Multiplayer online gaming is a runaway success, but player killers and hackers lurk at every turn! How do you protect yourself from these malicious gamers? Here are some simple rules to surving Battle.net that could save your life (or your character's life at least!).

1. Never type in your password after the B.net login screen. There is no reason you should ever need your password after logging in. There are numerous ways that unscrupulous players get you to send your password to them. Recently, players have registered account names like ladder-status and rankings. If you type /w rankings then your account name and password (as they have instructed you to do) you have just handed them access to your account and all your characters!

2. CTRL + F4 will kick you out of the game! Mischeivious players will tell you to press CTRL + F4 just to get you out of a game. But sometimes the reason is even more sinister. A hacker will tell you that dropping a rare item and pressing CTRL + F4 will create a duplicate of the item. Instead, it leaves you at your desktop wondering what happened while the theif makes away with your item.

3. Join parties with care. Remember that everyone in your party can see where you are playing. Often when you join public games, several players immediately invite you into their party. I recommend staying neutral until you learn more about the people you are playing with. Imagine yourself in the middle of the Far Oasis. Suddenly someone leaves your party, goes hostile, finds you quickly and kills you. You are now poorer but wiser. If you are going to play solo in a public game, don't align with anyone or tell anyone where you are. If they can't find you, they can't kill you.

4. Beware of so-called "free" duels. Free duels are where one player challenges another to a duel and the challenger swears up and down that they will return any gold that drops if you lose. You duel, you lose, he picks up the gold and leaves. Again you are wiser, but poorer. Don't duel unless you are prepared to lose money, not to mention your life.

5. Full games = Experience The more crowded the game, the more experience you gain. Blizzard has designed Diablo II so that the game adjusts to more players, making the monsters harder and the rewards greater. If you're looking to level up quickly, find a game with 7 other players.

6. ALT + TAB will close your game window. ALT is a handy tool that displays the items that are laying on the ground. It's a good way to make sure you haven't left any good items behing. TAB will bring up the automap, allowing you to backtrack through an area easily or find new, enexplored areas. However, ALT + TAB will close your game window! The game will still be running (and monsters may be killing you), but you'll be back at your desktop. Watch out for this mistake, it has cost many a warrior their life.

7. Don't hack your favorite character. If you want to hack a character up to God levels, be my guest. But keep this in mind: If you tamper with the character and item files enough, the game may eventually decide not to recognize any of it. This leaves you with a level 1 character and an empty inventory. Don't lose everything to greed.

8. Two heads are better than one. If you want to create a high level character very quickly, gather a few friends, set up a Battle.net account and give everyone access. Whenever anyone has time, they play the joint character. This is a great way to gain experience very quickly. However, do work out your group strategy assigning skill points. If you're making a cold sorceress, everyone needs to know in advance so no one wastes points in lightning spells.

9. Get to know the game. The more you know, the better player you will be. It's harder to trick someone who has done some reading about the game, so use the resources available to you. There are fantastic tips and tricks at http://www.diabloii.net. Read up on character strategy and known cheats and bugs. A well-prepared warrior is a successful warrior!