Forum Guidelines

Forum Organization

We maintain a set of Strategy Forums and a separate set of General Forums.

In the Strategy Forums is a separate forum for each of the seven Diablo II character classes.  (The Amazon class actually gets three forums: Bowazon, Javazon, and Spearazon.)  We also have a Technical Discussion forum, a Hardcore forum, and a Dueling forum.

The most active of the General Forums are the General Discussion forum and the Meeting Place forum (where people organize games or groups for co-op play).

Forum Do's and Don'ts

The Forums exist for people in the community to exchange information.  The post at the start of a thread will be read by dozens (and sometimes hundreds) of people.  It invites their thoughts and response.  So it should be reasonably coherent, as should each responsive post.

If you follow a few simple guidelines you will find plenty of people ready to answer any questions you may post.

• Before you start a thread consider whether the answer to your question is already posted.  Many questions arise all the time, and regular Forum-goers get tired of seeing the same subjects re-asked when the poster could have found the answer with just a little research.  So if your question is likely to be of general interest, check the Guides to see if any are right on point, look at recent threads in the Forum on your subject and maybe even run a search of the threads in our archives.  Likewise consider, before you start a poll, whether your question has already been debated to death.  Polls can be fun, but not on subjects that are old hat.  Check the pinned threads in the forum you're postin in, too. Many forums have certain topics "pinned" at the top of the page marked IMPORTANT. The moderators may have special guidelines for their forums, and pinned threads often contain information or links that will answer most commonly asked questions.
• Pick the right forum for your post.  It's not the end of the world if you post in the wrong place (in fact, a moderator will move it to the right forum), but you'll get a better response if you start in the right place to begin with.
• Pick a single subject for your post.  You don't want your thread to go off on a tangent and leave much of what you wanted to find out unanswered.  Ideally, each thread should be on one topic (though it can include several different questions on that topic).  Asking in a single thread about weapons for an Assassin, when the next no-twink group will get going, and where you should go magic finding is not a good idea.
• Write the Topic Title and Topic Description for a new thread with care.  Each new thread has a mandatory line reserved for the author to insert a topic title, and a second line for an optional topic description.  The text you put here appears in the forum list of threads exactly as you write it.  Forum visitors should be able to understand what your thread is all about just from these lines without having to open the thread.  If you have a question, put it in the Title or Topic Description.  Be specific: "How does Zeal speed work" is vastly more meaningful than "I have a question".  Care in filling in these fields is doubly important because unlike the text of a post, you can't edit these fields once the thread is posted.
• Put enough thought into your post to justify others taking their time reading it and crafting a response.  Be coherent.  Write in sentences.  Remember that some of the most skilled folks in the community learned English as a second (or third, or fourth) language, and they shouldn't need a lingo-decoder to understand what you are saying.  But we aren't in the perfect grammar business, and most folks have better use of their time than writing letter-perfect posts that are suitable for publication in the The Times.  Just use good sense.  If you spend a few minutes reading posts on the Forums, you'll quickly get a feel for what works.
• Don't swear.  What we put on our Forums should be suitable for everyone to read, and foul language rarely qualifies.  What you post should be appropriate for anyone over the age of 13 to see.
• Don't be a bigot.  Racist, sexist, and other hateful comments are not tolerated.
• Don't post trades.  We don't have a trading forum.  That's intentional.  Trading in the D2 environment can attract scammers, dupers, hackers, and others who we would prefer not be part of the Basin community.  We choose not to give them an incentive to register on our forums by forbidding trades altogether.  Besides, sooner or later someone might get scammed in an "AB-approved" trade and think we were somehow responsible for it.  We don't want that either.
• Don't flame others.  
• Don't treat the Forums as if they were chat rooms.  Do treat them as a venue to express yourself in a complete and thoughtful manner.  Although a few of the Forums are for casual exchanges, the heavily used forums are for dialogue and debate.
• Don't air personal disputes in the Forums.  If a disagreement arises out of something done or said in a Basin game, or in the Basin channel, or if a post caused personal offense, then take it up in a Personal Message to whoever else is involved.  If you want guidance or assistance, send a Personal Message to a moderator or a Basin administrator.  But don't start a post over a private quarrel.
• Don't post links to cheat/hack sites.  Posting a warning about a hack or a cheat is allowed, and can be helpful.  What is not allowed is posting the URL of a site offering a hack, or embedding a link to such a site in a Basin post.  The software at these sites can be incredibly destructive.  Some of it is malicious.  A site created by a skilled hacker can install destructive software on your computer without your permission and without your knowledge.  Firewalls (if you have them) may or may not protect you.  If you want to take the risks of visiting such sites, that's your business.  But hacks are not tolerated in Basin games, and the Basin doesn't want to be even a tacit participant in anyone being drawn to sites that offer them.  We also don't want to be associated with those sites in any way.  So posts on our forums that tell others where to go for hacks and cheats are forbidden.

Those same guidelines apply to posts you make in reply to existing threads.  Keep your replies "on topic." If you want to launch off onto something new, start a new thread.

In general, keep in mind that your posts tell the community something about who you are.  We quickly learn to associate folks by the posts they make.  So the more thought you put into yours, the greater the esteem people will hold you in.

Changing Your Forum Account Name

If you wish to change your forum account name, do not try to register under a new name or start a new account.  Instead, send a pm to any Amazon Basin D2 Administrator, telling them that you want to change your account name and what you want it to become.  They will gladly take care of it.

Forum Moderators

Each forum has at least one moderator, and most have several.  The moderators are listed (with links to message them) in the Forums page.