Possible Bug - Can't find *any* hidden shrines?

[RetroGaming]

Hey guys,

I've recently found a "Thinking Cap" (unique skull cap with 1/1 durability) and am trying to up its durability using Hidden Shrines. Well...after scouring dlvls 1-8 perhaps 50 times over (separate/distinct runs), I have yet to find a *single* Hidden Shrine. I initially chalked it up to bad luck but a friend of mine (who recently up'd his own TC) says he comes across one every ~1-3 games. We figured it might be a bad install so I uninstalled and subsequently re-installed with the official game disc but I still have had no luck.

I should note:
- I'm playing on Multiplayer mode via battle.net 1.09.
- I'm playing 100% legitimately. In other words - i'm not using any trainers, duped items, or anything that would otherwise compromise the integrity of the game.
- The only 3rd party program i'm running is DiabloStats 1.4 which runs in the background and was authored by the Legit Community for uploading your character stats online. The friend I play with also runs this program (negating it from being the problem).
- I initially installed the game using an image file. After I located my game disc, however, I reinstalled from there. I've spoken to others who've installed by .iso / or .cue and they have no problem finding Hidden Shrines.
- I've come across every shrine possible in Multiplayer with the exception of this one (which i've attached a stock image of).

Could it be that the public games I create are bugged such that they do not generate this type of shrine? In any case... it seems as if i've exhausted all options so any help you may be able to offer is greatly appreciated.

EDIT: My friend has since helped me up the durablity of my TC by locating Hidden Shrines in games of his own. That being said, I am still curious to know why this is happening since I may yet be missing out on additional elements of the game i'm unaware of.

Thank you,

RetroGaming (D1 Username: Prom3th3us)

[ravenlore]

When I found my first TC it took me maybe 75 games before finding one.. just crazy bad variance. Eventually found enough of them to get a huge TC dur and max out my Naj... you go stretches finding none then find 2 in the same game.

I went forever without finding a drag/zod despite being a well above average laz runner then eventually found 3 in 1 month, and 2 in back to back days(!!)

The way you installed it should be fine, I cant see how it would snip that exact shrine out of the game and nothing else. Id take it as bad luck in the short term.

[RetroGaming]

Ah, thanks for the reassurance ravenlore. Glad to know i'm not the only one whose experienced this! In that case, i'll keep plugging away then and will report back should I have any luck.

[ravenlore]

It seems with me the worst luck is when I'm looking for exclusively 1 thing in an area.. .never seem to find it then the whole session feels like a waste of time. I recommend doing HOS runs in combo with your hidden shrines. by the time you find a HOS you should be shrined up far enough

speaking of good luck the last time I accidentally hit a cauldron (warr was using a stealth setup that makes it impossible to see) it came up with a hidden shrine. lol

[ravenlore]

I found about 5 today on my lower lvl journies.. if you badly need a specific item upped you can give it to me and Ill dur it for you.