Which software solution is right for my goal (listed with specifics)

[Ualaa]

If you want to have two toons level together, via questing.

For RAF, they need to be:
- Grouped
- On directly RAF linked accounts (Example A > B > C, etc... A+B or B+C).
- Within +/- 4 levels of each other
- Both level 79 or lower
- Within a certain physical proximity of each other

If you were to run say 2x Elemental Shaman.
Having them both cast, will result in mobs dying twice as quickly.
And rather than using 80% of the mana on one Shaman, you use 40% of the mana on each...
Meaning, more kills before needing to stop, and the ability to survive larger pulls than a single character can survive.
And faster killing, resulting in reaching higher levels in less time played.




If your goal is the maximum number of characters, from RAF...

You're going to want to boost, which means having a minimum of three accounts.
The first account (A) has a booster on it.
Generally you link A to the others, purely for receiving benefits.

You need two (or more accounts) to group together and be similar level, so they get RAF benefits.
With three accounts, you'd go A > B > C.
With five accounts, you'd go: A > B > C & A > D > E.

The basic idea is that B/C (and possibly D/E) qualify for RAF, because they're together/similar level/their accounts are linked/etc...
Even if A/B (or A/D) won't work, because A is level 85...
The B/C (or D/E) does work...

So you group your accounts together.
And your 85 can kill stuff very quickly.
Quest from 1st to 10th, the goal here is quest rewards...
Since having an 85th (in your party) greatly reduces the experience from killing mobs.

Once you reach 10th, you can do instances.
An 85 can easily survive every single mob (at the same time), in almost any dungeon you're going to be boosting in, especially pre-WotLK.
While an 85 will leach a large amount of the experience...
Your two level 30 toons (just an example), could go to Cathedral (Scarlet Monastery), and survive 1-2 mobs at once... but would be decimated by 3+ level 35 elite mobs.
You might get 1000 experience (picking a number out of my ass here) with the two toons.
If you put an 85 in the party, you might only get 200 experience (again picking a number).
But your 85 can pull 75 mobs in the first pull, and 75 in the second pull... and clear the entire instance is 3-4 minutes instead of the 45 minutes it would take your two toons.

If you do the math... 150 mobs (at 200 each) in under 5 minutes... vs 150 mobs (at 1,000 each), in 45 minutes...
And that's assuming you don't pull 3 at once and die, run back, etc...
Boosting is MUCH quicker, by an order of magnitude or two.

[mathrod]

My goal, and what I want is :

"My goal is to level by questing, having 1 toon following a leader. The leader will do 99% of the work. All I want for now, is the follower to : 1. Follow, 2. loot as directed, 3. interact with quest giver as directed.
(once I am comfortable with how this works, I may practice being more active with a follower)" <<--software solution for this would make me happy and do what I want

I am aware of RAF restrictions and usage policies.
I do not want 3 accounts.
I am not interested in boosting.

I am also aware I can manually switch back and forth between windows, running two monitors, or one.

I have the maximum number of characters on one account. 6 of them are 85. I am asking to find out how I might use a software solution to speed/assist/make simpler, RAF quest leveling 2 toons together.
The toons not 85 are lock, paladin, shaman, druid. I can solo level every one of them, questing, killing every thing that needs killing and not run out of health/mana, ever.
I see your logic that having both perform combat functions would speed things up. Thats a bit more than I am looking for at this point, I may be getting into the area where I realize this hobby is not for me ? (I saw that in the FAQ's/nub guides you folks have)

I have been doing reading and searching all day, and have gotten zero leveling done

Let me try and sum it up again.

The "least" I ever want to do is what I requoted above. Getting both toons to kill, is not a need right now.
The "most" would be eventually being able to run a 2 toon group for fun, dailies, something of that sort. and that would be MUCH later. I play on a populated server, have toons in 2 guilds... finding someone to do something with is not a problem.
This is a desire to level 2 toons, by themselves, questing, RAF, and BoA, as quick as I can. Then I would do the other 2. That is all. I do not want them boosted by a 3rd. I do not want to dungeon with them. I do not want to PvP with them.

Nearly all, if not all, programs mentioned here read as capable of helping me do that. The "best" for me would be the easiest, and quickest, to get setup and do the 2 person questing with. Pretty certain I do not need Jamba for my simple desires. Window switching to accept quests is fine with me.

-mathrod

[Ualaa]

If you're going to continue to run the accounts, as a boxed pair.
I'd go with either IS Boxer ($50/year), or if you're comfortable writing your own scripts Hot Key Net (Free).

If you're boxing, just for the leveling up.
And will be running two separate accounts, once the leveling is done.
Use HKN (if you're comfortable writing your scripts) or Keyclone ($20, lifetime license) if you're not.

IS Boxer has far superior mouse broadcasting.
Gets you instant swapping between master/slave.
And is very user friendly, in that you can just plant a spell on '1' for both toons, and press '1' in-game on either toon which will have them both cast at the active region's target.

If you go with another boxing software.
Use /focus, that's going to be the easiest assist method.
Everyone has a /focus ToonA and everyone has a /focus Toon B.
Toon A Focus, is on the same keybind for everyone; when you push it, they all focus the same toon.
Then you DPS with: /cast [@focustarget] NukeSpellHere
And Heal with: /cast [@focustarget,help][@focustargettarget,help] HealSpellHere
And Follow with: /follow [@focus]



If you're leveling two together...
Via questing or running instances, etc.

Go with double damage, even if you'll play as Heals/Tank at maximum level.
You'll kill faster, and with both regenerating mana... have less down time; not to mention survive harder pulls.




If money is not a consideration...
The cost of an extra Battlechest + WotLK expansion...
Then RAF A > B > C.
Boost toons on B/C, with A.
When you're done RAF, discard C and forget about ever owning that account.
It's still going to be a lot faster than questing with A/B.

You could even do B = Pally, C = Mage.
Then transfer the Mage to B, for really fast leveling... if the goal is maximum toons in minimum time.

If it's: I want to play the game, and enjoy the questing process...
Then RAF is irrelevant, and boosting is detrimental to experiencing the lore and learning the insides of every class and combination.

[Apps]

Ok, lemme see if I can sum this all up for you.

First, and I believe we accidentally skipped over this. Welcome to the forums!

Now, I'll pull a few quotes to help nail down my comment below.

Having been in a similar situation (I knew nothing about multiboxing before I found this website), I can't say enough great things about ISboxer. (Personal Bias!) :SNIP:

If you can't get all that you want done (your list) by the end of the free trial, then boxing might not be for you since ISBoxer is that easy to set up and work with. The Wizard alone saves so much time. You literally should be able to get 90% of what you want done in 20 minutes assuming you have your accounts set-up and characters created.

Innerspace/ isboxer: rolls royce and online support. Wizard included for quick set up. Dont underestimate how long that could take with other software.

So it looks like ISBoxer (+ Jamba) would be the way to go. It also seems like for "stage 1" I could just take toons out together and change who is following who.

This is a desire to level 2 toons, by themselves, questing, RAF, and BoA, as quick as I can. Then I would do the other 2. That is all. I do not want them boosted by a 3rd. I do not want to dungeon with them. I do not want to PvP with them.

Nearly all, if not all, programs mentioned here read as capable of helping me do that. The "best" for me would be the easiest, and quickest, to get setup and do the 2 person questing with. Pretty certain I do not need Jamba for my simple desires. Window switching to accept quests is fine with me.

-mathrod

Im also 30+ in my years. Married, strong career, many kids. My time is very valuable. I started boxing quite a while ago, but no where near as long as the majority of the brain trust in this community. I also tried a couple different softwares until I settled on ISBoxer.


tl:dr - Get in the free trial of ISBoxer plus Jamba. You can accomplish nearly if not all of your leveling before the trial. The software will be the easiest and quickest to get set up, and get you going. If after the free trail you decide you dont need or arent interested in all it offers, no problem, you can ditch it completely, and pick up one of the free ones that are less sophisticated with a harder set up. If however you decide you want to just stick with it. As you mentioned, paying for it really isnt an issue... its $10.00 for 90 days. ... Ive wasted more than $10.00 just writing this post for you.

With 2 monitors, I would not have to window switch, but I am considering alt tabbing and not using a 2nd monitor at all. I don't specifically want to multibox, I want to level two toons at the same time, following the same quest line. Much later on, I may want to do a "...hey I think I could use this software to heal my tank while I....." etc etc.

...oh and its worth mentioning, ISBoxer also has a window wizard too. You can use 1, or 2, or ~+ monitors. 1, or 2, or 99+ client windows within those monitors or monitor. (all be it 99 on one monitor may be a bit hard to see..lol) Anyway, you 100% definitely wont need to ALT+TAB for anything, with ISBoxer and Jamba.

[mathrod]

Thanks to everyone. I think I will do as you suggest with ISBoxer. Btw, LOVE the avatar.

[Apps]

Thanks to everyone. I think I will do as you suggest with ISBoxer. Btw, LOVE the avatar.

lol. Thanks. .. and good luck!