This is a great little community.
A suggestion would be, if u haven't already, check twitch for D2 runners streaming and check if they have discords. Discord can be a great resource for asking questions. Also some runners have their info on their speedrun profile page, twitch/youtube etc.
Also theres a couple of good map reading tutorials on youtube. A lot of the maps and "tiles" are directional, for example if you're looking for an exit you know is "left" it mostly doesnt mean West, its relative to the entrance tile or other tiles. Understanding the Left, Right, Up concept helps alot when starting out.
Good Luck have fun :)
Can we have a poll? Im sure it wouldnt take much effort to share it around. Streamers can mention it on stream or in discords. It could give an idea of what runners and viewers are thinking.
I dont wanna sound harsh here, but theres probly less than 20 WR capable runners, I think their feelings on -ns and RTA vs IGT should be weighted accordingly. They have the most to gain and lose.
Ive only submitted a few runs but have been trying to run this game on and off for 2 to 3 years or so now. My submitted times dont reflect this. Long story short i have had kidney failure for the last 5 years. spent 3.5 of those on dialysis, nearly died, have since had a transplant and other procedures. From the dialysis I have nerve damage in my hands and legs and cant sit at a computer for more than 2 hours or so.
Hence why personally I really like the idea of seeded runs. i cant play for 4 or 5 hours a day to wait for the right rng run to happen. i try once every few days for a good ish run and thats it. With a seeded or even the battle net style runs i can try to compare myself against other runners without also competing with other runners time investment and availability.
I dont think adding seeded will take away anything from the current categories, if anything we might see new runners. Right now is a great time to be a D2 runner and also a viewer.
Just my 2 cents.
i can see an argument for both. having a single Category like “Players 1 Normal Druid” then every druid run submitted on that one list but put (Hardcore) next to name or time for HC runs.
but as a mediocre runner i like that SC is its own category honestly. and i run to improve my own times like Teo said. maybe be in the top 10% of a category one day....