Multi-Account Support Seriously Lacking

[Para Handy]

I dont know if its just because im nicotine deprived this morning, but this thread is extremely frustrating. I thought it was just bait, but the serious comments keep coming.. Multiple accounts are the tools of botters and 5c. Ppl exerting excessive & undue influence. Even if OP isnt doing that, for goodness sake dont call for changes that would make that kind of thing easier. The BGS/PP in ED would have more legitimacy if people were restricted to blazing their own trail, instead of blazing their own trail *+the trail of as many doppelgangers as they can afford. Its pay to win, or pay to be a pain in the , at least.

Yeah - go have a cigarette.

I have multiple accounts, I use them for different things. I clear-save while still having developed commanders, I have a lonely git out in the black, I have one who thinks the Empire is ace and another that thinks the we blue wifi's followers should be opposed.

I started with an account that went LEP - then I bought an alternative in a sale so as to be either in the bubble or out exploring at will. A GF then gave me a Steam gift of another.



P.S. On-topic: I have one install and by making copies of the EDLaunch.exe file (renaming them obviously) - I just launch the respective EDLaunch for whatever commander I want to play - never have to log-out or re-verify (after the first time for each EDLaunch copy of course).

P.P.S. Yes it would be better to have multiple-account options on the launcher.

 

[Bashy81]

So you can just get off your high-horse and stop telling me what I should and shouldn't be allowed to do.

Looking-down on 5c and botters is a pretty low bar for a high horse? Anyway, shouldnt this thread be buried in Suggestions & Feature Requests ? where all the other posts tell you what you should & shouldn't be allowed to do, too. Because thats what Suggestions & Feature Requests are.

 

[shadragon]

My bet is that when the OP says that Paypal isn't an option they aren't saying that the store doesn't offer the option. There's probably some personal reason whey the OP has chosen not to use Paypal.

No, Paypal does not appear on the store options. I use PP for almost all online purchases. Frontier is one of the exceptions.

 

[shadragon]

I dont know if its just because im nicotine deprived this morning, but this thread is extremely frustrating. I thought it was just bait, but the serious comments keep coming.. Multiple accounts are the tools of botters and 5c. Ppl exerting excessive & undue influence. Even if OP isnt doing that, for goodness sake dont call for changes that would make that kind of thing easier. The BGS/PP in ED would have more legitimacy if people were restricted to blazing their own trail, instead of blazing their own trail *+the trail of as many doppelgangers as they can afford. Its pay to win, or pay to be a pain in the , at least.

Bashy, after your next smoke, please explain to me how me signing into my account after an update, or buying a paint job / voice pack across four accounts affects the BGS in any way.

 

[GJ51]

It does seem a bit odd that FD hasn't addressed this issue.

I currently have 2 accounts, both PC, that I use. One at home and another in my apartment that I use when I am there. I'm reasonably content with this setup, but it's likely that I would purchase more accounts if there were an easier way to play multiple accounts on the same PC.

Missed income opportunity FD

I'm not asking for any discount - I just don't want to go through the current gymnastics required to manage multiple CMDR's on the same PC

 

[Bashy81]

Bashy, after your next smoke, please explain to me how me signing into my account after an update, or buying a paint job / voice pack across four accounts affects the BGS in any way.

I havent had a cig in months *nicotine replacement thingies* but, thanks for suggesting a smoke, it really helps.

Fine. Nobody would use a feature in any way differently to you, and your intention of how you would use it defines the limits of how it could be used. It would have no other effect or impact on anything else, in any way, whatsoever.

Streamlining multiple account use to make them easier, making them more appealing with cross-account purchases & advertising multiple-account options on the main screen is a big step beyond tolerating people using multiple accounts 'because they cant be stopped and they make FDEV money'.

 

[the100thmonkey]

This tool lets you switch accounts easily. It's old, but it still works - I use it to switch back and forth betwen my main and my alt.

Bashy: cheaters are going to cheat regardless - tools to make account switching simple don't have the effect you think they do. The number of inputs (characterised as 'points' by my faction) into the BGS isn't multiplied or moderated depending on the variation in CMDRs completing tasks - it's all just points as far as the transaction server is concerned. This basically means that logging in to another account results in your inputs into the BGS just coming from a different CMDR. In other words, using multiple accounts sequentially has no impact on the behaviour of the BGS. The same is true for Powerplay.

Two accounts running on two different systems is a slightly different proposition, but it's far less powerful than just having a friend doing stuff with you.

 

[GJ51]

This tool lets you switch accounts easily. It's old, but it still works - I use it to switch back and forth betwen my main and my alt.

I'm also a bit concerned about interactions/consequences of doing this with EDengineer and Voice Attack/EDDI

ED seems to be the Gold Standard when it comes to unforseen/unintended consequences.

 

[Bashy81]

This tool lets you switch accounts easily. It's old, but it still works - I use it to switch back and forth betwen my main and my alt.

Bashy: cheaters are going to cheat regardless - tools to make account switching simple don't have the effect you think they do. The number of inputs (characterised as 'points' by my faction) into the BGS isn't multiplied or moderated depending on the variation in CMDRs completing tasks - it's all just points as far as the transaction server is concerned. This basically means that logging in to another account results in your inputs into the BGS just coming from a different CMDR. In other words, using multiple accounts sequentially has no impact on the behaviour of the BGS. The same is true for Powerplay.

Two accounts running on two different systems is a slightly different proposition, but it's far less powerful than just having a friend doing stuff with you.

Id be quite content with minimal grumbling if that were the case, but it isnt afaik. Ill hunt down a link to a dev post about it, and I would truly love to be wrong about it. The number of CMDRs involved increases the max influence change per tic, subject to a hard cap & system population. Details I was referring to at @ 25mins.
https://gaming.youtube.com/watch?v=y5DGyG6Qwvk

 

[Ralph Vargr]

I'm also a bit concerned about interactions/consequences of doing this with EDengineer and Voice Attack/EDDI

ED seems to be the Gold Standard when it comes to unforseen/unintended consequences.

Rats! Out of rep.

 

[the100thmonkey]

Id be quite content with minimal grumbling if that were the case, but it isnt afaik. Ill hunt down a link to a dev post about it, and I would truly love to be wrong about it. The number of CMDRs involved increases the max influence change per tic, subject to a hard cap & system population. Details I was referring to at @ 25mins.
https://gaming.youtube.com/watch?v=y5DGyG6Qwvk

You're wrong.

This has been tested extensively by players that do the BGS and little else (myself included). That video is also two years old.

 

[the100thmonkey]

I'm also a bit concerned about interactions/consequences of doing this with EDengineer and Voice Attack/EDDI

ED seems to be the Gold Standard when it comes to unforseen/unintended consequences.

Why?

It doesn't touch the logs and it doesn't touch input settings. All it does is switch between the accounts using a .ini file to store the relevant details - CMDR name and (hashed( password, for instance. I use it with EDMC and several other programs. It doesn't do anything untoward.

 

[nrage]

Second, account validations. I had a HD crash on one of my machines so I restored from a backup. Went to run Elite and it popped up saying my launcher was out of date. Downloaded the new version and installed it. Ran the launcher and it asks me to login. The launcher does not tell you what email the installed account is registered under (even though I've selected it to remember my email and password) so I have to literally bring up a spreadsheet to enter the right email. On that sheet is also where the game is installed because the launcher only remembers the last place where it was installed. Then I can't play until I login with a emailed validation code, then wait for the updates to download. Repeat three more times. During major updates, this has happened to me on three different computers meaning I've had to do this process TWELVE Times to get the various accounts to boot.

Are you telling us you have Elite installed 4 times?

You do realise that all your commander data is stored on the servers, not locally. And.. you can simply login to a single install with all 4 accounts. The only issue is that it will only remember a single login at a time, and there are at least 2 ways around this problem.

1. Copy the launcher executable, for each subsequent account. If, for example, you have a launcher exe of C:\Games\Frontier\EDLaunch\EDLaunch.exe simply copy+paste+rename EDLaunch.exe as EDLaunch2.exe, EDLaunch3.exe, and EDLaunch4.exe. Run each launcher, login to each with a separate account. When you re-run the appropriate launcher it will auto-login to the appropriate account.

2. Find the user.config file created by the launcher, and save copies of it, one for each account. In %LOCALAPPDATA%\Frontier_Developments you will find a folder named EDLaunch.exe_Url_<stringofgarbage>, inside this a versioned folder (the launcher version), and inside this user.config. If you login to the laucher with an account and save details, this is where it is saved. So, login with an account, then copy the user.config and rename to something, repeat for each account. When you want to login in as a specific account simply rename the appropriate copy back to user.config and run the launcher.

 

[andrak]

If you are happy to buy multiple accounts and then buy additional items on all 4 of those accounts then Frontier is happy to call you a sucker and change absolutely nothing.

If people keep paying, which they seem to be, Frontier will keep taking.

 

[Ralph Vargr]

Hmmmm. Maybe I should just ask for my money back for my alt account....

 

[William H. Bonney]

i just use a bat file like this:

@Echo Off
@Echo 1. CMDR Player Name 1
@Echo 2. CMDR Player Name 2
@Echo 3. CMDR Player Name 3
choice /c 123 /M "Please Select your CMDR"
if "%errorlevel%"=="1" copy "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Frontier_Developments\PlayerName1.config" "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Frontier_Developments\EDLaunch.exe_Url_p5b1lajovp0rp4np2p4ekq4dmeylakg5\0.4.6415.0\user.config"
if "%errorlevel%"=="2" copy "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Frontier_Developments\PlayerName2.config" "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Frontier_Developments\EDLaunch.exe_Url_p5b1lajovp0rp4np2p4ekq4dmeylakg5\0.4.6415.0\user.config"
if "%errorlevel%"=="3" copy "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Frontier_Developments\PlayerName3.config" "%LOCALAPPDATA%\Frontier_Developments\EDLaunch.exe_Url_p5b1lajovp0rp4np2p4ekq4dmeylakg5\0.4.6415.0\user.config"
Start D:\ED\Frontier\EDLaunch\EDLaunch.exe

you'd need to browse to the original user.config file after logging in with each account and copy/rename several times as PlayerName1(2)(3).config as a prerequisite.
To be honest though the tool shown above (by the Monkey fella/Gal) looks likely a better way forward. the weird folder with loads of characters changes every major update.

Also if you use EDDiscovery, EDEngineer or the Market connector it will separate the names of the commanders for you so no hassle there either.


P.S. i just realised most of the above has actually been mentioned by others... I'll confess i didn't read (evidently) all the responses prior to writing but figured i had already written it, so blah blah... [heart]

 

[MottiKhan]

If you are happy to buy multiple accounts and then buy additional items on all 4 of those accounts then Frontier is happy to call you a sucker and change absolutely nothing.

If people keep paying, which they seem to be, Frontier will keep taking.

Ah, that's good news. I had neglected to buy goodies for my 5th alt, but thanks for reminding me. Some shiny weapons colors for a no-combat CMDR. He doesn't need weapons, but those laser colors are vital.

 

[GJ51]

Thanks for the solutions posted.

In other words, this should be a breeze for FD to consolidate into the launcher and manage under ONE email account

 

[Susanna]

Thanks for the solutions posted.

In other words, this should be a breeze for FD to consolidate into the launcher and manage under ONE email account

It should be, but don't hold your breath.

 

[amadeus1171]

I know I'm not in the majority with four accounts over multiple machines in different locations, but there are folks with more than one account who are sure to run into the same issues I experience.

First, the Frontier store. Let's get this clear. When I go to the Frontier store I'm usually going to buy something and I typically want it on all four accounts. To buy anything, I need to logon, select the items, go to the cart, check out, type out my CC info, name, expiry date, etc. (because PayPal is not an option), validate the purchase on my bank CC phone app then sign out. Repeat that three more times. I've had my CC locked on multiple occasions by my bank doing this as multiple small amounts charged from the same company are treated as "suspicious activity". Until I call the bank, I can't use my CC, resulting in my having to reenter all the info after it gets unlocked because the store session times out. I am trying to give Frontier money and they are making it as hard as possible for me to do that. That's a core business issue that needs to be addressed ASAP.

Second, account validations. I had a HD crash on one of my machines so I restored from a backup. Went to run Elite and it popped up saying my launcher was out of date. Downloaded the new version and installed it. Ran the launcher and it asks me to login. The launcher does not tell you what email the installed account is registered under (even though I've selected it to remember my email and password) so I have to literally bring up a spreadsheet to enter the right email. On that sheet is also where the game is installed because the launcher only remembers the last place where it was installed. Then I can't play until I login with a emailed validation code, then wait for the updates to download. Repeat three more times. During major updates, this has happened to me on three different computers meaning I've had to do this process TWELVE Times to get the various accounts to boot.

Streamlining the above to support multiple accounts / purchases and registrations is long overdue.

Just multi-account support is lacking? It would be great if that was the least of our problems. x.x

And yes I said "we"!
I'll never stop using "we"!
We are a team!
Frontier, commanders, and me.