Domains 'R' Us Well, as alot of us know, getting your site hosted is a huge deal. I still remember the days of arguing to people about which was better, Geocities or Tripod. "Sure geocities is popular, but Tripod lets you have a name in your address!"... so I chose Tripod. But anyways, getting hosted has tons of benefits. But lately, it seems to me that people just can't stop at getting hosted, and HAVE to get a registered domain name. I don't mean to talk about anyone in particular, and I know this comes at a bad time with Kadel gettin RoT a domain name. But seriously, there's so many sites that have domain names that REALLY don't deserve them. Let's run down some of the sites that have registered domain names: DiabloII.com, Diabloii.net, D2 Realm, Gyard. Now, Gyard's gonna be ok once D2's popularity drops, since they can use the "Gyard" domain name for other purposes, like another game. But all the sites with D2 in their domain names, will just be sites in the background when the game dies off. So I'd like to advise RoT: Get a flexible domain name! Seriously, once D2 dies off, which it will, alot of sites are gonna be takin it up the ass, because not too many people will be checkin them out, but they'll still be paying for a domain name. As I stated before, alot of sites are getting domain names, eventhough they really don't deserve them. I'm not going to mention any sites, but you can all probably think of some. And then there are the sites which seriously deserve them. These are top-notch sites. The only reason they don't have their own domain is that they don't want to fork over the cash. I mean, what if in a year after paying, you decide that you don't have the time to maintain the site? You're not just gonna give up the site to someone, and keep paying for it. Another reason people don't get their own domain names is that noone really recognizes them as a site that deserves one, and noone gives them a chance. There's alot of backstabbing goin on. Say someone's working at a certain site. The site kicks ass. They're extremely informative, and have a great team working there. One of the staff members says he's going to buy them a domain name. At the last moment, he decides that he doesn't really want to get a domain name, and pulls back on the offer. Then an old staff member re-joins the team, a guy who's really a great addition to the site. The guy who proposed the domain name purchase decides that he doesn't have enough power anymore, and moves to another site. Then he decides to buy that site a domain name... kinda funny, huh? BS is what it is. Back to the idea that there are tons of sites that deserve a domain name. I'm just gonna run off a few names. First and foremost on that list is a site I work at, Diabolic. They provide the community with tons of info about the game, and also have great specials, and in general tons of features that make them unique and seperate Diabolic from the rest of the community. Another site I really think deserves their own domain name is The Darkness. This is one of the most unique sites related to D2. Scorch put TONS of time into the site, and really should be rewarded for it. Basically, getting a domain name is really kinda stupid. I mean, unless you're actually gonna profit off of dishing out 70 bucks for the name, why bother. "It's for the fans, the community", some will say. BS. You can serve the community just as easily by having an extra three letters in your address. Think your visitors' hands are gonna cramp up? Well, that's my two cents, and if you have something bad to say to me or whatever, just get in touch with me. Oh, and P.S. to Kadel and Ogdens and RoT: I really don't mean to offend you by what I said, it's just that you're a good example. PeaCe. - Hardcore