Accepted Gameplay Rules
The SPF is unlike most single player communities. We don't treat it as a testing ground for bnet and we respect our fellow SPF'ers choices. For that reason there are strict rules in place as to what is and is not acceptable on the SP(T)F.
Open Bnet
Characters/items that have interacted with Open Bnet are not allowed in the SPF trade or MP pool. This is due to the high number of dupes and hacks on Bnet and the less than strict code some of the players have on open.
Third Party Programs
This is anything that did not come out of the Diablo II box.
Editors, Trainers, Drop Mods, Map "enhancements"
Items or characters that have used these are NOT allowed:
- In the SP Trade forum
- In the SP MP forum
Not allowed:
- Ask for links for them
- Ask for help with thm
- Encourage their use including posting created items/chars
You may do what you wish on your own machine but we advise that if you want to work out how a character will work out, use a skill planner.
Game Mods
Downloads in the Mods, Muling and Utilities Stickied Thread.
These are Forum Accepted Mods (FAM)
RRM - red rune mod - needs declaring (not acceptable in the Bnet trade forums)
RWM - rune word mod - needs declaring
CRM - colour rune mod - needs declaring (not acceptable in the Bnet trade forums)
modified .dll to run multiple instances - needs declaring (not acceptable in the rest of diii.net)
These are the *only* mods and utilities allowed to come into contact with the items/characters/stashes to be traded here.
You may not mp/trade if you will change anothers' mod status.
Progression:
Vanilla to a Forum Accepted Mod (FAM)
So vanilla players will change their status by interacting with anyone who is NOT vanilla.
Anyone running any combination of RWM/RRM/CRM can all interact with each other because they are all FAM.
This is a difficult concept to convey, please PM both Moderators if you are unclear about this. It is very very important to our MP and trade pools.
Muling and Reporting Utilities
These are what makes SP fun for a lot of us. No mules, and the ability to be a pack rat! All of these are acceptable in MP/Trade. Downloads links available in the Stickied Help thread (ATMA/RWM etc) in the SPF.
- ATMA
- GoMule
- Flavie
- Fara
- Trenshaws Version Switcher
D2 variants
These are allowed and supported in MP/Trade here if declared:
- Hell Unleashed
- Median
- Eastern Sun
Support for these variants should be done on their own forums or at the Phrozen Keep. Downloads are linked to in the Mods, Muling, Application and Variants Sticky.
Median and Muling
Regarding Median and muling programs....
We don't accept that program here at all. It is not to be mentioned, linked to, or support given to it as regards installation etc. It may only be used for Median characters/stashs NOT regular D2.
However, we appreciate that there is a good community of MPers here for Median and we don't want to penalise them. On that basis you may use the muling program without penalty
for Median only.
However:
* the no pimping hacks/cheats still applies so it isn't going to be linked to or mentioned here
* ATMA and GoMule are the only accepted muling programs for standard D2.
Versions
Items may move forward in versions.
Items should never move backwards in versions for any reason.
Versions should be specified when trading in the SPTF. Particular care should be taken with 1.11b and 1.12a items, as these are prima face identical. (They are treated separately to simplify the rules on moving items backwards, in case of future patches.
See this post)
Hardcore/Softcore transfer
Hardcore to Softcore transfer of items is in the trade/mp pool.
Allowed:
Hardcore item moved to softcore - must be declared
Not allowed
Softcore items moved to hardcore
Stripping gear from Hardore characters
Allowed
Looting dead HC characters if done during MP by a party character.
Not Allowed
Looting dead HC characters with any muling program.
Hotmuling
Hot muling is muling while the character you are muling from is in game. It's rarely done because of the risk of creating duplicate items (aka 'duping'). It's usually done with Gheeds because you can only carry one at a time. This is acceptable but should be declared and care must be taken so that the items are not duped.
So you are playing Teagan and she has a Gheeds. Another Unique charm drops.
- Minimize to desktop and open ATMA or GoMule. You open Teagan and another character which doesn't have a Gheeds or any stash file.
- You move Teagan's Gheeds to the other character or stash. You save that file and exit ATMA or GoMule.
- Back in game you drop Teagans identified Gheeds on the ground and pick up the UnID'd one.
- You play as normal and when you next exit you can put the 'new' Gheeds in the stash and get the first one back. Same as you would swap any other item.
However, it is not - and never has been - acceptable to restore backups with the intention of having a second chance at making an item whether through cubing sockets, crafting or making runewords. Similarly if you trade an item away, you delete the one on your hard drive. Duping is NOT acceptable.
Ingame commands
These are all pefectly acceptable without declaring. However, cheesy tactics such as playing at /players1 and opening chests at /players8 are often frowned upon. Severely.
/players 1-8
Increases the player settings and increases difficulty
/nopickup
Prevents accidental pickup of items.
/fps
Shows ingame framerate
Command line commands
This is where most of the difficulty lies. Some commands are acceptable, others aren't and others require careful use and declaration.
-w
Starts the game in windowed mode. Acceptable without declaration.
-ns
Starts the game without sound. Used to speed up runs. Acceptable without declaration.
-act 5
Starts the game in act 5.
This command is not acceptable.
-seed
A way to recover lost maps. This should rarely be used and should always be declared. The only acceptable use is for recovering maps which are accidentally lost and if used correctly. Seeds should never be posted or shared.
Correct use: Inset seed into properties window. Start game. Load character. DO NOT PLAY THE GAME. Quit the game entirely (back to desktop). Clear the seed. Restart and play.
Bugged Items
Eth bugging an item involves taking an eth item, cubing socketing it and it gains lots of extra defence. Perfectly acceptable.
The 'indestructible' eth bug
is an ATMA bug. It is in the MP and trade pool and is acceptable but should be declared in MP/Trade Profiles.
If you have any other 'bugged' item then you shoud PM both Moderators and wait for authorization to use it. This is applicable to all items which do not naturally appear in-game but have arisen due to a gameplay oddity or crash etc.
Ubers & DClone Mods in Single Player- There is a mod which is unsupported on the SPF that enables uber-like monsters in SP
- The AI is not correctly implimented and the experience is NOT the same as bnet
- The mod is not supported because it has several other very unwelcome add-ons which are not accepted in the MP/Trade pool
- There is also an unsupported mod which replicates DClone by turning another monster into it. IE goto Stony Field and Rakiswakyishu is now DClone
If you wish to use those mods and continue MP/trade in the SP(T)F you should:
- Completely back up their characters and stashes
- Install the mod
- Kill the ubers/dclone
- Delete the affected character/stashes
- Uninstall the mods
- Restore to the back-ups (pre-mod)
- Ensure no items/experience has been gained.
Unless you're really tidy about that sort of thing, it is best NOT to use the mods.
If you keep the same character or any items found while using those mods and MP/trade you will be banned from diii.net.
Again what you do on your own machine is fine; so if you withdraw from the MP/trade pool do what you like.
We are aware that other forums allow the use of the ubers mod and that is why we get jumpy when people trade on other forums.
As per the FAQ, mod support is done at the
Phrozen Keep.
Questions?
If there is anything you are unsure of, please PM both Moderators and wait for a response. There is a lot of information here and it has evolved over time. What are clear concepts to us is often tricky to convey in a ruleset, so please PM us if there is anything you are even slightly confused about.
Acting in ignorance is no excuse for breaking these rules, and you'll find the moderators are much more patient when you ask before acting.
Thank you for reading and respecting our gameplay choices.
