Multi

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Template:Wiktionarypar 1. Multi is a term often used to refer to people of multi-racial and multi-ethnic heritage. While other terms are also used, including "mixed" and "biracial," the term "multi" is widely considered the proper word, and it is also used by many academics. An example of its usage: "Yes, she's multi; her father's white and her mother is Japanese and Korean." This terminology is slowly achieving greater use, especially with the advent of a burgeoning multiracial student-driven movement in the United States. For more information, visit the website of Multi, the multi student organization at Swarthmore College. Swarthmore's Multi

2. Multi also refers to multiplayer online games, especially MUDs and MMORPGs, to refer to the characters created by a player if he controls more than one. For example, many role-playing games have classes (such as Fighter and Wizard) that restrict the gameplay (fighters cannot cast spells), and a player may want to create several characters to explore all of the possibilities. The act of playing several characters at once is called multiing.

Multiing creates several gameplay problems, especially if these characters begin to interact with each other. For example weaker multis could gather items in several areas and send them to the main character. That way the main character would get much more loot than if he would search for it on his own. In the games where multiing can get a player a serious benefits, it is looked down upon by purist players and is considered a form of cheating. For example in Kingdom of Loathing using multis for profit is a bannable offence. There was a case when a player created 69 multis before Christmas to get more presents. He and his multis were banned indefinitely.

Mules

One of the most common uses for a multi is to act as a beast of burden, a "mule", for a main character. Rather than using this character to actively participate in the game, the player who controls it just needs a way to hold and transport goods, and perhaps to obtain more of some resources which are limited for each character by the game rules.

Many people regard the need for or use of mules in a game as a design flaw. In the game Diablo II 'mules' are sometimes used to 'smuggle' items from Diablo II Classic to Diablo II: Lord of Destruction, the game's expansion — some items do not exist in both games. This type of smuggling is a one-way venture, as characters cannot make the return trip from Lord of Destruction to the 'classic version'. The use of mules in this manner circumvents the intended inability of characters to move freely from one version to the other, and some players consider this a 'cheat'.

However, the use of mules is not universally frowned upon. In fact, in games such as Final Fantasy XI, it may be considered a marketing scheme. Final Fantasy XI permits one character for the monthly rate, and additional characters for $1.00 per month, whereas most games provide multiple character slots for no additional fee.

Multiboxing

Two boxing or dual boxing is a method of playing multies where the player controls two characters at the same time. This form of multiing can be expensive, usually requiring two computers and two subscriptions where necessary. Players who wish to play multis two box when it is difficult to play two copies of a game on the same computer, such as modern 3D MMORPGs. Multiboxing describes a player that is running two or more characters simultaneously, but usually implies more than two.

Two boxing can be a rewarding way to play an otherwise tedious game. The challenges it presents in multi-tasking as well as the rewards usually reserved for group play for many justify the extra expense. For an informative guide to two-boxing in the game World of Warcraft look here.