• On the Abysmal mod forum, users have claimed that connecting to the Aus-1 B.net server will let you play mods since it doesn't force a download of version 1.08.  Haven't tried this myself.
• Over on Dr. Zed's Mod forum, Vector- discusses the possibility of modifying the version checker to allow 1.07 over Battle.Net.  No verification on whether this is possible, however.

Meanwhile, reports of 1.08 changes filter in.  For one thing, if your latency between you and another player/host is too high, Battle.Net won't even LET you join the game!  You receive a latency message and never even get a chance to see those hourglasses...and in an apparent attempt to "fix" the horizontal walk invulnerability bug, it is now much more difficult to walk straight horizontally (or any direction diagonally) across the screen.  This causes "deranged chicken" syndrome and is rather inexplicable; why this was done seems mysterious since it doesn't fix the horizontal walk bug and, in fact, makes dodging ranged attacks much more difficult.  Let's all scratch our heads a little now.

Update: HowGozIt filled me in about the "Aus-1" server: it is a FSGS server and NOT a Blizzard Battle.Net server, and you need a switcher program to alter your registry to connect to the right IP address.  FSGS servers do not check for application version.

Also, on Claudio's Diablo Forum, Claudio is attempting to discover the average number of monsters found per Hell run in Diablo 1.  Join the testing and discussion here.  Finally, Angelstar3 has posted her results of experience point sharing based on party affiliation in Diablo II in a post entitled, "To share or not to share."  All posts make great reading.

OK, to begin with, I suppose that you have your extra character files stored somewhere, like on a floppy or some folder on your hard drive. I also suppose that they are named with the old "dlinfo_*.drv" where * is 0 through 9. If you can't see the files at all, you probably need to change the setting in [My Computer][View][Folder Options][View][Hidden files] there are three choices under that, select [Show all files]. Now, if you can't see the ".drv" extension, change your settings in [My Computer][View][Folder Options][View][Hide file extensions for known file types] -- make sure that is not checked. That's for Win98, I don't remember where Win95 hid it.

Now, once you can see the files and the extension, simply copy them to the Diablo folder. Once there, you can rename them to the new naming scheme which is "multi_*.sv" where, again, * is a number from 0 to 9 (Windows will probably give you some kind of "Are you sure" message, just say "yes" [g]). Just be sure to put them in an empty slot (i.e., use a digit that is not already in use). If you've used all the digits already, you can move a character out of the way by renaming the file. For instance, if you have a character Argggh that is in file "multi_3.sv", simply rename the file "Argggh multi_3.sv" and Diablo will no longer see it. Then "multi_3.sv" will be available for either a new character or one of the ones you are restoring/transferring. BTW, the 0-9 order in the folder listing is just the inverse of how the characters are listed on the character selection screen.

OK, one gotcha is that if two characters have the same name, then only one (and I don't remember if its the high digit or the low) will show up. So be sure to use different names.

Now, if that still does not work, or if you just want to be neat about all this, open a MS-DOS prompt window. change directory to root
CD \
then change directory down to the Diablo folder using the "CD" command to change directories and the "DIR /p" command to get your listing. When you get to the Diablo directory, type in
attrib -r -a -h -s *.*
This will change the file attributes on all the files in your Diablo directory so that they are not read-only, not archive, not hidden and not system. That should just about do the job.

Thanks, Pete.  This has been a hot question lately and it's good to end the worry that people could have lost their extra characters.

• Adds support for Battle.net gateways.
• Changes default Battle.net font so that it is easier to distinguish certain characters while in chat.
• Adds command completion to Battle.net chat. It can be accessed by pressing the "tab" key.
• Fixes some minor battle.net issues.
• Displays cancel dialog in situations when server is busy.
• [PC Only]. Multiplayer character files are now located in the Diablo directory. These files are visible, more descriptively named, and may be moved from one computer to another.
• Color cycling On/Off now appears in options menu. This will help some low end systems and systems with troublesome drivers.
• Spawn is now updated.
• [Mac Only] Improved Mac vs. PC multiplayer, modem, and direct connect.
• [Mac Only] Added Input Sprocket/multibutton mouse support.
• [Mac Only] Added option to share processor time.
• [PC Only]. The registry key HKEY_CURRENT_USER is used rather than HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.

But that's nothing compared to the massive ramifications this patch has on the Diablo mod scene - ALL mods are not playable over Battle.Net at this time!  Mod players everywhere are dismayed by this development.  Mods are still playable Single Player, but B.net play won't be workable until the mods are patched for the latest changes.  Says Varaya, co-author of the V&K and Middle Earth mods, in the Lounge forum:

We had this situation once when we had that mod for Diablo 1.04. Blizzard then put out the 1.05 patch (IIRC), but soon said they would create an 1.07 patch. Since even that early mod was quite a ton of work to carry over to a new version (and that was WITHOUT lots of code changes), we waited for the 1.07 patch and then sat down for several days to carry the mod over to 1.07. That was back when we had 99% only data changes and one or two little tweaks like Big D not ending the game.

Now we have again a new Diablo patch, but this time the mod is HUGE (the ME mod is really, REALLY large), and it contains DOZENS of code changes, from the really, really small ones like F1 to F4 hotkeys right up to things like shrine modifications, changes to speed/haste on different weapon types, changes to the treatment of boss levels, the new stuff like dropped item highlighting and random monsters on lvl 16, etc. etc.

And that only two or three weeks before D2 comes out.

That is quite a kick into the groin area.

I do not know whether Khan and I (or all the other mod creators out there, there are dozens of them) want to go through all of this once again.

Khan, Varaya's counterpart in modmaking, put it shorter and (unfortunately) sweeter on the VK Mods Message Board:

It is a catastrophe.

There is still hope that some programmer-guru will come up with a solution but I don't expect any mod to be playable via Bnet for at least some weeks (with D2's release this is pretty bad).

So it may well be that we are all to play mods only via IPX or Modem for the rest of our lives.

Is this the end of the Diablo mod scene?  Express your feelings on the Diablo Strategy Forum here and here.  It has yet to be seen, but it could be.  Mods are of course still playable over Kali, but Battle.Net is much more popular in comparison.

Also, since Blizzard has now abandoned the longtime storage of multiplayer characters as hidden files which need the correct computer name to be seen, backup utilities and HowGozIt's Backup Guide appear to be useless.  What a bomb for Blizzard to drop; one which may have killed off the popular mod scene today.  More information to come in the next few days on mods and what progress is made towards restoring playability.

Update: if you want to send your congratulations, a good spot for it is on the DSF.  :)  Not aware of how tough this achievement is?  Try this on for size:

- No magic used at all
- No magic items used at all
- 29 hours of gameplay
- Potions used: at least 2,200 reds, over 160,000 Gold
- Plate Mails shredded: 4
- Chain Mails shredded: 2
- Skull Caps shredded: 17
- Shields ripped to shreds: 1 (they didn't block much)
- Shields bought from Gris, scattered on dungeon floor: 17
- Total durability lost on all swords combined: 18
- Total durability lost on armor, when we even wore any: 500
- Combined AC of all four characters on an average run on 14: 72
- Number of trips to 16 required to kill just Diablo: 29
- % Blocking rate vs Blood Knights: 8% (Animal) to 22% (Sparta)
- Longest stretch without a single kill: 90 mins

Or, as Charis stated, "This was the toughest H/H game I've ever had or care to have - it's like beating your head against a wall so long that it just feels good when you stop."  Congratulations to the gang once again.  I'm so impressed I won't even call you variant scum!  :)