Multiboxing and PvP fairness.

[Kaynin]

The thing that causes the "It is not fair!" discussion amongst everyone that find it unfair, is based on one thing.

A multiboxer can do things in arena where 5 people need to have a form of communication for first, so, a multiboxer in that aspect is faster then any other 5v5. This got me thinking.

What stops any non multiboxing 5v5 to implement a generic multibox set up to function in their 5v5 to avoid the limitation communication can give?

Example:
/cast [target=focustarget, nodead, harm, exists] Spell ; Spell
And when they do 5v5, almost all 5v5 has at least one person that is basicly -always- on the target to kill first. Have the others focus that character.

Not talking about any of the obvious disadvantages a multiboxer has as arguement. I believe, there is nothing, absolutely nothing, a multiboxer can do, that anyone else can't do at least just as easy, if not even easier.

The fact most 5v5 don't use macro's like that is their loss, right?

So technically, Ellay's set up for example, if that were played by four players, but using the same macro set up, would be potentially much mroe deadly. Since positioning, turning and movement would be much, much faster.

What's people thoughts on this?
(The intention of this post is not to justify multiboxing in PvP, for me that is -already- justified. But what is the best way to douse the arguements against it.)

[Ðeceased]

I've always thought so myself.. the argument of focus fire fairness is nigh obsolete as with TS or vent and some clever macro setup you can accomplish the same if not better results.. additionally if no voice conferencing is used then you could simply have the leade put /p casting "So'n'so" infornt of certain macros for focus firing.. with an attentive team you can easly replicate mboxing to a great extent

[Tdog]

Here's my take on it. Multiboxing is still relatively new to the arena scene and people are largely not use to dealing with multiboxers. There are plenty of disadvantages with multiboxing that a grand majority of soloers haven't discovered yet. Once they do begin to start discovering them I think the masses will start to chillout about it.

[Tonuss]

I think that whenever someone offers up the argument that "five separate players can't coordinate the way a single player can," your response should have two parts, with one optional additon:

ONE: Admit that they are correct.

TWO: Point out that having one advantage doesn't make up for multiple disadvantages.

Let's face it, it is extremely difficult for a group of people to coordinate attacks the way a boxer using key broadcasting can. The multiboxer can line up his targets and fire off his attacks with near-perfect timing, over and over. Even a very well coordinated group playing together in the same room would not have that kind of precision timing to their attacks. I think that trying to argue that five well-coordinated people can do the same thing plays into the argument being made by the anti-MB crowd. Don't fall for that!

Just point out that the one main advantage of multiboxing in that situation is offset by the glaring disadvantage... the severe limitations placed on movement, particularly individual movement in separate directions. As near-impossible as it is for a group of five people to coordinate attacks as well as a multiboxer can, it's even harder for a multiboxer to move his characters independently and to react to various threats at once. Period. Players who complain most about multiboxers are usually the kind of players who rush a group head on without any strategy, then are puzzled when they get burned down fast. So they try to imagine that five separate players would still be at a disadvantage, without considering the serious problems a MBer has with independent movement and multiple targets.

As for the optional point to make: Many multiboxers can coordinate their attacks very well because they use a single class for most/all of their characters. So yeah, five characters of the same class can coordinate their attacks much better than five characters of five separate classes, who have different cast times and cooldowns and energy/rage/mana issues to deal with. Also, while same-character groups can generate large amounts of burst damage and have fewer variables to consider, they also share whatever weaknesses their single class has.

The argument that "it's not fair, you have a level of coordination that we can't match!" falls apart when you broaden the discussion to include more than just one out-of-context factor. Don't make the mistake of trying to deny one of the advantages! Just point out that it's part of a larger package of good and bad things that a multiboxer has to deal with. The argument looks a lot worse when people start to wonder why the other group didn't split off in different directions or take advantage of the primary weaknesses of the MBers class.

[kllrwlf]

I usually just point them to my fantastic record of 38 Loss - 2 Wins.

I got the 2 wins because the other team didn't have all 5 team mates enter the arena.

Unless at least 30% of the top 20 teams in world is multiboxing, it doesn't matter. The fact that only 1 team has made it isn't enough data to prove anything.

Or if there is a record that multiboxing guarantees a win in arenas.

[Gallo]

It's not that people don't realize that they themselves can use target=focustarget, its that they see 5 Chain Lightnings at the EXACT same time... rather than "remotely" the same time if they could use a focus macro themselves. So yes, that is our advantage. All the disadvantages more than make up for it. Places like AV where a 5 boxer can camp out on a ledge or behind a hill, is where we shine. Arenas, where you need to be constantly repositioning and reacting, is just plain tough for us.

[Boylston]

Tonuss has great Arena multiboxer fairness logic!!

In BGs, I have a huge advantage because I can move 4 little dots on the map at once, strategically, without having to convince/cajole my teammates to follow me. I can decide, "Hey Me, let's go cap Lumber Mill", and then do that because I'm going to move there and I have enough characters to be able to beat the 3 defenders. I get a lot of the advantages of a premade (coordination) without having to have one.

Shamans are interesting because they mitigate a couple, but not all, of the multiboxer weaknesses. Even so, a skilled player or group of players can take a multi-shaman team out if they use their brains or (gasp) work together to exploit the weakness.