So my question is, for those of you that have played sacred and the not to be named game by Blizzard, which would be better? I know they have the same game mechanics, but are they comparable? If you liked D2, it is a shoo in to like Sacred?

I like Sacred, I like Diablo. Spent many hours on both, but both are rather different in game mechanics. Diablo focuses on random generation, monster slaughter and distinct character builds. Sacred promotes quests (by giving unique rewards), exploration; character builds can be more versatile here, because skill scrolls are plentiful and stat growth is automatic.

Quoted for truth.
If you liked the Diablo series you will probably like Sacred, but there's no guarantee as your tastes may not be the same as mine ans Katakis' tastes.
I can't really say much else besides what's been quoted here. Sacred is a different experience and better imho than D2. Graphically, quest-wise, loot-wise. Etc.

I'm actually glad to hear it is a different experiance then D2. It is good that two games with the same type of mechanics can coexist; one doesn't necessarily negate the other.
I haven't played Diablo 2 for awhile, but I played it for at least a year after I bought the game. (I didn't pick it up until after the battle chest came out, so I played it post expansion.) For a game that seems so simple on paper, it held me in it's grasp for a long time... Long then most games, including MMOs.
I'm looking forward to sacred being released here. I know I can get it on Steam right now (As discussed in another thread) but I really want to support GOG, so I'll wait until (I'm assuming) next tuesday.
I'm getting fallout 3 on friday so I think I can wait, heh.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like your getting a massive game (Including the expansion) for a low price. I know the demo is pretty large...

Sacred Gold is nearly 2 gigs, so yes for 10 bucks it's hefty.

wow 2 gigs eh? I like value for my money :D

Agreed.

Different games, same genre.
I like both. But if you like Diablo or 'action rougelite' games, Sacred is great fun. The world is more open, rather than focused and linear, but it's quite similar in actual play.
2 Gigs eh... 1/6th of my monthly internet limit. Thanks Telstra!
But don't forget a hundred or two meg extra on all the extras (And this one has quite a bit).
side note: TOCA3 ($9.95) is the largest so far at 5.3 gigs, which means shifting gigabytes is easier than what Aussie ISPs say >:| I'd love bigpond to get an un-metered mirror up.

well I'm not in Australia, but I find it odd that there are caps on bandwidth anywhere. They claim it is due to piracy; but come on. This site, alone, shows that are are dealing with huge amounts of legal bandwidth hogging programs.
Anyway thanks for the info on sacred ;) I do like rogue "lite" games..probably more so then rogue heavy games (heh.)

Yeah Australia has some interesting tactics on internet usage, unfortunately.
I'm still super stoked about this game coming to GOG, though I wish it would have been released before Sacred 2. Being released around the same time will limit how much time I spend with it, but I'll still play it.

well I'm cutting back on buying "new" games for awhile, so I'll be focusing on older, cheaper games like this. I bought fallout 3 and maybe will get fable 2, but that will be it for the next few months for me. i won't be getting sacred 2 anytime soon.

I found both games fun to play in different ways. Though I would say that Diablo 2 has more heart to its story than Sacred does. I think partly in translation and in its presentation Sacred's story has a more hollow feel to it than the story in Diablo 2.
That said both operate with similar mechanics of play though Diablo retains a small upper hand in that it has random maping whilst Sacred is fixed maps.
With the price of both these days its easily possible to play both.
With graphics Diablo 2 is a smooth runner on anything but a fossil by todays standards - whilst Sacred can get a little choppy at some times even on a good end machine when riding a horse ;)

One thing of note though is that the multiplayer aspect of it is pretty dead at this point. I've logged in around 10 times now over the last few days to never see anyone else on. Compare that to Diablo 2 which currently atm has 20,713 players in 11,254 games.

We should see about getting a group of GOG Sacred players together.

And we have to start playing together :) Singleplayer is fun, not not much as multiplayer. But we have just to wait for our GOG.com cd-keys, so we can play online.