(Edit: I wrote this based on my experience of rarely having anyone trustworthy to help me with muling, thus I was forced to do it alone. If you know someone trustworthy who can help you, by all means, have them help you!)
Ugh. I've heard these stories a lot and feel sorry for the victims. I just returned to B.net last night after a four month hiatus and they STILL have random realm disconnections. *sigh* My sorceress will have to slay Blood Raven another day.
Anyway, some things I have done over the years to make sure I don't lose items to lag or other players:
1) Mule in private, passworded games.
2) Mule alone or with trusted friends only.
3) Wait five minutes in a newly created game before muling. Test by leaving and re-entering the game. If it works, start muling. (This used to work, but I've been away a few months...)
4) Try to mule during non-peak b.net hours.
5) Mule quickly. Make decisions on what goes where prior to the actual process of muling, that way you aren't wasting valueable time.
6) If realms are acting funny when you first log in, don't risk muling. If you see other players complaining about getting booted, disconnected, or whatever, don't risk muling.
By doing these things, I have managed to not lose anything during realm muling since D2 first hit the stores.
There's still a risk, but it's reduced quite a bit if you are prepared.
Now, I have lost things to interrupted connections while playing. I once lost my extra skill point from killing Radament to such a thing. I couldn't get another book because the quest was marked as done. Lesson: Read the Book of Skill immediately after picking it up. Don't carry it to town with you like I did.
Ugh. I've heard these stories a lot and feel sorry for the victims. I just returned to B.net last night after a four month hiatus and they STILL have random realm disconnections. *sigh* My sorceress will have to slay Blood Raven another day.
Anyway, some things I have done over the years to make sure I don't lose items to lag or other players:
1) Mule in private, passworded games.
2) Mule alone or with trusted friends only.
3) Wait five minutes in a newly created game before muling. Test by leaving and re-entering the game. If it works, start muling. (This used to work, but I've been away a few months...)
4) Try to mule during non-peak b.net hours.
5) Mule quickly. Make decisions on what goes where prior to the actual process of muling, that way you aren't wasting valueable time.
6) If realms are acting funny when you first log in, don't risk muling. If you see other players complaining about getting booted, disconnected, or whatever, don't risk muling.
By doing these things, I have managed to not lose anything during realm muling since D2 first hit the stores.
There's still a risk, but it's reduced quite a bit if you are prepared.
Now, I have lost things to interrupted connections while playing. I once lost my extra skill point from killing Radament to such a thing. I couldn't get another book because the quest was marked as done. Lesson: Read the Book of Skill immediately after picking it up. Don't carry it to town with you like I did.