The Alt Zoo

I am a casual gamer, with too much time on my hands. So what do I do when I am tired of farming or do not want to find a PuG to waste a few hours away? The answer is easy! Make more characters! In fact, between my girlfriend and I (and our two servers) we have 11 80s and several seventies (though we no longer play our Kargathian 80's).
Some might ask "What's the point of having so many alts?" This is the easiest question for me to address: To see the game from a different perspective. This answer, however, is not as strong as it used to be. Let's face it: class distinction is much weaker today than it ever was. This is not all bad though. I have tanked as everything in the game, and there is a slightly different feel to everything, but now more than ever, every spec of every class is viable, particularly in PvE play. This is not a move that I am partial too, in fact, I am disappointed that every class seems whine and complain until it is made to be able to snatch the top of any meter you can think of. But I digress, as I so often do. Each position (tank, dps, healer) still has a different point of view, even melee vs. range still has a different feel to how each fight goes. With duel specs, you can get 2 of the points of view in one character. If you love different feels to the game and you want to explore, I would definitely recommend having 2 alts each with a duel spec. As far as alts go, for a casual player, I would not go past two serious characters. This leads into the next question that I am confronted with while leveling so many alts.
"Doesn't having so many alts get in your way?" This question can be applied in two ways, most often people have levied the accusation of not knowing your class. The second, and lesser brought up point (that ties in with the first) is, "does so many alts get in the way of progression?" First, going back to an earlier point, classes are still different and very much alike. For dps I find it quite easy to do about 20-30 minutes of research on a spec and its rotation to figure out how to squeeze the most dps out of it, of course, I also spend some time with practice on dummies as well as a heroic or a lower tier raid to see what it is like in battle situations. Tanking and healing are a bit more trickier. Some classes can heal in different ways so there needs to be a bit more research and a bit more practice to see what you are 1) comfortable with 2) Enjoy 3) do well.
Tanking is perhaps where I find the most disappointment in terms of the classes running together. I will admit, I had a warrior tank at 60 and I just could not get the hang of it (I also had relatively little time to practice). Because of this I had a lot of respect for people who could tank multiple mobs (multiple at the time was 2-3) with great success. If I could go back in time I do not know if I would still be bad at it, but now, it is very simple to tank as any class. In the Burning Crusade Pally tanks started to emerge. Slowly they came into their own, I remember for months people *still* ragging on pallies. I leveled my pally as a tank after I saw a good friend excel at tanking, and it was very easy to tank everything. I never tried warriors at 70, but when Lich King came out it seemed blizzard wanted tanking to be easy on every character. I changed my warrior to a tank, and was saddened at how little of a challenge it was compared to how difficult it was at 60. To this end, it is fairly easy to research and practice tanking in heroics.
To the second charge of alts getting in the way of progression, the most honest answer I can give is: it depends. Our guild has been running two 10 man ICCs a week, and we have been getting 1 25 man in a week. This means, without PuGs, if a guildy can get a spot, one character will be "progressed" more (in terms of having more badges and a chance at more loot) while the alt character will have few badges and opportunities for upgrades, but still progressing somewhat.
A great thing about the random heroics is the ability to acquire lower gear with ease. So, while I only have a two higher tiered characters, all my toons can enjoy some level of decadence. With the expansion ahead, itemization will also, sadly, be a bit more generalized. This leaves tons of room for people to have multiple characters, while having one or two top of line characters.
Finally, the question of "why?" Other than point of view and a very slightly different point of view, why bother with having different characters? I love having characters around just in case they are needed later. With every new expansion, there is also a chance that the regular people you run with will change what they want to play, and having loads of characters around allow for an easy shift from one class to another based off of what is needed. I can also understand different characters and how they function in a raid better because, I have been there.
There is not much else to say about alts and why to have them around. Just thought I'd give you an idea of why I have one of every class (aside from a smelly hunter) hanging around. If you enjoy alts and leveling as much as I do, have a blast :).