rig to run the 2 alts on the smaller screen.

It seems like I can set up the 18 extra keys on the G15 to all be 'shift/alt/control' keys and using Keyclone send them as any key I choose to the second computer. Yes? Set my keybindings and macros on the alt toons and give it a whirl. In the 2 years I've been playing WoW, I've never even used the Gkeys on the G15. Good time to start.

Another thought is that I can get a second 15" monitor, de-SLI the vid cards and run each alt toon on it's own monitor/vid card/CPU core. Possible?

Thoughts? Thanks!

Greetings PhyrraM,

Nice to see a new face on the forum. Welcome!

The hardware you listed looks good to me, as does your connection.

I am not sure if Keyclone works with ALT/CTRL. Even so if it doesn't you could use normal keys to operate the other guys while using ALT/CRT for your Main machine. If that makes since.

Far as running 2 clients on 1 computer, having a client on each monitor as a duel monitor setup from one system. I think I've read about someone that does it here. I've never tried that so I can't give you much advice about it. Don't see why it wouldn't work :)

[PhyrraM]

Well, here's the rub. I'm a clicker. That's gonna be my learning curve. Trying to use modifier keys on my main will be challanging, but doable.

I'll do some more reading and prolly grab one license just to test out CNTL/ALT funtionality.

The plan was if I can get the Gkeys to work OK in my tests, I was gonna spring for an X-keys (pro?) and try to map as much as possible to descrete keys w/nice labels.

I do raid regularly on my main and have everything (add-ons, macros, etc.) just right. I assume that if I play my 'box team' from completely seperate install directories then none of my current settings are in jeapardy. Fair assumption?

I'll be attempting to set it all up tonight, wish me luck!

And thanks for the warm Welcome!

[keyclone]

if you need some help, or would like a "keyclone 101"... just drop me a call after 7pm EST and i'll do what i can to get you setup.

[Ticks]

If you can only multibox three toons, my advice would be to go with 2 locks and a priest. With only three toons, you'll lack the fire power to plow through mobs for leveling but with warlocks, you'll have some crowd control and a tank or two. I suppose you can go with three locks but you may regret it if you plan to pvp with your trio.

[PhyrraM]

How much steeper is the learning curve between 3 or 5 toons?

I have another dual core rig (single vid card) that can be relocated to my desk area. If the 3 goes well, I am open to the idea of 2 more accounts.

How well do hunters do? I would think there might be dead zone problems. Has anybody ever tried 4 or 5 shadow priests?I've never leveled any of the ranged classes. I've got a 61 priest and was very good with him till BC hit, but I'm sure a 'boxing' priest and a single priest have very different playstyles.

[Xzin]

Aside from the obvious computer and subscription fees, the jump to 5 from 3 is marginal. You have more guys to gather up and more micromanagement when it comes to the details - banking, gearing etc but since you are doing it all at the same time and with the same /follow model (individual control of 3 is not really viable) then it would be almost the same as 3. The step from 2 to 3 is huge. The step from 3 to 5 is trivial in comparison - as long as you level them at the same time.

[Zaelar]

I went from three, using windowed mode, no extra programs(keyclone, autohotkey, ect.) to five, using AHK on one computer for four slaves, and main on a different computer, without much of a problem once I got it set up. I did go from three classes to two classes, which made things much easier to manage though. Gathering quests, inventory management, and other such not-in-combat things did get much more tedious though.

I did 2x hunters for a little while, got a LOT easier after getting pets. I don't really see deadzone being too big of a deal with 3x hunters before pets considering everything should be dead before it gets near you :D

[PhyrraM]

Well, I tried it last night. Didn't get that far because of family issues that took me pretty much right up to raid time for my main.

I did copy the WoW folders into unique installs for each alt. And created my main and 2 alts for now. I took your advice and went with a preist + 2 warlocks. I went with undead because WOTF is just too powerful.

I was able to get 2 instances of WoW running on the single core machine (7800GS agp) pretty smoothly. Set them both to 800x600. I ran windowed mode and re-sized the windows to see *most* of each. The active window would run at 50-60 FPS, but the inactive window would drop to 15-20 FPS. I don't see this as a problem. I got a Keyclone liscense, but didn't try to set it up yet, as this machine is prolly going to be my main. And it was raid time.

After the raid (first time seeing Void Reaver, lots 'O wiping), I tried to get 2 WoWs running on the dual-core rig. This one has SLIed 6800GTs. Graphical problems when I opened the second WoW. I tried to disable SLI in the Nvidia drivers, but my computer bluescreens whenever I open the Nvidia control panel. SO today I will resolve that and try again. With luck, by tonight all the 'game' related stuff will be taken care of and I can get to setting up keyclone, keybindings and macros.

Thanks for all the advice so far...keep it coming.