State of the Forums

Moderator: Os

In a previous SotF, Snikda Master gave us a bit of what it was like to be a moderator, and I'm tossing a little spin on this: What it's like to start out as one.

On February 12th, I received a private message from Joe (The Acolyte) regarding the position. After trading a few pm's back and forth I was fully initiated as a PlanetDiablo moderator on February 17th (note, no hazing rituals, yet...). [You just wait. -Ed.]

Now I had read and thought about what it was like for Stomper, Snikda, Madanark and other moderators, but now I was one and took full advantage of access to the Staff Section. Regrettably they had deleted the much talked about plans for world domination, but there was still a plethora of information, the behind the scenes deliberation of many issues and topics. Now armed with an idea as to how things went, I set out with my newfound abilities. Aside from reading and writing posts, I have to be a bit more alert as to what's happening. While reading posts and threads, I now have to think 'Is this relevant? Will this go somewhere'? Now I have to think about each topic I read much more, (which wasn't in the job description!).

The first topic I tried to reply to ended up with one of our VIP members almost banned (by accident of course). You see, the buttons at the top of each reply had shifted to the right to make room for Delete, Search IP, and Ban IP (which is now where Reply once was). Thankfully I had caught myself before hitting the Ban button, but I realized that I would have to be very careful in the future.

For the most part, any time I had to close a topic I received pm's in good nature from the authors. People understood and apologized, but in reality they made my first few days pretty easy. Thankfully there were few topics that needed to be closed or replies that needed to be deleted, and the ones that did were pretty obvious. However, there were and occasionally are threads and situations that are tough decisions. For these I turn to my peers, as I did not want to make any rash decisions. It can be very hard to figure out whether some discussions will go somewhere positive or whether they will degenerate into a nasty mess.

Due to timing, Snikda, Stomper, and Madanark were all away for the first week or so of my tenure. Joe was there thankfully to explain a few of the finer points, but he can be pretty busy sometimes what with real life (I still don't understand what that is) and a top rate site to run.

Lately things have been pretty good. The majorities of our members have been pretty good and know how things work. Occasionally someone will stray from the pack a bit but a little push in the right direction is usually all that is needed.

So that pretty much brings us here. With the exception of Pyrolocutus trying to manipulate me with his little book entitled "Handy Guide to Mod Manipulation", I've had little problems thanks to the great community we have here. The other mods have let me bounce ideas and thoughts off of them and that again has made life easier. This whole moderator thing is getting easier to understand, but at the same time I never will entirely. But that's life for you.

Hopefully this gives you (the members) a little insight into how I've had to change my thinking and what kinds of issues we have to mull over. And mark my words Pyro, I will get that book off you yet!

Till next week...

Moderator: Madanark

Assassin Research

Bowassassin: This post is decent but lacks any Nightmare and Hell survival strategy. Equipment needs are suggested; a belt-loading strategy for the woman with too much to put in her purse is offered, as well. Grade: Solid B

N. B. [nota bene]: I will rarely give any thread the A grade. These grades are a guide that parallels the usefulness of most of the thread data and the presentation of that data with regard to clarity and finesse.

Melee question: In this thread, Manticora responds and begins to establish himself as an authority on assassins. Statistic point basics are discussed, though a difference of opinion about Fade is encountered. Grade: C

Skill recommendations: The Hypnotic Cat (Manticora) gives some useful specifics about the skill trees. In Traps, he favors Death Sentry over Lightning Sentry and Wake of Inferno. In Martial Arts, he favors Phoenix Strike as the best charge-up but has no favored finishing move. He acknowledges a need for Fade, Burst of Speed, and Claw Mastery, and Shadow Master among the Shadow Disciplines. SimHo discusses his Assassin build as does Polaris. Grade: C+

Revelation, by MBradley: Unfortunately, I have read this post closely now and can tell you not to read it as of the SotF post date. Grade: F

General tips: The Flying Pineapple asks some good questions and does some introspective reasoning. We learn that Dragon Claw is probably better than Dragon Tail. Death Sentry gains support. Savior G reminds us that Act I Ice Arrow Rogues with "+3 to Skill Levels" deals alternating cold and lightning damage. Grade: C+

Merc Choice: There is brevity here, as well as no clear conclusion. Act 1 cold Rogue vs. Act 2 Might or Holy Freeze. There is insufficient data for me to know; more people should add to the thread. Read a refresher on mercenaries in a prior SotF. Grade: C

Dual wield bonus: The provenance of this sentence is Kimiko. This thread is confusing to me as I am researching the Assassin and have not played one yet. The dual wield debate here will leave questions. I shall look further for answers. Nonetheless, the discussion is generally better than average in this thread. Grade: B-

Might-D-hard: This post is old and addresses how to kill Diablo in Normal difficulty. There is much superfluous information. I was a bit disappointed, but can imagine killing him will be hard solo. Grade: D+

Shadow debate: My title is misleading as is the thread title. Basic skill and statistic point distribution is proffered by Manticora, KingDawg, and Flamearrows. I cannot tell you who is the most accurate. Manticora says, "You can charge up multiple charge-up skills at the same time. For example, you can charge up Tiger Strike and then switch to Phoenix Strike and release both attacks at once. " KingDawg notes, "Damnit, now I've gotta go make a new Assassin...I hate learning new crap." I guess that is the purpose of the forums. You can learn things to prevent disasters. Grade: C

Two Agatha Christy types lead a discussion: Sepulchrave and Lenny the Spider have a considerate, intelligent discussion for much of this thread. Read it for yourself to see whom you feel more correctly describes a strategy to fit your style. Grade: B+

I must apologize for not bringing you any more definitive data. We have a need for a good thorough assassin guide including how to cope with hell, physical immunes and deal with Diablo. If I have failed to find your ideal summary or guide on the forums, forgive me and let me know about it. I will continue my research.