Do you want content from the community? I was going to put together a WD guide for the build I use.

Off the top of my head it'd be good to bring in some other social elements to the site. Maybe down one of the left/right hand panels show how many users are in chat/mumble or somesuch to encourage users to take part. A lot of the players here are similar minded and enjoy playing together but there's a bit of disconnect between the site and being able to enjoy each others company in-game.. this is mostly Blizzards fault for the terrible lack of features for chatting/friends in game but there's perhaps more the site can do rather than having everything in tabs which takes you away from the actual content you're reading.

One thing that bugs me is there's no breadcrumb at the bottom of the page, so if you're reading a forum post that has a few posts and want to get back to 'General Discussion' sometimes you have to scroll waaaaay up the page just to hit the link (specially if the posts have images!). Simple fix is to have the breadcrumb both top and bottom.

Sorry I deal with user experience in my day job!

All of these are strictly my opinions. Instead of putting, "in my opinion" before each and every statement, assume it's there. Contrary to my general attitude, I don't believe myself to be all knowing.

I think you're getting into the business at a time when only the 200+ (or even 500+) hour players are left. Basic Guides just aren't useful now. I think the novelty build market is just starting to gain momentum now that Blizz has finished their first round of class buffs. I can find half a dozen WW Barb guides, but I only found one Thunderstrike Barb build.

It helps if the builds are affordable. The Blizzard Wizard guide was fun to read, but the only Zuni boots recommended cost more than I spent on my entire Archon set. An uber-budget guide every once in a while is fine, but you won't get many repeat visitors if you get the reputation of only having 100 million Gold guides.

Since builds in D3 are 100% equipment based, guides need a much heavier focus on gear and stat requirements. In my opinion Archon is absolutely fantastic at this. ProzaicMuze from the Thunderstrike Barb above is also very good in that he gives tips on where the budget can be cut. Legitimate current Buyout Cost of gear is extremely helpful, if not necessary for novelty builds. It takes a lot of work to put together a legitimate budget estimate, but it gives people something to shoot for.

Witch Doctor guides are practically non-existent. I know I got a few people to start up a DH based on the thread I put together with the variety of builds possible. I wouldn't have started a barb without the Thunderstrike guide. I have a clvl 44 WD that I leveled in 1.0.3 and haven't touched since then because I haven't had the motivation to start one. A Witch Doctor enthusiast that covers 1 mainstream and 1 novelty build could go a long way towards getting a dozen new Witch Doctor players and draw the WD underground to DiabloHub. Given that the class doesn't benefit from attack speed means there has to be a treasure trove of budget builds waiting to be explored.

Front page community content is fantastic, but I think there needs to be some clear editorial guidelines you'll want to develop. Those guidelines can evolve over time, but I think a green sticky titled "Want to get on the DiabloHub Front Page? Read This First" would help you and the writers. Have a devoted section for popular topics people will submit like Build Guides, AH guides and Editorials. Be specific about content DiabloHub isn't interested in right now. Maybe you aren't a theorycrafting hub. Maybe fanart isn't your thing. Pimp out the forums as a place for those discussions as well as a work-in-progress area.

For example:
Build Guides
We're looking especially for novelty builds. There are a dozen WW guides and the D3 community doesn't need another. At the very least, we want to see:
1.) How to play the build, including tips and tricks and how it plays for at least 2 MP levels (good breakpoints are MP0, MP4, MP7, MP10)

2.) Required Skills, including alternate runes for players that, for instance, may be lacking in Defense or Life Steal

3.) A gear section including ideal gear and budget gear. Skorn might be ideal, but could an IK 2H Mighty Weapon do just as well? Is 80-100% CD from a socket necessary or can you get by with a much cheaper 50% CD affix? People can't afford a CC Mempo, but they probably can afford an Andariel's Visage.

We highly recommend:
4.) Current AH Buyout price analysis - can you legitimately build it for 10 million Gold? 50 million Gold?

5.) Gear substitutions from builds people probably already have. It's safe to assume any serious Wizard player has an archon set and maybe even a CM Wizard set. 2-piece Nat's Set (Boots/Helm, Boots/Ring) is a great, cheap way to get CC on any class and most DH players will have some they can carry over to a new Wizard.

I enjoy regular editorial content on topics from people that have a clear understanding of their topic and some historical perspective. A really interesting columnist can recall what the game and/or AH was like in Patch 1.0.3 and can provide comparisons without whining about the "good old days."

Weekly columns on recent AH trends, for instance, would be interesting. I would read a good weekly PvP column that covers the current public metagame even though I don't really enjoy PvP. I like complicated numerical analysis, but I think I'm in a tiny minority there. It also means it's an underserved demographic by fansites.

So... yeah... I have a few opinions.

Posted by DHAdmin at 03/05/2013 09:14 AM

The basic builds are just so we can say we have them and users do not need to go elsewhere.

In that case, CM Wiz guide, please. I suck at it and I actually have 2.74 aps, 46.5% CC, 18 APOC, .25 Chantodo's Will.

Would like a search function for the guides please. Something that a user can easily input: "Wizard CM" or "Tank DH". Or dedicated guide pages for the various classes and with various guide classifications such as "Tank" "XP Farm" "Crit" etc.

I learned something today! Didn't realize there was a dropdown for that section.

Posted by Khan at 03/05/2013 09:17 PM

Would like a search function for the guides please. Something that a user can easily input: "Wizard CM" or "Tank DH". Or dedicated guide pages for the various classes and with various guide classifications such as "Tank" "XP Farm" "Crit" etc.

I was about to make a comment about a search feature after reading @ninjax's comment about breadcrumbs, but figured I'd finish the entire thread in case someone else already suggested it. Not just for guides specifically, but just a general search function for the entire forums section. I remember there was a time when I wanted to edit a post I'd previously written from several months ago (I believe it was to add an image of a magic item w/ no stats other then "Reduced Level Requirement" to a thread on "The most useless items found"), and was surprised at the time to notice that there wasn't any search function built into the forums. Ended up having to go through the list of all my previous comments in order to find the thread...

So yes, I'm very happy to see that @anuiran has already stated that "Search is something we need for the entire website for sure." :-)

Regarding guides: More DH guides would be awesome. :-) I think due to the class's unique double resources (hatred vs discipline) and whatnot, most players feel there's more opportunity for diversity with DHs versus other classes, and it'd be awesome to see that represented in more concrete terms through a large variety of different guides--glass cannon build, tank build, dex/attack speed + sentries build, grenadier build, hybrid builds, etc.

1. Gold is an essential part of the game. So, a guide on how to make gold please! It should include "remember to enter I love Monday draws".

2. Guide on BiS gears, including
- how to max DPS using AS, CC, CD apart from primary. I learned the interaction between these quite late in the game
- how armor & resist function and interact

Get that community feeling going. =) Great suggestions already. I feel the urge to master one of my characters and write up a handy bit of information, but I'm pushed for time.

Although, I do need a reason to get creative again, so if you need any graphics just shoot me a message. Matching banners throughout site, new logo, small graphics to improve social aspects & personalization etc.

Whatever I can do, but only with your approval. =)

I'd really like to see a new logo. When D3RMT changed to DiabloHub, I lost affection for the logo.

I still type D3rmt.com out of spite.

@Anuiran @kojasou

Logo contest. 10m to the winner. Done. :)

The old one has some cohesion and correct spacing at least.

I'll donate the 10m gold. Let's do this.

Got bored waiting for maintenance to finish...

I know, it's cliche... I've changed up the base font a bit. Spent half an hour staring at pixels. =) Not complete, open to suggestions.

I like it. Can you add in some gold reference, and maybe the new multiplayer indicators?

I think the site is largely focused around the auction house and community, and these to me are the easiest way to represent that.

I actually did a search for the meaning of hub. Drew this in a Draw Something fashion:

(btw if you are wondering why Diablo has less fingers on his left hand, he bite its thumb off while he is playing hardcore.)

Thoughts?

Posted by EnzyOne at 04/13/2013 09:55 AM

Thoughts?

That, my friend, is sexy. Well done! I am a firm believer that the website name should be bigger than the advertisement banner at the top of the screen.

Looks kind of clunky and out of place to me for some reason *shrug*. Maybe if you moved it to the left a bit more it wouldn't look as off as it does to me.