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There is no way to stop people from using alts. But, the issue isn't people having alts. The issue is alts providing a tremendous benefit during events (and some content). At least for events, the problem could be solved if events were designed which didn't have any benefit from alts. I'm sorry to say, everyone, that this would eliminate many of the afk and login events. However, there are plenty of other event categories which would work well:
Events which benefit the player directly without rewarding items.
Double rainbow is a great example of this, but there are others. Exceptions to standard game rules, like the enchant helper, are often very appreciated. Titles can be awarded directly to players without the need for an item, such as Black Dragon's Honor Guard and April Fool's Detective.
Events which reward the players with items which can't be traded. (Not personalized)
There are already plenty of event rewards that can't be traded. I know many people are only motivated by money, but having a variety of selectable prizes helps people get what they want, even if it's not cash. Several events in the past have had coin shops (some with nicer stuff than others) where players could collect the rewards they want, even if they can't sell them. Not every event will give every player the exact item they want though. That's normal.
Events which reward the effort put into them
While it's true alts can become strong, an event which rewards defeating powerful monsters wouldn't be a problem, in this respect, because of the effort needed by the player to accomplish a goal. It's inherently different from simply logging in to collect free items and then logging back out. The same could be said for crafting. Requiring players to craft advanced items to show off their crafting abilities is something that could be rewarded. Note that I'm referring to higher rank items, and not just rank F handicraft as many events use. Any event where items have to be submitted to claim prizes would be acceptable, as there's a cost with each submission. An example would be, for instance, gathering a stack of every kind of herb and turning them in for a reward, or bringing an NPC a stack of iron ore and some firewood for some ridiculous plot.
Events which require any amount of interaction beyond an auto-clicker
As long as an event keeps players engaged and actively doing things, alts won't benefit from it. Have players visit various NPCs, run solo missions/dungeons, almost anything other than afk.
Lastly and most importantly, I feel like there's heavy pressure to make events newbie friendly, which usually ends up with something that alts can abuse. So, I'll finish with this: Events don't need to be 100% newbie friendly. Some can have rewards scale with achievement. Newbies don't need 100m rewards anyway, they'll be satisfied with a medium bag or 50 AP potion. Events are best when they require, and reward, action by players.
I know this really isn't the place for suggestions, but it's getting some attention. I'll try to post simple but engaging event ideas in a proper suggestion thread at a later time, with hopes that the right people eventually see them.
While it's likely too late to change this event, these would be my suggestions if it were repeated:
Pick a different theme. It seems many of the issues arise when trying to adhere strongly to the 'sword in the stone' them. Having players all gather in a single location and line up, taking individual turns, which gives an advantage to those at the front of the line. An alternate theme may allow players to continue their normal Mabi activities without visiting a specific location. The item could be awarded to one of the players after everyone has entered, without performing a separate check on each player. The winning player would go collect it afterward. It also alleviates the need for players to spend hours in line waiting, and prevents malicious activity like trying to crash other players.
Definitely make rewards untradeable. This event's very design seems to revolve around items which should be untradeable. After all, "The item is choosing a player worthy of it". It doesn't make sense for the item to allow itself to be sold to someone unworthy. In addition, the prizes and times are all announced in advance, with a large variety of different prizes and times spanning the entire day. Nobody is expected to wait out the entire day. Players will prioritize items they really want, or can make good use of.
Multi-clienting isn't nearly the worst part of the event though. First, there were far too many malicious players, spamming skills to try and crash others. There were even a dozen or so people who simultaneously used demigod just before the event started. It worked, myself and several others' client crashed from that and the dozen or so raincasting clouds present on every channel.
Though it shouldn't be necessary, it'd be nice if they setup something like "You cannot use skills in this area".
It also doesn't help that the success rate seems to be set much too high. The first item to show up Saturday was gone in under 3 minutes. About 10 people got a chance to even step up to the altar. Since there are 3 hours allocated, and players are allows to re-queue after failing an attempt, it would make much more sense to lower the success rate so everyone gets at least one chance.
Alchemy was amazing. It was a great addition to the game, a skillset full of utilities and status-inducers. Crowd control, positioning, and more. A perfect "toolbox". Preparation become power as the player took the time to craft and stockpile crystals. Then, they decided to destroy alchemy. I think the developers would have been glad to simply remove the talent from the game entirely. Instead, they started making bosses immune to all alchemy skills. Then common monsters. Then, they blocked out skill usage entirely (such as shock not discharging inside Tech Duinn).
Their hatred for the skillset shines bright, and I think it's quite clear that no amount of good ideas will convince them to bring back true alchemy, I'm sorry to say. It will forever be a footnote on mabi, a devolved wannabe magic with 2 skills that do damage, and a dozen which do nothing at all.
