Oh goody...it's you 
Well this should be a waste of time considering you're the one making the arguement but why noyt?
"Hal has said many times that swords are fine, but that Berserker axes are the best."
Really...maybe you missed the part WHERE I TYPED THAT.
"And all the math proves that, when people ask him they ask what is the best, they don't ask for second best, cuz no one ever plans for second best? Also do you want to list the advantages to swords, besides more uniques, which Hal did point out."
There is no "best" in the first place....but people also ask for what's "good" because they just play to have fun and don't have to be anal rettentive and tweak everything. Hell...I play for fun and I find something to be desired in a char I chuckle at because he's slaying hell's minions with a toy. Personality means a lot, but looks don't hurt
The BA is slightly better...with 1 frame and a few 100 more damage...I don't really see axe barbs outkilling swordbarbs by leaps and bounds? But where the dmg does add up...you know vs the guys with big life...the bosses...the ones with mostly elemental attacks....I can take my shield off and do a hell of a lot more than you
"Oh and as for frames it does make a difference if you want the best, but once again Hal has mentioned many times that it's up to you if you think its worth the effort to get it."
If you want to be anal rettentive and get yourself that 200% lightsabre...my point was 1 frame difference isn't that drastic so the oooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhh soooooooooooooooooooooooo sloooooooooooooooooooow speed is hardly a big loss.
"Oh and it's not that bad to shop or craft berserker axes, I shopped a cruel zerker that does 98-281 damage and has ll early on the ladder, thats without anything in the sockets."
I never said it was bad to shop for them...actually I never brought up shopping because it's not an arguement seeing as how you can do them for both. Crafting is a roll of the dice and while some are lucky...a lot aren't.
"So thats better then the Headstriker your talking about since it has 196-562, sure not quite 100% ds but with good other gear it will be a high % and faster and more damage.when ds or cs triggers. Which will be most of the time. Oh and your headstriker only triggers 95% of the time, despite what the stats say, thats where it caps."
Well if you want to be anal rettentive...yes, it doesn't trigger 5% of the time. You win man...you got me there...I can talk about all this other stuff yet I'm too stupid to know things like res/ds/cs/pdr/etc have a cap...really I thought with 100%+ DS I got quadruple dmg! Why don't you bother to put 2 n 2 together? End game gear people get about 50% vs 95% freeing up your ammy slot...then there's the fact you can get the sword with crafting supplies...both have the same base. BTW I didn't know 50% was high?
"Hal never claimed to be the sole designer of this build, however he was the only one who put in the effort to put it all down in an organized manner for others to follow."
Well first of...the comments were meant tos his fanclub more than him. Sorry you missed that...shocking. Then again I acknowledged that he put the effort into organizing that...gee there you go not reading again.
"Heck I'd come up with the base of this build myself, lacking a couple one point wonders and I hadn't done the testing he did, so despite my having the ability to think for my self and do my own calculations as it bothers you that others don't I still appreciated his efforts"
Since you're too....k not going to insult you...you just miss it...the comment was aimed at the ppl praising Hal's Build and thanking him for making the build. He did no such thing nor did he ever claim to yet he recieves thanks for it. I've told him before from the start that I appreciated the effort he's put into the guide, but let's just forget about that?
"and the reason he has so many fans is his helpfulness, he's still answereing questions how long after he released the guide? 3 or 4 months, and has done a couple rewrites, including putting up his own page so changes could be made more readily."
I'd just assume help people directly in the game which isn't to say that he doesn't, but just because he spends more time on the forums than others doesn't make him anymore helpful. He put effort into the guide...I have np people appreciating that...just praising him for things he has no claim to...and even though it was in a response to him it was moreso aimed at those people...not him...my apologies for that misunderstanding.
"In anything in life when someone goes that much out of their way to be helpful they generally have their efforts appreciated. So please stop disrupting this thread to go on a tyrade,"
Well considering you misunderstood the whole thing...that just comes off rather pompous
"if you bothered to help people by answering their questions and backing it up with facts, or honestly admitting its just an opinion I'm sure you'd get some of the type of recognition that it Halciet gets, and you seem so in need of."
Oh I got the recognition for the IronBarb back in .09...was hardly in need of it because the best help I ever gave was in the game directly. I'm sure I've inspired more by example of the char build in action than any guide ever will. I'm sure halceits char has affected more people through example rather than his guide as well as has your barb probably.
"Note that I too came up with this basic build, and played it through on the ladder. Instead of complaining I've done my best to help him, answering questions in this thread and help him with research when i could."
Every comment I've made has had a point and reasoning behind it whether you liked it or not...just points that were made....if that is complaining to you then you should take your own advice and stop it. BTW I'm also just a DIY....I've offered him my advice from my experience which he heard and since it didn't reflect his favored playing style he really didn't support which is fine, but I didn't see that as encouragement to offer more
"Also you shouldn't insult the readers though, calling them lazy and such;"
It's not really an insult rather than my opinion of people's drives. I maybe sarcastic, but I hardly mean to insult.
" perhaps they don't have the time to sit down and work out a build, I know i spent 4 months on it and i didn't test it as thoroughly as Hal did. It can be very time consuming, or perhaps some really don't know where to look, or they of course might just have other things they'd rather do with their time."
Everyone has time...what took your 4 months may take someone a week....some people are just better...there's also a difference between asking people to tell you how to do it and filling in the gaps for yourself. Some read this guide to add to knowledge they already have, and some read it and copy Hal's char to the letter because they're too lazy to think for thier own.
"I mean, that would be like calling someone lazy for going out and buying an automobile, rather than spending an excessive amount of time learning the physics and mechanics of the field and building their own."
It's nothing like that....how many people in diablo come up with builds of thier own vs how many people build thier cars. A car is a piece of complex machinery that would take a long time too complete, a lot of labor, and a lot of money. A build requires you to think, sit in a computer chair, load the cd in the cd drive, and click a mouse. Nothing a like at all.
"i have no comment on the defence as I don't know the answer, but I don't see how you can cut poor Hal throughout your post and expect that last statement to make it all better. I'm not sure why a moderator hasn't looked into your posts yet."
I expected nothing to make it better....I am getting sick of you putting words in my mouth. Stop it if you're going to continue talking. As I said you misinterpreted some of the direction some of my comment were aimed at and I do apologize for that and even though I was sarcastic...aside from voicing my opinion on some people's drive....I don't recall openly insulting (if I did it was sarcasm and my apologies)anyone or enticing a flamewar so I don't see why they would.
) but in some cases the monsters might make it hard for you to pull off the cries if their swarming you, (fanta aura blessedaim).It may also not work on them. Also sometimes its useful to whirl through obstacles to get past them, like when baal or meph running and your not botherd to kill anything on the way. 