It might be years before I get to try D3, as my current AMD 1.6ghz dual core is probably not up to the challenge of playing D3 and I'm not buying a new computer until I return home. And that homecoming seems to be further and further off as I discover new places that I want to travel.

Okay, let's talk about gameplay for a few moments. The above formentioned changelog is another example of why players are bitching, will continue to bitch and eventually shat themselves. In a word = Nerf. They will nerf certain classes so the majority of whiners will be happy, so typical of Blizzard to cave in. One other thing i would like to mention high ping = certain death for Hard-core toons. This wouldn't be an issue if the game didn't require a persistant online connection. Bottom line, the game is fun, but due the game being so short, having to be online just to play single player, i don't see this game staying very popular for years like it's predescessor. Again, i'm just giving my honest opinion.

I just hit level 50 and and finished Nightmare with my Witch Doctor and I got quite tired of the game mechanics at the end of normal. Soon there's only items to look forward which you can't get because you pretty much need the items the hard monsters can drop.

In the beginning all spells are effective and fun (they are not so balanced later, only a few combinations work which suck, all should work given the situation) and you have the story and fast leveling to keep you occupied.

The only reason online only is working is because of AH but isn't working always and shouldn't be needed (I wouldn't have finished normal even without AH haha).

Those changes were made not because players were whining but because some classes were CLEARLY overpowered. It is pretty much the consensus of the player base that the classes are currently pretty balanced, with the exception of the Monk being slightly underpowered. But do fling more dirt.

Oh and last time that I bite the bait (please, for the love of god, use the other thread for this stuff), here's an extract from wikipedia:
"Copies of Diablo: Battle Chest continue to be sold in retail stores, appearing on the NPD Group's top 10 PC games sales list as recently as 2010.[43] Even more remarkably, the Diablo: Battle Chest was the 19th best selling PC game of 2008[44] – a full seven years after the game's initial release – and 11 million users still play Diablo II and StarCraft over Battle.net."
You can draw your own conclusions from that.

It might seem so in the beginning, but the WD is actually a very diverse class that can sustain a number of different builds. Probably the class with the most viable builds.

There's Vision Quest builds (Dire Bats build, Zombie Bears build, etc).
There's regular vanilla Fire Bomb (Flash Fire) / Splinters builds. Especially this one lets you pick your skills to your own preference really.
Currently I'm running a fairly defensive Splinters build for farming Act I Inferno / Act IV Hell until I deck myself out with some AH gear. Will probably switch to a Zombie Bears build for A2 Inferno once my gear gets better. I do switch the skillset around a lot, especially for boss encounters, etc. Obviously the goal is to find a build to allow good boss damage with good rare farming capabilities to take advantage of the Nephelem stacks.
Currently summons are a bit underpowered. Fire Dogs become useless after Normal and Gargantuan becomes obsolete in Inferno.

Make sure you get yourself a sweet weapon for Hell, the damage requirements will rise a lot! I went through most of Hell with a 2hander and switched to 1H + Mojo for Inferno.

Just finished the game on Normal with a Barbarian. I'll keep this short because it's 5;04am and I'm sleepy. ^_^

I normally love sim-like strategy games like Sim City, Sims, Stronghold, C&C Red Alert and RPG's like Baldur's Gate and Mass Effect. So Action RPG's are a bit off whack for me. However, I haven't had so much repetitive fun for such a long time. Of course, it wasn't like D1 and D2 in terms of 'freshness', but aside from the unmentionable bit, D3 is quite yummy.

Story: 3/5 - not much of one, but it is a primarily an action game
Music/Ambiance: 5/5 - love the sound bits
Voice Acting: 5/5 - good enough definitely
Level Design: 4/5 - although the maps slightly changes with each new start, it's still relatively the same map. The maps are well designed, but it is repetitive.
Controls: 5/5 - smooth
Camera: 4/5 - very good, but I can tell the game is built with a 3D engine, even if it plays out like an isometric game. Wish there was a way to rotate for a different view. Zooming kind of sucks too.
Fun Factor: 5/5 - very fun, even if some parts were meh
Lasting Value: 3/5 - I am playing Nightmare on Barbarian and starting Harcore with a Monk, but it's still pretty repetitive. It IS a mindless game, so it's fun for those like me whom have stressful days and sometimes it's nice to play something besides the thinking games. ^_^

GTFO.

I would have gone with "****ing." It's much more obvious than "*******" which is just one long bar of blank.

ALSO DRM HARHARHAR TROLOLOL.

...

Gameplay: do you still have to hold shift or alt to stand in place? God I hate that in these games. I honestly think games like this work better on a gamepad, like Marvel Ultimate Alliance.

GRRRRRRRRRRRRRR!

You don't have to use Shift that much as the hitboxes for the enemies have been vastly improved compared to D2 and Torchlight 1 in comparison (haven't played T2). I think I've only miss clicked a few times in the two dozen hours I've put in with my Demon Huntress.

But I've been using Shift more and more, and it has its benefits, and on a personal note, it even has become a habit of mine to use Shift when destroying objects.

I just know I like to use the more tactical classes like the sorceres but having to hold shift whenever I do anything is annoying. I'll play the trial when I get home and see what works I guess.

Shift has its uses. Most enemies are fine, but you're probably better off using it for the smaller and or faster ones (hellow, act 2 wasps).
I get into the habit of using it when I'm taking a shot that I absolutely cannot miss (which is very typical of WD gameplay in Inferno).
Also, it allows you to spam over distance when the enemy is not on your screen. Very common with bosses, as the boss fight 'arenas' are fairly spacious and you can see the boss on your minimap.

Yea, that's definitely the best thing about it, considering how limiting ARPGs feel with their isometric cameras.

Not to be sassy, but is holding down an extra key that hard for people? 0.o

Depends on how he's used to use the keyboard.

Personally, using Shift comes natural to me, as I use it almost constantly in Counter Strike.

By the way, you haven't got your game yet, have you?

I'm getting slightly annoyed with clutter and hitboxes, but that may be because I'm playing on minimum resolution on my laptop. Already outlined my annoyances with the Belial encounter in the other thread.
http://www.gog.com/en/forum/general/diablo_3_is_out/post376
Kind of got used to it now, at least for that encounter. But I am still dying more than necessary because I click to run but end up clicking on a vase in the corner by accident, shooting another volley and promptly dying.

When 90% of the game is a one-handed click-fest it's kind of blah to suddenly need a hand on the keyboard in the right spot.

Like I said though, it could be rooted in me thinking a gamepad works best for these types of games.