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Musings of a Multiboxing Noob

Before Getting Started with Multiboxing (AKA Multiboxing for Dummies)

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If you are brand new to multiboxing, there is much to learn before even logging in your first team. This is a guide for those who are starting from scratch. Rather than retyping what others have already written, I will point you in the direction of information that I found to be useful when learning the very basics of multiboxing.


What is Multiboxing?
Maybe you've seen a group of characters running around in sync and wondered how they do that, or maybe you've heard/seen the term but have no clue what it means. Without getting into the technical details, multiboxing is simply having the ability to play and control multiple characters in a game (your "team") at the same time. Each character has it's own box, or window, on your screen so that you can see all of them at once. The press of a button or click of the mouse can be sent to each character on your team, resulting in each of them doing an action at the same time. One very important distinction to be made is that there is no botting. A human must be at the controls in order for anything to happen.

Multiboxing can be done across multiple monitors and/or multiple computers, but it doesn't need to be. Depending on the game and how many characters are on your team, you can multibox with just one computer and one monitor. It can be as simple or as complex as you want to make it.


Is it allowed?
This is a question I see come up time and time again, with ignorant people insisting that it's going to get you banned. The simple answer is yes, it's allowed because it's not automated and it's not botting. If you check out this link, you can read Lax's very thorough explanation as to why multiboxing is not against the Terms of Service of games and why game publishers like Blizzard have acknowledged that multiboxing is allowed.

New multiboxers should be aware that people may report you to a Game Master (GM), but don't let that alarm you as long as you are being a Good Citizen (see previous link). GM's are aware that mutliboxing is allowed, but if you happen to get an uninformed GM that wants to ban you, it's just a matter of educating them (unless you are actually cheating or not being a Good Citizen).


Why Multibox?
Okay, so you understand the concept of multiboxing, but why do people do it? There are many different reasons. Some do it just for fun, some like the challenge of controlling multiple characters, some like not having to rely on other people to group with, some farm specific items or gold in the game, and so on. Some do it to Get More Crappy Loot.


What Do All These Crazy Terms Mean?
When entering the world of multiboxing, there's a lot of new vocabulary terms to learn and understand. Here's just a few of the common ones you'll see in the guides/forums. Some of these refer to ISBoxer but may apply to other software programs or multiboxing in general as well.

RAF - Recuit A Friend. This is a term for the World of Warcraft referral system (https://us.battle.net/support/en/art...t-a-friend-faq). It's a handy way to link up to 5 WoW accounts for multiboxing, as MiRai demonstrates in his RAF tutorial video.

Mouse/Key Broadcasting - In general, this is the passing of mouse movements and buttons that you press to your other game windows for other characters on your team, exactly as and when you move or press them yourself. Mouse broadcasting allows you to see the actual mouse cursor in every character window, while key broadcasting lets you send one or all hotkey actions to any target window(s). To read more about mouse broadcasting and toggling it on and off in ISBoxer, look here.

Repeater - This function is responsible for key broadcasting and mouse broadcasting -- in other words, whatever you type or click is precisely repeated in the other windows. More details.

Mapped Key - Defines a set of Actions to perform when you press a Hotkey (keyboard or mouse button), such as sending a keystroke to another window. More details found here. MiRai has an awesome video explaining how to create mapped keys for ISBoxer.

Key Map - A collection of Mapped Keys that are neatly organized into sections. More details.

Click Bar - A collection of buttons, each of which may be clicked in different ways to activate a given Mapped Key. There's no need for hundreds of hotkeys; setting up in-game Click Bars keeps all of the action just a click away. Learn more.

Key Bindings - In-game key bindings are hotkeys that you would normally press in a game to do something specific, such as auto-follow or target. This is a generic term since some games use different words to refer to key bindings. These are typically set up in the game itself and not in your multiboxing software.


What Games Can I Multibox? Any Suggestions?

It depends on what software program you want to use to multibox since some programs will only support certain games. At this time, ISBoxer supports multiboxing more games than any other software as it is designed to support all DirectX 8, 9 and 11 games. Here's a long list of games supported by ISBoxer.

For those who don't currently play any games and are wondering which game to start with, I recommend doing some research on some of the most popular games to see what strikes your interest. Some games are easier than others to multibox because of in-game features like auto-follow and target/assist functions. Popular games like World of Warcraft, Diablo 3, Lord of the Rings Online, EVE, Star Wars: The Old Republic, and Everquest 2 have the most community support, so you will be more likely to find help or answers to your questions than if you were to pick a lesser known game.

If you are looking for something quick and easy to start with to test the waters of multiboxing, the game that is the fastest to set up is Realm of the Mad God. It is a simple and free to play, point-and-shoot flash game that only takes a few minutes to learn how to play and get set up for multiboxing. Once you've done the in-game tutorial to learn the gameplay basics, check out the 3-minute video Quick Start Guide for ROTMG in ISBoxer.

Want to step it up a notch from flash games but still want free to play? Try Star Wars: The Old Republic. It has an established player base and plenty of guides and videos to help you out. Here's Part 1 of a video guide for setting up SWTOR with ISBoxer.

If you're looking for the best multiboxing experience and can pay to play, the most recommended game by Dual-Boxing.com multiboxers is World of Warcraft. It is very user friendly, and the macro system and oodles of add-on options make it easy to multibox. There is also a ton of support in the way of guides, videos, forums, community members, etc. You can always start with a free trial account for WoW to see how you like it. If you're going to stick with it and multibox, take advantage of Recruit a Friend rather than upgrade the trial accounts. An experienced WoW multiboxer, Ualaa, recommends starting with 4 or 5 of the same class, with Shamans being the easiest to do. MiRai has done numerous video guides for mulitboxing ISboxer that you should check out at some point, but here is the basic WOW Quick Start Guide.


So How Do I Get Started Multiboxing?

Khatovar has an extremely detailed guide for getting started with multiboxing. She covers topics including hardware and software options, configurations, guides to various games, macros, and much more.


ISBoxer Sounds Awesome - How Do I Use It?

First, follow the steps on the website to get the ISBoxer software.

Read through the User Manual and watch the short video on the User Interface.

Go through the Quick Start Guide - note the links to Quick Start Guides for specific games in the upper right-hand corner. Watch the video on using the Quick Setup Wizard.

Search through the ISBoxer Wiki pages for how do do specific things, such as Common Modifications.

If you have questions, I highly suggest reading through the ISBoxer FAQ and other Wiki pages, as well as looking through the ISBoxer.com forums. If you can't find answers in those places, log into the ISBoxer Chat Room and ask for assistance there, but be patient.

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