Going to give WoW a try again - stay hardware or go software?

[Nisch]

Yeah, that's my Logo10.

I work for the man who owns Hacker Brushless USA, and the former US distributor for Mikado helicopters. I got the helicopter for exchange for some website work.

It didn't cost me as much as it COULD.....but it's still very expensive.....especially after a crash. :cursing:

[Vyndree]

4-port Vetra USB broadcaster

Please seriously reconsider and go with PS2 if you're going full hardware. USB communication is 2-way, and you're going to spend more headache with a USB hardware multiplexer than a PS2.

Also check out the new multiboxer-designed Vetra devices. Might be able to save a few bucks.


I find that Amazon is prompt and pretty cheap for the battlechest. Just make sure to get good use out of the new Recruit-A-Friend bonuses.

[Rms]

Some advantages I see using software: (I haven't used hardware so if i mistepping let me know)

you can limit the buttons that you want to be transmitted to the ones that you want
keyclone has a round robin feature - each press of a key presses that key in a different window sequentially rather than all at once
of course its less hardware but you already have that

[Nisch]

4-port Vetra USB broadcaster

Please seriously reconsider and go with PS2 if you're going full hardware. USB communication is 2-way, and you're going to spend more headache with a USB hardware multiplexer than a PS2.

Also check out the new multiboxer-designed Vetra devices. Might be able to save a few bucks.


I find that Amazon is prompt and pretty cheap for the battlechest. Just make sure to get good use out of the new Recruit-A-Friend bonuses.

The USB broadcaster was my first purchase. I only use it for mouse broadcasting to the 4 17" monitors. It was really unreliable for keyboard broadcasting, which is why I have the 8 port PS2.

And what products are you talking about?? I haven't checked out their website in probably close to a year. EDIT: NM, just found them........pretty nifty.......too bad I spent all the money on my broadcaster unit already. :thumbdown:

[Nisch]

Some advantages I see using software: (I haven't used hardware so if i mistepping let me know)

you can limit the buttons that you want to be transmitted to the ones that you want
keyclone has a round robin feature - each press of a key presses that key in a different window sequentially rather than all at once
of course its less hardware but you already have that

Yeah and I see the advantage of being able to swap out the main toon for an alt when it dies. Right now I have to move the mouse to the appropriate screen and then take over control of that character. Hitting a button would be quicker......

Thanks for the feedback.

[Lyonheart]

Me and one of my guildies software box. I am a business owner and could easily afford to hardware box If i wanted. But the free space i have makes me hesitant to go hardware. I run 5 on one PC and sometimes up to 5 more on another, linked via keyclone. I might do hardware someday though.

BTW, what side ( horde/alliance ) and server type(pve/pvp) are you going for? I have a guild on Hyjal Alliance. We all are using RaF atm to level up alt teams. You are welcome to stop by and chat with me ( Whitelyon ) Or PM me for vent info If you like.

[Nisch]

I'm not really worried about the costs either. I already have the hardware, so the added costs of the electricity is nothing really. It just seems like most people software box, and I wasn't sure if that was a preference thing, a cost thing, or convenience. With DAOC, it was the only option.

As for server/side, we're not sure yet. I'm gonna go pick up a hard copy and get it installed. I got the wife's RAF setup and she's linked to my main. But the limitation of the trial kinda sucks, so I think I'm gonna just go ahead and upgrade her.

[Gomotron]

PhnxGold

If you're looking for some MB buddies, or more accurately buddy, you can join me on alliance side on Bronzebeard. It's PvE. I went Alliance due to some friends I work with that liked the "cute" characters on Alliance. :S

Anyways, I can help out with gold 'n' such at early levels. It's amazing what a few 16 slot bags on each character can do with respect to ease of gaming.

Let me know if you do roll on Bronzebeard.

[Vyndree]

Well most of the hardware boxers have been here for a WHILE -- literally before software was ever close to being confirmed "okie dokie" by the GMs.

My personal decision for hardware boxing was this:

• Safety -- hardware multiboxing was at the time confirmed OK, but software was a "gray area" still. It's confirmed now, so it's a moot point, but it was part of my decision process so I'm keeping it in the list.
• Resilience -- Hardware solutions will work for ANY game, as long as the hardware supports it. So since I used fairely average gcards and core2duo's, I should be able to multibox almost any game on the market and most future games for several years to come.
• Speed and Reliability -- If one of my machines breaks down or reboots mid-fight, I can still control the other 4. Unlike software, where if your "main" machine goes down (or the only machine, in the case of single-box software solutions) your alts are sitting there unmoveable. Hardware also doesn't suffer as much from network latency or software latency -- with PS2 multiplexers, it's pretty zippy.
• Upgrades -- If my hardware ever goes out of date, each individual machine is relatively cheap (~$500-600). Replacing one average component or machine in an outdated/broken system is cheaper than replacing a high end, state-of-the-art quad-core or its components.
• Latency -- Even on my main PC (quad core, 4g ram) I experience "laggier" performance when I open two WoW windows. If I try to run 3-4 at the same time, I'll likely suffer from poorer frame rates, slower alt-tabbing, and overall performance. Of course, this depends on how "high end" your single-box rig is, but keep in mind better computers are often exponentially higher cost.
• Viewing area -- If I were to use 1 PC, I'd have to split 5 WoW windows on one (or two) monitor(s). At the moment, the largest monitor we have on hand is 30" widescreen with a heavy little pricetag. I already had two 19" widescreens, and adding them all together in a 2x3 array means I have much larger viewspace. I also have room on the 6th screen for a browser window (to troll dual-boxing.com forums, of course). Adding some cheap 19" widescreens from newegg cost around $150 each, making the additional 4 monitors ~$600 ($900 if I replaced my two existing monitors). I was able to reuse my existing monitors and get a much larger viewspace than an near equivalently expensive 30".
• Reuse for other projects -- Ever try rendering or processing something on a cluster?

[Xar]

If I had the funds right now I would go hardware in a heartbeat. The frustration of losing a clone while 5-boxing on my quad-core is growing especially now that all 5 have epic flying. This happens everytime I go through shat. I'm running all on one hard drive so that may be a factor. I've also experienced nasty video lag as a result of using PIP on keyclone so I only use it now when it will be convenient to log all wow's off then on again. I don't think it's an actual keyclone problem but a vista/wow and swapping sizes between two different video destinations (main screen/clone screen) because of lack of span mode in Vista.