Alternative accounting is when a normal player decides to create another account for his usage. He can use this account to his own advantage such as play two seats in a game, play pranks, and go into other Clans as spies. Now of course some people have alternative accounts simply as back up in case the main account is hijacked ( like I was ) but when someone sends an alternative accounts into another clan without telling anyone then that is a very bad sign. Usually it's just to monitor but sometimes they try to rise through the ranks, gain your trust and get management rights, then boom they hijack the clan. I'm going to teach you how to spot an alternative account and what to do about it. Now of course it's impossible to catch all of them, sometimes they are simply to good but you need to know the basics.
AT FIRST SIGHT:
At first sight, it's easy to catch an alternative account. Alternative Accounts usually are very low level ( between 2 and level 10 ) that's because there owners are very lazy and don't take the time to develop them properly. A player under the level of 15 trying to get into a clan is always suspicious and that's because players under level 15 usually don't even know what a clan is! Much less how or want to join one. Alts usually, believe it or not, will usually confess if you assume they already are an alt. It's psychological. Here's an example
THE ALT: hey I want to join your clan!
ME: Yeah ok just why are you using an alternative account? Just routine check up that's all
THE ALT: uhhhhh....
They usually are stunned you know that fast and the fact you act likes it's not a big deal will throw them off too. Sometimes they get defensive and mad which in that case it's hard to tell if they are or not an alternative. In that case trust your instincts and do what you think is best. If they overreact it's usually a sign they are an Alt because they don't like the fact they were found out that soon. If they act normally, denieing it, then it's anyone's guess.
HOW TO FIND HIGH LEVEL ALTERNATIVE ACCOUNTS:
This is extremely tricky and hard but eventually you can get the hang of it. High level alternative accounts are usually between levels 25 and 40. If an alternative account is over that, it usually means they were created for evil purpose because there owner took time into building them. You can't catch these guys at first sight, basically, signs these people are alts can be found tho. Usually they try to act like they are new to the clan business and found your clan interesting so they decided to join. They try to be naive and ambitious. Now of course most people like this are normal but when alts go hunting, they will act like this a lot. The trick to find them is how power hungry they are, There comment pattern, and there profile.
PROFILES: Look at the email first of all. If you recognize the email letters then that usually means you have seen it before with the master account. It rarely works but Always worth a try. Also look at the bio. Usually there is either a really big bio or no bio whatsoever.
HUNGRY FOR POWER: How desperate they are to get MR is usually a sign.
COMMENT PATTERN:
This is a relatively new way of finding alts and pretty advanced. In order for this to work you need to know a lot of major players and constantly scan the public forums for personalities. Let's say player A is a really big democrat. player A makes an alternative account and you run into it but you don't know it's an alt. Usually they master accounts will not break away from there beliefs with there over account. They Wil be the same. If you find player A, see he's a big democrat, making the same arguments as this guy you think is an alt, and says the same thing, then if you think they are a match then you do what you think is best. This form of finding a high level alt can be used for lower levels also
An Alt is just a tool but Cata's right you cannot detect a silent Alt.
Also level 25-40 can be reached quite quickly if your playing to get a high level.
Another way to tell if someone's an Alt is if they are much very skilled and low Level or haven't played many 1v1 games but are very good on less used templates.
Most people don't use alts to troll, they use them to play Europe 3v3 in most cases. In a few occasions have people cheated using alts, but it is rarely a problem in general.
I will create an alt between now and 5 weeks, the first person to catch it gets a shout out on my profile, because that's about the best thing I can give.
