Atma does work for the latest patch actually. But GoMule is much better anyway. You can look it up in the spf stickies or just Google it.
If you don't plan on trading on the SP forums here, I'd just use PlugY tbh. The people on these forums frown on it as a 'hack' because of the things it allows you to do, but if you only use it for muling, it is *so* much more convenient than either Atma or Gomule! If I could stomach playing D2 as SP, I'd definitely use it over other muling programs.
---
Ah, the trades, the
trades... There's never been an experience quite like the in-game trading in D2. I did trade on the forums for a while, and even tried out the forum-that-shan't-be-named; but there was just something that *clicked* about that whole direct online experience -- frustrating as it was at the best of times. First you had to *hunt* for the trade you wanted, scouring games for hours or even days in case of rarer items... Then you'd spot your *prey* and *pounce* on it! Unless the trade winds were against you ('Lost connection to Battle.net', etc), you entered knowing the trade had only just
begun... Oh, the endless haggling, the fear of looming disconnect as you ransacked through your many mules! 'Now let's not click too
quickly, nice and
steady... OMG WTF my 20 ISTS were on the GROUND!!!1 -.-') When you finally could actually make a trade, you *knew* you had made it!
All these modern-day Gen-Z white-bread whippersnappers weaned on the fat teat of the travesty that was the AH would never know the thrill of a *
REAL* trade, even if it hit them in the face with a Gemmed Breastplate... *wipes a tear from his wizened eye* ... *almost fires up D2 again* ... * knows the game is dead after all these years and fights the urge* ... *comes
THIS close to firing it up anyway, just this
once, for old times' sake, only for a few
THOUSAND hours more; it's practically
NOTHING in the
grand scheme of things...
*
In many ways the old D2 trading system was a black unicorn, meaning D3 was a disaster waiting to hit, no matter what happened or who made it; for all the 'improvements' that we had dreamed up in our little heads (or me at least) were in reality the very things that sapped the fun from the veins of the game as it was released. How could I have known that the
fun lay deeply embedded in the many layers of
inconvenience that enveloped the whole trading experience? I'm sure some kind of compromise
could've been found -- but the odds were heavily against it, and would people have accepted it without the benefit of hindsight? In all honesty, I'm not sure I would've.
Doesn't mean I can't miss the old trading, nor dream about the ideal system that could've been. It was the worst of times; it was the best of times... Oh, what a great time it was.
This is all regardless of the other failings of D3 (which to me are many). To me, as to many on these forums, trading was the life-blood of the Diablo experience, with which it lived or died. Not slaying monsters, finding loot or even using it for dueling or new PVM builds. That was all fine and dandy; but it was always the
trades that kept me coming back for over 5 years -- and that made me leave when they were first ruined by the AH and later swept aside with the removal of the same.
The recipe to draw me back would be simple. Re-make D2 as a 'deluxe' version. Take the atmosphere from D1 (only played it after D2 and man was I blown away! Satanic chills down my spine at every corner!), mechanics from D2 (fixing all the bugs and adding more items and skills), combat from D3 (the only thing that the game improved upon). Improve the graphics, but do *not* 'wowify' them. The plot could be anything (as long as Cain is ret-surrected and never killed by a no-name butterfly ever again); no one cares after a while. Oh, and the most important part: a new, non-AH trading system. An infinite, shared stash is a must in 2016, so the fear of disconnect would have to go as a source of uncertainty and nostalgia. Otherwise it could look a lot like D2's, with a scrollable game-list and everything. Why reinvent the wheel when you could improve upon it? That old picture that someone drew about D1, D2 and D3 comes to mind once again...
This turned into a novel but ehh, people hardly post in these forums anymore and I trust I speak for many hearts and minds with these bittersweet words of farewell / reminiscence...
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