Well Hello, to those of you that remember me.
I do not remember how long ago it was, or the exact circumstances; but I gleefully raised my hand at a chance to Beta test Diablo 3. Well apparently the magic mirror or 8 ball or what have you at Activision has given me a chance to play this game early. In my PC gaming infancy, I cut my teeth on Diablo and Diablo 2 was my online addiction for a long time.
@Allicrombie at some point, talked me into playing World of Warcraft with her, and my affair with (now) Activision-Blizzard continued. This was fortunate, as Diablo 3 borrows many things from WoW. Those of you reading this have probably seen the previews and watched videos of early footage etc, so I won't bore you with the exact details.
What I will say is that I've had a couple hours after downloading the rather large Beta (15GB) to sit down and play it; which I will be returning to after writing this. I chose a Barbarian because that was my preferred class in Diablo II, though I played them all. I plan on trying all the classes in this Beta and getting as much time in as I can -- if I find how to report bugs I will report a few I've seen thus far.
So far I have run into the daughter of a vendor, Deckard Cain.. and Leoric, the Skeleton King. I am not far in to the Beta, and it only encompasses most of Act 1.. but I am still thrilled with it so far.
The leveling system is quite different.. you don't distribute stat points anymore.. only skills, and only at certain intervals. For several levels you do not get to make changes. I am only level 7 at this point, so I can't speak much about this system.. I'm not sure if I like it or not yet.
The gameplay is classic Diablo, but with modern amenities like destructible surroundings.. my barbarian likes to smash gravestones and send chunks flying as he battles with skeletons and zombies etc.
The social aspect plans seem to be rather large with this game, and I assume future A-B games. It appears by default friends can drop in and drop out of your game.. and you can choose to allow public or other groups to join or not join. I have not tested this, as I know nobody that is also testing the Beta.
Feel free to PM me or comment if you are and want a partner.
Anyway, I hope the day finds you well, and game on.