How does one Multibox 2 toons?

Unread post by **Royi** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 5:14 pm

Hi folks,

Due to the massive cheap sale of WOW-accounts this week, I've decided to finally RAF myself to get a 2nd account. I was thinking of basically running 2 instances of wow on my computer and having one character on "follow", but then realized that it might be a bit more fun to figure out how to multi-box them together.

Thought maybe of making 2 rogues, or 2 warriors to play around with.

All my knowledge is this, I need a "multiplexer" or something in order to get my keystrokes to validate in both running programs. Does anyone know if there is a good free one out there? I found this site : http://hotkeynet.com/ and it looks pretty decent.

I'm just wanting to hook up 2 guys together to have fun with questing / dungeons. Any tips on what I should do would be appreciated

Unread post by **Sigrah** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 5:46 pm

Is doing that even legal? I think this is the first time I've seen someone actually talk about multiboxing with software since I played Everquest so long ago. Maybe I just don't pay much attention to it, I haven't thought about running two toons simultaneously since I ran my Druid / Beastlord duo back in Everquest.

Unread post by **Meggers** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 5:57 pm

According to blizzard it is okay, but honestly that makes no sense to me considering what you need to make it work.

Unread post by **Sukurachi** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 5:58 pm

I'm afraid even as an avid multiboxer, I can't help you here.
I use two computers, with two keyboards, and two multi-button trackballs (instead of a mouse).

despite my computers not being low-end, I can never really get two accounts running on one of my computers without the whole thing freezing up. so I never bothered getting any of the software that links the two accounts.

And yeah, Sigrah, it's actually perfectly legal (despite what some rather hot-headed forum members have said in the past).

What I like about having two screens and everything is, if everything goes a$$-up, I have access to both characters independently. If one dies, I can switch to the other keyboard and continue.

Most of the time, "account no.2" functions entirely from a 4-button trackball, with a couple of macros, like "assist party1 castsequence etc...." and "follow party1".

I got myself a cute little USB numpad, which REALLY helps with accessing my abilities on the 2nd account too.

The way I work, my keyboard is in front of me.
Both trackballs are side by side, to the right of the keyboard.
The extra numpad is to the right of the trackballs.

I can actually function quite well one-handed on both trackballs and with the extra numpad.

Unread post by **Smyelmdar** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 6:07 pm

I've used Hotkeynet a lot, and it works fine. You just have to make a follow macro, and an assist macro on the characters you want to follow a leader character.

I run with 5 hunters on two computers, and on my main character, the leader, I have everything setup normally, but on the other 4 characters I have put a follow macro on my auto attack button, and an assist macro on my hunter's mark button. So whenever I press the attack button, the 4 other characters follow me, and when I press hunter's mark, they all assist me, shooting the mob I'm shooting. And after that, you just use the abilities you want.
It works best for me to have all my abilities in the same slots on all characters, so when I for example want to use steady shot, all my characters use steady shot.

There's also another program you can use, but it's not free. But it's not expensive at all. And it's a lot easier to use. You don't need any macros or anything. And you can see all your WoW windows at the same time. It's called ISBoxer.

If you want a script for Hotkeynet, I can post one.

Unread post by **Royi** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 7:41 pm

Thanks for the input Suk and Smy:

Smy would you know what type of code I would need for dual boxing 2 windows on the same computer? Ideally it would be just one screen copying the same keystrokes as the other

I saw a thing in which you just had to make a /assist and a /follow on the 2nd window

Unread post by **Smyelmdar** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 12:10 pm

Royi wrote:Thanks for the input Suk and Smy:

Smy would you know what type of code I would need for dual boxing 2 windows on the same computer? Ideally it would be just one screen copying the same keystrokes as the other

I saw a thing in which you just had to make a /assist and a /follow on the 2nd window

In Hotkeynet you can do that.

Here is the script for two WoW clients on one PC:

Code: Select all

//================================================================
// SAMPLE SCRIPT FOR TWO WOW'S ON ONE PC
//
// Instructions: Copy this entire script.
// Save it as a .txt file.
// Load it into HotkeyNet.
//
// Toggle the scroll lock key to turn hotkeys off and on. (You
// can change this if you want, just like you can change
// everything else with HotkeyNet.)
//
// Requires HotkeyNet build 147 or higher.
//
// For more info, go to www.hotkeynet.com
//================================================================

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// CTRL R WILL RENAME WOWS AFTER MANUAL LAUNCH
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<Hotkey ScrollLockOn Ctrl R>
    <SendPC local>
        <RenameWin "World of Warcraft" WoW1>
        <RenameWin "World of Warcraft" WoW2>

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// SUBROUTINE TO LAUNCH AND RENAME A COPY OF WOW.
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<Command LaunchAndRename>
   <SendPC %1%>
      <Run "c:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\WoW.exe">
        <RenameTargetWin %2%>

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// HOTKEY TO LAUNCH AND RENAME THE WOW WINDOWS.
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<Hotkey ScrollLockOn Alt Ctrl L>
    <LaunchAndRename Local WoW1>
    <LaunchAndRename Local WoW2>

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// DEFINE A MAIL LABEL FOR EACH WOW
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<Label w1 Local SendWinM WoW1>
<Label w2 Local SendWinM WoW2>

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// DEFINE HOTKEYS FOR ALL KEY COMBINATIONS THAT WILL GET
// SENT TO ALL FOUR WOWS. ADD MORE KEY COMBO'S IF YOU WANT.
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<Hotkey ScrollLockOn A-Z, 0-9, F1-F12 except W, A, S, D, Q, E>
<SendLabel w1, w2>
<Key %Trigger%>

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// DEFINE MOVEMENT KEYS THAT WILL GET SENT TO ALL FOUR WOW'S.
// ADD MORE KEYS IF YOU WANT.
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<MovementHotkey ScrollLockOn up, down, left, right>
<SendLabel w1, w2>
<Key %Trigger%>

//-----------------------------------------------------------
// BROADCAST MOUSE CLICKS. HOLD DOWN OEM3 (ON U.S. KEYBOARDS,
// THAT'S THE SQUIGGLE KEY IN UPPPER LEFT CORNER) WHEN YOU
// WANT TO BROADCAST.
//-----------------------------------------------------------
<UseKeyAsModifier Oem3>
<Hotkey ScrollLockOn Oem3 LButton, MButton, RButton, Button4, Button5>
   <SendLabel w1, w2>
      <ClickMouse %TriggerMainKey%>

You can copy that, and save it as a .txt file, run Hotkeynet and load that script.
Where it says "c:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\WoW.exe" you need to change that path to wherever your game is installed.
Then you have to make sure that your Scroll Lock is turned on. You can then press ctrl + alt and it will open two instances of WoW.
You then have to turn off Scroll Lock when you type in your password, unless it's something without numbers in it, I guess it would work. But whenever you want to type something in the chat or something, you have to turn off Scroll Lock, or it will press the same keys on both your screens, exept the enter button. So instad it will open all sorts of windows and whatnot.

So whenever you have Scroll Lock turned on, everything you press in one of the WoW windows, will be pressed in the other one too. That's why you have to use the assist and follow macros, I mentioned before.

I hope this makes some sense to you.

Unread post by **Royi** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 1:10 pm

Smyelmdar wrote: You can copy that, and save it as a .txt file, run Hotkeynet and load that script.
Where it says "c:\Program Files\World of Warcraft\WoW.exe" you need to change that path to wherever your game is installed.
Then you have to make sure that your Scroll Lock is turned on. You can then press ctrl + alt and it will open two instances of WoW.
You then have to turn off Scroll Lock when you type in your password, unless it's something without numbers in it, I guess it would work. But whenever you want to type something in the chat or something, you have to turn off Scroll Lock, or it will press the same keys on both your screens, exept the enter button. So instad it will open all sorts of windows and whatnot.
So whenever you have Scroll Lock turned on, everything you press in one of the WoW windows, will be pressed in the other one too. That's why you have to use the assist and follow macros, I mentioned before.

I hope this makes some sense to you.

I think so! I tried fiddling with it yesterday with no luck. I put in the code but couldn't figure out how to link them. I think its mainly not having the right path to where my game is. So I just need to hold ctrl-alt when i double click to open another window?

Unread post by **Smyelmdar** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 4:52 pm

Oh, sorry. I didn't write the correct thing there. You need to press ctrl + alt + L for it to launch the 2 WoW clients.

Unread post by **Sukurachi** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 6:55 pm

do you know how I could change the text file to launch WoW from two different directories?

my three accounts are in different directories. that way, I don't need to retype my email address when switching from one account to the other. It just opens by default with the right email in the box. so I only enter my password.

I'd like my main account to be from C:/games/world of warcraft/wow.exe
and my 2nd account to be from C:/games/world of warcraft 2/wow.exe

Unread post by **Smyelmdar** » Sat Aug 25, 2012 4:46 am

Sukurachi wrote:do you know how I could change the text file to launch WoW from two different directories?

my three accounts are in different directories. that way, I don't need to retype my email address when switching from one account to the other. It just opens by default with the right email in the box. so I only enter my password.

I'd like my main account to be from C:/games/world of warcraft/wow.exe
and my 2nd account to be from C:/games/world of warcraft 2/wow.exe

I don't know if that's possible.
But you can still launch them manually, and rename the windows in Hotkeynet. They have to be called 'WoW1' and 'WoW2' for Hotkeynet to recognize them. You can do that in Hotkeynet by going into the Actions menu, and chose 'Rename a window'. You then right click on the window you want to rename, and a small window pops up, where you can type the name of the window. I used to do this before I learned that you could launch and rename the windows from Hotkeynet.
At least it's easier than having to type in your email each time.

Unread post by **Royi** » Sat Aug 25, 2012 8:31 am

Smyelmdar wrote:Oh, sorry. I didn't write the correct thing there. You need to press ctrl + alt + L for it to launch the 2 WoW clients.

Would I be able to ask for you to perhaps post what those macros are? I tried making a /assist and a /follow but they don't do anything (besides just follow my guy around)

I really appreciate all your help, I was able to get hotkey working, just not able to figure out the macros to use

Unread post by **Sukurachi** » Sat Aug 25, 2012 10:33 am

an assist macro won't work unless you are actually fighting something.

Also, in the "Interface" menu, under "combat" you must check the 1st box: "Attack on assist"

my own assist macro (it probably will work the same way using Hotkeynet) is:

/assist party1
/petattack
/castsequence reset=target spell1, spell2, spell3, spell 1, spell1, spell3, and so on and so forth..

whatever works best in the castsequence.
"reset=target" will reset the macro if your target changes.

Unread post by **Sukurachi** » Sat Aug 25, 2012 10:59 am

HA!

I accidentally found a MUCH faster way!!!

when both WoW windows are loaded, just hit "ctrl+R"... it automatically renames the windows to WoW1 and WoW2.
I presume that it sees the 1st window and renames it, then looks for a window called "World of Warcraft", sees the 2nd account which hasn't been renamed yet, and promptly renames it WoW2... so it works.

I don't know how daring I feel, but using this I could dual-box on one PC, while having my third character on the 2nd PC, using my usual macros and stuff.

the only nuisance is having to get used to a slightly different order of spells/macros on my tool bar.

And of course, my PC is a tiny bit laggy-er with two instances of WoW running at the same time, which wasn't a problem using two computers.

Unread post by **Smyelmdar** » Sat Aug 25, 2012 3:56 pm

Royi wrote:
Smyelmdar wrote:Oh, sorry. I didn't write the correct thing there. You need to press ctrl + alt + L for it to launch the 2 WoW clients.
Would I be able to ask for you to perhaps post what those macros are? I tried making a /assist and a /follow but they don't do anything (besides just follow my guy around)

I really appreciate all your help, I was able to get hotkey working, just not able to figure out the macros to use

You need to have the name of the leader character in the macro. For instance, my leader character is named Irisha, so my macros is /follow Irisha and /assist Irisha.

And yes, you must make sure that 'attack on assist' is checked in the interface options.

Sukurachi, you can run three at the same time with Hotkeynet. I run 5 characters at the same time. Four on one PC and one on a second PC.
I also have two installations of my game, but that's because when I'm not multiboxing I like to have my settings a different way, but when I multibox, I have to have all my settings set to the lowest of low. So my second WoW installation has all the settings set to low. That way I won't be that laggy, and I don't have to change my settings each time I don't multibox.

And oh yeah, I forgot that you could rename them with that shortcut.

I haven't been using Hotkeynet in a while, cause I paid for ISBoxer, and it's so much easier to use.

Unread post by **Sukurachi** » Sat Aug 25, 2012 4:13 pm

by the way, to avoid issue with "follow" and "Assist" macros and sometimes wanting to dual-box other toons, I suggest rather than "/assist (main character name)" as your macro, you simply use "/assist party1".

"party1" will always be your main in a group. (whoever is group leader)

same goes, obviously, for "/follow".

I discovered this the hard way.. after spending years of having my macro selection box FULL of various macros for various characters... now it's one single macro for follow, that is shared by all my toons.
And otherwise, every other character only needs a single assist macro, in conjunction with "party1".

Unread post by **Smyelmdar** » Sat Aug 25, 2012 4:20 pm

So, if your main character dies, they will follow or assist another party member?

And how would it work in a raid group?

Unread post by **Sukurachi** » Sat Aug 25, 2012 6:11 pm

I'm not sure what happens when someone dies... BUT

you would have a problem if your main dies and your subs are all macroed to follow specifically THAT toon.

Unread post by **Smyelmdar** » Sun Aug 26, 2012 5:23 am

Exactly. That's one of the downsides of Hotkeynet.
In ISBoxer you don't really have specific a leader. Your leader is the one in whatever window you have selected, and you can easily switch between them.

Oh and there is a free 7 day trial of ISBoxer if you guys want to check it out.

I know I'm promoting that program, but it's just so much easier to use. But Hotkeynet is okay too, once you get to know how to use it.

And oh, I completely misunderstood what you wrote earlier with the macros. What you meant was that you could make one macro that would cover all the setups of characters you use.
I'm so not reading peoples posts properly sometimes.. lol

Unread post by **Sukurachi** » Sun Aug 26, 2012 9:24 am

hehehe, that's ok

I also looked at the ISBoxer, but it looks expensive.
I didn't see a single price for it, what I saw was a monthly subscription that's as expensive as WoW.
did I miss something on their website?

yes, I actually misread something on the website.. it's $15/3 months, or $50/year.

to me, that still seems a tiny bit steep for what it is.
It does look cool, however.

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