Here's the first draft of this. Let me know what you guys think. I'll eventually make all of the lists into actual board lists as well as format somewhat differently, but I still have to decide how to do that. Any suggestions are welcome.
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A guide to harmony and teambuilding 
(the SPF Diablo2 LoD MP guide and FAQ.)
The first and most important rule in anything that you do with other people is that courtesy and kindness are both important to your enjoyment of a situation and the enjoyment of a group. As part of a group, you are responsible to keep it both together and happy. Failing this, you will not only piss off the people that you MP with, but you will fail at a trivial yet important real-life group circumstance.
The second most important rule is that the host of a game has a certain bargaining chip that is reasonably asserted in many games. The host is to determine the way that item drops are to be divided and also the pace and tone of the game. House rules, especially pertaining to drops, should be discussed up front. If you don't like a host's house rules, kindly explain why. If they continue to disagree, you should either play under them or quit. It's not worth being frustrated over this game. If you begin to feel that way with a host or other character, leaving is not a bad idea.
Third (and related to the end of two). This game is about enjoying yourself. If you keep dying in stupid ways, if your merc continuously decides to run after impossible bosses, if you just straight-up aren't having a good time, leave the game. The entire point is to have fun! I had a recent day when I died about 4 times in the span of 10 minutes. I realized that I was really tired and just shouldn't have been playing and so I quit, saving myself trouble and frustration. And I feel much, much better for it.
SECTION 1: Courteous Play.
Since there are all sorts of ways that you can be properly courteous in-game, this section will take a situational approach to courtesy, starting when you first log into a server through your exit thereof.
If a game is specified for a certain area and a certain difficulty, only enter the game with a character who might reasonably be at that point in the game. If a super high-level character enters a low- to mid-level game, the result will be almost no experience or fun for the lower levelled characters. Similarly, bringing an underpowered character up to a high-level game is not wise. You'll be likely strugging to keep up and will constantly die which might prove to be burdensome on the rest of your party.
As less of a rule and more as a courtesy, it's a really great idea to name your characters with a little zest. Not only are they your avatars for others to see, running around a game with someone named IKBarb is kinda boring and sterile. Same with Avenger and other such descriptive monikers. Perhaps you like a fictional character with similar attributes: use that instead of SorcIV. There's likely a mythical god named after one of your attributes. Google for that and use it. This game only offers limited application of imagination--this is a good place to use it.
As a host, you are both the arbitrator and the law. As such, you should be always aware of not only what is actually happening in the game, but also the communications going back and forth between other people. If anything gets out of hand, it is your responsibility to jump in and help resolve any conflict that may occur. You are also responsible for making sure that the group is relatively balanced. If you are playing an übertwinked hammerdin and there is an enchantress in the group, it might be a good idea to leave the player setting a little lower than you otherwise might in order for the enchantress to make a contribution to the effort.
Unless you know all the people that you're playing with very well, and even then, it is a bad idea to curse and use 1337speak. This community has especially high standards for communication and highly prizes the use of complete sentences and proper spelling. While you might find this silly or annoying, poor language and 1337speak are most certainly more so to most people from the SPF.
A specific case that I'm going to highlight is the use of words related to homosexuality. While colloquial use of the words *** and f@g (and other variants thereof) might be "acceptable" to some other online communities, they are completely unacceptable in any civilized situation due to their intrinsic bigotry towards members of alternate sexualities. Bigotry has no place at the SPF.
It is very important in a group to know who is playing which character. In the case of the SPF, it is imperative that you announce yourself with your forum handle as you enter a game. A simple "<--forumname" will suffice. This is important so that:
1.) People are able to create a social network with others on the boards.
2.) People are held accountable for their in-game actions.
3.) People can communicate after the game with each other on the message board.
Creating ties between gamers is the entire point of the Diablo2 forums here at the .net community, especially in the SPF. These social networks established by MP sessions both create trust for trading and other issues and provide a real-time assessment of character for all individuals involved. Your actions and words will create your online personality, and putting the best foot forward is extremely important--announcing yourself is a firm and polite way of doing so.
Once you're in, you'll be looking to get an invite into the party. The way to go about this is first to wait for one of the other people to give you an invite. Chill out at your stash for a minute or so--perhaps the party has run into some cursed, extra fast, extra strong frenzytaurs and cannot immediately party you. Have no fear. You will certainly be added to the party, it just might take a minute. If you feel that you've waited long enough, ask nicely and you will certainly be partied and TPed within seconds. From the other side, if someone joins, party them as soon as you can, unless there's some obvious reason not to (for example, they have a gigantic level discrepancy or refuse to give their forum handle).
Once into the game, you will encounter other peoples' characters and they will encounter yours. Questions will indubitably be asked about your build and gear. Answer them honestly and succinctly. One of the goals of working in a party is good interplay between all the people within it, especially with regard to tactics. In discussing your build, you should look out for problem spots between your build and other builds. For example, a hammerdin that uses redemption for mana/life will butt heads with a CE necro. The best way to go about this is figuring out who needs which corpses when. A good way to reach a compromise might be that the hammerdin will stick slightly behind after a major battle to cast redemption on the corpses after the necro has had his exploding frenzy finish off the lagging hell bovines. Other similar situations exist when two paladins have the same major aura or a froster zealot and a skellimancer are in the same party. Here are some basic rules for skill arbitration:
1.) Swallow your pride. You'll most certainly come up against some intractable people who are likely right. You have to give a little to make parties work.
2.) A higher level aura takes precedence. If you and another partymate are both using the same aura, let the one of you with level 28 conviction use that while the other turns on some other useful aura like defiance.
3.) If a skill prohibits the use of another, it should be used very rarely. The best example of this is aforementioned corpse requirement. If there are other people that need corpses to be effective, you need to be respectful of that.
4.) Communicate about skill interplay and the best ways to work out skill overlap. The intimate details of your characters' relationships need not be fully fleshed out, but the basic plan should be quickly sketched.
5.) Necromancers who have curses should use them. If the majority of a party is melee, cast amp damage often, even if it has little effect for your build. Helping out the entire party should be the point of everyone's actions.
You will most certainly be asked more details about your build and gear as you proceed, but this is not the point to crow over your extreme damage or super-strong runewords. Not only do those things not really matter, it's much more fun to understatedly explain your build and then utterly annihilate a batch of demons before the rest of the group's first timered spell is ready again.
Pacing is key to a successful MP venture. Some people pore over item drops gathering all the gold and checking out all the magical items for that one cruel of quickness that everyone wants, while some blast past and leave all the items with no real regard for what has dropped. There are differing opinions on how to work the speed factor. The factors include the following:
1.) Host pace
2.) Slowest member's fastest pace
3.) Teleport
I've been in games where I haven't been able to keep up because I haven't had 40% FR/W boots and the hammerdin and winddruid did, leaving me struggling in the dust. In this case, the fastest people need to slow down a bit for the slower guys. However, if the general pace is quick, it's not appropriate to sit and play around in the leaves, trying to read the future in the entrails of the recently felled fallen. Additionally, not everyone has teleport. When a sorc teleports all over the map and then says, "blood raven is here," it is often impossible to have any idea where that is, let alone have a safe path to get there.
Similarly, groups should stick together unless specifically requested to split up. The only three ways that I see that happening in a non-rush game are when some of the characters are very poorly suited for the maggot lair and go to obtain the viper amulet; when characters split up to decrease the time it takes to obtain Khalim's pieces; and when a party is trying to comb back over a map area to find a waypoint.
Splitting up rules also count for repairing/town visits. These things work best if an entire group goes to town together. This way, TPs aren't scattered across the landscape in random order and everyone sticks together. If you do have to go to town, be sure to say that you're going to town and people will likely come with you.
One useful thing to do in MP groups is clearing all areas in similar ways. If you always turn left when coming to a junction or move in the same direction around an area every time, you'll more easily keep everyone together and it will help everyone to get into the flow of the game.
Pacing rules additionally include banter and discussion. I've been in discussion-filled games and nearly silent games and have enjoyed each in great measure. Make sure that if no one else is talking, you're not just a chatterbox. Conversely, if everyone is talking, being the silent guy is fine, but let the game pace slow to allow for conversation. If there is any confusion about how much banter should be allowed, talk it out.
Crappy situations exist in the game of D2, like the cursed, extra fast, extra strong frenzytaurs mentioned earlier. This is certainly not the time to bail on your party, in fact, this will be the time when your party needs you most! The way to best accomplish the destruction of a group of difficult monsters is to follow the lead of the melee characters (except with the bugged FE situation). The melee characters will create a battle line at which most of the action will take place. Be sure to be in your proper place relative to this center of activity and support accordingly. Trust me, that barb will NEED your frozen orb constantly chilling all the monsters around him. However, when the melee line breaks, make a run for it.
Shrines are another point of contention for many people. The usual rule about experience shrines is that the lowest-level character gets them. Other shrines, though, are more difficult to parcel out. Some obvious rules follow:
-Weaker melee fighters should be given armor shrines, never berserker barbs;
-A spamming sorc should get the mana recharge shrines to avoid having to drink so many pots;
-Mana shrines are best given to caster classes and health to melee;
-Well priority should be given to cursed members of your party;
-Other shrine rules will obviously flow as your party goes through the game...just remember the rules of courtesy and things will go well.
It occasionally happens that in the course of a game you will receive an important phone call from your agent alerting you to the fact that you'll be playing for the Denver Nuggets next year and you need to leave the party for a time. Maybe you just have to use the bathroom. If you do temporarily part ways from the party, be sure to tell them what's going on, if appropriate, and most certainly let everyone know that you're going AFK (away from keyboard). Even if you're just going to town, let everyone know. The rest of a group might not notice your absence right away, and your Conviction might be what's keeping the lightningzon in business in the WSK 3 where gloams and familiars abound.
Speaking of Gloams, there will certainly be death in MP games. If that is the case for a member of the party, it is very courteous to go back and help clear their corpse and give them a TP so they can return. Even if a person is not in your group, helping them find their corpse is a nice and generous thing and is just generally good to do.
And speaking of death, if you come upon a ridiculously difficult group of enemies and have to teleport or TP away to avoid instant KO, be sure to tell your party about it. You definitely don't want them to come rushing in and all die and leave the group of monsters around your TP for just you to finish off.
Although it shouldn't come to this in SPF games, do not PK or hostile anyone unless a duel has been agreed upon. One of the reason that many people left BNet for SP is to avoid things like PKing. PKing is the single circumstance where a person is completely disallowed the right to a safe game, and that is unacceptable in this community.
SECTION 2: Obvious Drop Etiquette.
This is another set of courtesy points to be always followed. This will not include rules about boss drops or big item drops. This is instead about potions, chests, obvious kills, and the like.
Magical Chests have items in them that are often crap, but occasionally quite excellent. If you didn't open the chest, though, don't take the items! Be sure to wait until the person who did open it has passed by before you do. Perhaps that person is taking a minute to organize their backpack before going ahead with the pickup. If so, go ahead and open the next chest and help yourself to its contents.
Potions are needed by practically everyone. Learn to watch for other people picking up potions. If they're picking up some of the same ones as you, be sure to leave some behind for them to obtain. You'll definitely have enough to function, especially as the player number becomes higher. The game certainly realizes that more people are joining and adjusts potion drops accordingly.
If a person walks into a small subroom by him or herself to check it out and quickly clear it, don't go in and snag the drops from it. If you're lagging back for a second to finish clearing the area, the drops are yours. This doesn't give you license to go around into lvl85 areas and leave the group for solo killing, but it does make it so that if there's an obvious small area that you decide to clear quickly, perhaps because you made a wrong turn, then you are justifiably entitled to the drops. If you're barely outside the normal group, though, you shouldn't go into grab-frenzy mode.
Another important piece of obvious drop etiquette has to do with the teleport spell. If you're teleporting just to snatch gear out under someone else's nose, that's rather rude. There's a reason that telekinesis can no longer pick up items. Instead of teleporting to items, walk/run to them to get them.
There will always be items that you pick up and don't want. Feel free to drop them in town in an open area (not by the stash) for people to sort through in case they are interested. If taking an item from this pile, be sure to OK it with the group, just in case something was accidentally dropped.
Gold drops are shared by everyone, which means that everyone should be always picking up gold. If there's a large pile next to you, go ahead and pick it up. Even if you don't need the gold right away, someone else might, and everyone constantly picking up gold will, at the very least, give everyone lots of gambling money, which is never a bad thing.
SECTION 3: Determining Division of Big and Ambiguous Drops.
This is where the lines get blurry. In this section, I will outline some of the common ways to divide up the big drops. Remember, hosts have the ultimate authority over what happens during their games. There are a few rules relative to grabbing, though, that should always be observed.
-Never pick up a drop right away. Grabbers are the most annoying people with whom to play. Let it sit for a minute and talk it out.
-Never pick up anything from a boss drop before everyone can see it. This is just rude. Often, some people don't even see what dropped, which is absurd.
-Always tell everyone if a big item drops. Not doing so is rather devious.
-If someone specifically mentions that she is looking for a specific item or items to outfit a specific character, she should be given priority if that item does drop. However, this means that she should leave other drops to the other players.
One possible option for dividing drops is by need. This is the way that I usually play with people, and I highly suggest it if you're playing with a trusted set of friends. In this way, the drop division hierarchy goes like this:
1.) People whose current characters can use the item
2.) People whose other characters can immediately use the items
3.) Grailers
4.) Anyone else who wants it (although host should get a little priority here.)
Another option that some advocate is the "everything goes to the host" method. I personally dislike this one, but many people find it to be the best. The host should have the ultimate say, IMO, but any good host will divide items properly among his guests.
Round-robin drops are often used. There's an order assigned when you start playing and each person gets a drop in his turn. There are some variations where an individual can defer their drop, but unless you're playing with very trusted people, that can get ugly very fast.
Some games are played with the "if you get it, it's yours" mentality. I personally dislike those games a whole lot and avoid them if possible, but some hosts prefer to run their games this way.
A wonderfully novel and interesting plan was suggested by Trenshadow.
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Trenshadow
If you end up with more than 1 person actually deciding they would like to own said item rather than foregoing it to someone else, have all 'contestants' pick a digit (ie, number from 0-9). Designate one char (preferably not a contestant) as the decider. All party members venture forth to the nearest uncleared area and the decider kills one monster at a time until a pile of gold drops. Check the last digit of that gold drop. If it matches one of the previously selected contestant's numbers, we have a winner. If not, the decider keeps killing one monster at a time until a result is determined. If the decider manages to kill 2 (or more) monsters at once, and multiple gold piles drop simultaneously, all such piles are null and void and the decider should proceed to the next monster.
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The situation will likely arise that a super-crazy drop will fall and someone will snag it and refuse to give it up which is a reasonable thing to do in some cases. If a Zod drops, for example, there is not really going to be a discussion while it lays on the ground, because someone will just pick it up. This happens with things like very high-end runes and TC-87 items. The best way to deal with this, IMO, is to make it so that if you grab an extremely high item, you remove yourself from the rest of the MF goodies for a while.
Linear Mode
