How did I become a D2 TSW mod player?

 In the past I post some pro articles which introduce the feature of this mod and new character buildings in Chinese. However, the result looks not so good. So I am wondering how to write the articles about the mod in English because I don't want to translate the old articles. You can find it in the link below: (and of course it is Traditional Chinese)
https://home.gamer.com.tw/creationCategory.php?owner=durllu&c=250703

If you can read Chinese then I think you can learn much about the TSW mod from it. Because I am a retired player and a pro D2 TSW mod player as well. I am very confident about that.

So what or where should we begin? It is a hard question to me. Because it looks like too much for me to talk. And I had no reference, in the past years, very few players interact with me. Or they can not last for a long time as I did. So I don't know how to teach or introduce what I know. Something easy for me or something I take for granted is not the same way for others. At the same time, I don't want to write it as though it is in class, that is too serious for a retired player. That was something I did in the early years as you can read in the link above. Now I can't and don't want to do that.

So let's do it in a story style as I could as possible. Especially in English I have to translate in my mind, it is not as easy as I express in my mother language. Maybe it will be more fun to start with the story of " How did I become a TSW mod player? "

How did I become a TSW mod player?

This is a long story in the terms of time. But let me describe it in short as possible as I can. I have played Diablo 2 : Lord of Destruction for over 20 years. And at the front part or the beginning, it was a normal story like most of other players, as a kid and fell in love in the game and pay much time to play. And I have to say that it was because I felt bored so I play HC (hardcore mode) for years. (It sounds not good but reasonable.) And finally I met D2 TSW mod due to the same reason. So for me, D2 TSW mod is the "Ideal Diablo 2" for me. (Actually it should be called "Diablo 2 : LoD", but it is my habit to call it "Diablo 2".) After I had played vanilla Diablo 2 for over 10 years. That is the part where I begin to play D2 TSW mod.

Well of course before I start to play it, I did some research. I read the author's website, to know what he wanted to show or what he wanted to improve or change. And the ideas about the game is the same for me. So I tried it and then got stuck in it later. This mod evoke my passion to play the same game again. Well it should not be called "the same game" accurately, it is actually different game just like Normal vs Hell difficulty. Although the same appearance, but totally different content. And this difference is the hardest part for vanilla players including me.

I don't want to write them precisely so I just mention a little bit. For new and vanilla players, you need to face some bad habits that you grew in the past. That depends on your old time of play style. It is the same for me, too. But at the same time, you also find a new way to play the characters due to its new setting or change of many parts. It is introduced in my website so I don't want to talk again. Check the link above. Anyway, it is a new challenge, which contains pain and joy. Just like most of other challenges, isn't it? And at the time, I personally took me as a pro player. I picked Amazon as the first one, but at the time I was a literally noob. I didn't know the cube formula at the time even. After I found out, I decided to change my character, a Barbarian. For me, this is the real TSW character that I played, so I considered Barbarian as my real "First Character".

So I begun as if I was a newborn, of course there are many things I needed to know but I didn't. And luckily the author is Taiwanese and I am as well, I could ask him by private messages via the website above. That was how I learn TSW mod and Diablo 2 itself. Yes, by the mod, I learned more again about the Diablo 2. This is interesting I have to say as I was passionate about it. I still remember the time I played. The tough time that I faced, and the feeling after I solved it. 

So I played TSW mod for another years, just like a passionate player as others would be. And I tried to promote it, I made stream and write articles in Chinese and upload videos later. To show how to play (by videos) and how to put your skills (by articles). Only equipment is not mentioned since I think it is a challenge and joy for others, I should not deprive them of this.

So that's all. After so many years, now I am a retired TSW player. I have to admit that. Now I am not an active player anymore although I still think it is very fun and challenging. I think that maybe I can write something not that serious to share with foreign players, which is this blog for. Hence don't expect too much about this blog. If you want to read more pro articles, go to the link above. Basically, this blog is a place for an "old player's chatting".