battle net is going through some problems, so I figured I'd drop in and post my opinions, maxed 2 characters to level 13 (current max for beta) and working on a third, have a good feel for the game so far
this fixes most things that were wrong with diablo 2, such as;
-unified storeage chest, find a item for one char, move it to another with ease
-finding a online game that wants to do the same quest you are doing
-matchmaking made simple, click and wait
-"banner" system allows you to instantly teleport to teammate
-health orbs & pots, don't need to clutter my inventory with pot management
-player unique drops, no fighting over drops anymore each player is presented their own nobody else can grab
-infinite town portal, no need for cluttering up inventory with tombs and getting stuck in a dungeon because you ran out
-artisan system allows you to destruct magical items into raw materials for forging new items, gives stackable 1 slot rare items that will be the "currency" for sure.
-more robust mercenary (aka bitch) system with custom skills and more gear slots
-more gear slots shoulder plates, gantlets, pants etc
-lore system, and storyline for quest, everything is read to you by audio and you can continue on moving while audio is played in background
-much improved graphics and resolution
-achievements! for achievement whores(you know who you are)
-gold is more relevant now than before, still could use some work though
-backend patching system, they can push tweaks to things on the backside without rebuilding the entire game.
-streaming like client, you can play while the game is updating like WoW
things I miss deeply (or wasn't able to find how to)
-custom atributes and stats, can't make dexless warrior, or strless wizard for example
-necromancer, i looooooved skelenecro, witchdoctor doesn't do it for me
-max of 4 player co-op... I miss 8 man games
-maps seem too linear, noted I only have played the first 2 questlines, but maps aren't wide open as d2
-skill trees aren't as custom, while they redid the skill system, it just doesn't feel as good as d2
-offhand gear switch
things they missed that they should have put in that wasn't isn't in diablo before
-a true support character, like a healer, the monk is like a paladin but a true healer would be nice
-guild system, I understand this is a beta but a actual working guild and shared multi-player storage like wow would be too cool
-coper/siver/gold like wow so you can buy things, this is cosmetic at the moment because you can trade items in the future for gold in auction house but you will see prices like 300,000,000 gold instead of 300 gold if they did the system like that.
final thoughts;
this feels more like a mix between Diablo and WoW, online and battlenet account is required for WoW, this feels none different... I don't hear too many complaints about having to play WoW online. Still this is everything I could have hoped for from the diablo franchise. Being a huuuuuuuuge fan of diablo 2 and sunk hundreds and hundreds of hours into diablo 2. I feel right as home, the same "feel" as diablo 2, this is going to be a hit once it hits the market. Can't wait to see what else they have in store. And I'm already looking forward to the promised expansion (new character classes etc)