Diablo III Beta has begun.. But not for all!

[Xarwin]

Hey everyone!

If you're waiting for Diablo III like me you should be happy since it's getting near!
However, Blizzard is being lame again and only shares the current beta with family and friends.
Isn't that awful? I mean... These companies are being such pain in the ass...

FYI, we’re getting very close to starting the closed public beta test for Diablo III. You might start seeing some new reports about the beta client as we’ve begun limited external testing with employees and their families, and there is no non-disclosure agreement (NDA) for that. We look forward to sharing more info about the beta test in the near future. Stay tuned.

If you have a beta license, you are free to show, share, or talk about any portion of the beta content to which you have access, as this beta test is not confidential.

You can find the original post here: http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/3123035242#1

 

[Vengeancekael]

Oh come on now Xarwin ;_;
Is it really that tragic?

 

[Xarwin]

I am just informing?
I never said it is tragic. WHERE ARE YOUR BRAAAINS.
I did share my opinion, but who cares anyway!

The closed beta should be expected in 1-2 weeks.

 

[Miss_Foxy]

Let the awesome testing begin

 

[HINDYhat]

I am a friend and I just installed the game. :>

 

[Miss_Foxy]

Wow. You're so lucky to get that beta ><

 

[Dr Super Good]

So you lot going to tell us about it?

 

[HINDYhat]

Anything in particular you'd like to know about?

The current released content is fairly short (~2 hours for a single playthrough), but farming the boss and leveling your blacksmith to craft good items is pretty fun and requires several playthroughs.

Off the top of my head, here are some notable things:
- You no longer have scrolls of TP, and instead get a reusable stone of TP.
- You can sell items from your inventory (though I think sell bonuses do not apply when selling items in this manner).
- You do not actually level abilities or pick attributes yourself. The extent of customization is the current choice of abilities that can be used (and this can be changed at any time).
- I'm not sure if there were scrolls of companion in D2. They summon a little pet that picks up gold for you. Pretty useful.
- It runs at around 30 FPS on the lowest settings on my laptop, which has an HD 5470.

Can't think of anything else. Ask and ye shall receive. Oh, and all of the classes are really fun to play.

I will say that I am kind of disappointed at the graphics quality. I feel like there needs to be a model revamp: one that preserves the game's quality to run on shit systems, but that allows it to look better on good systems. Otherwise, the art style is nice. Don't believe the people who say that the game doesn't look dark enough.

 

[Gilles]

Thanks HINDY!

Abilities and attributes are set for each character upon leveling? That's disappointing.

 

[HINDYhat]

Yes, but you have a relatively wide set of abilities to choose from anyway. I know what you mean though.

Also, apparently it's ridiculously hard to find amulets at the beginning of the game? I haven't found a single one yet in like 10 playthroughs.

You probably already know this too, but they've added bracers and shoulder gear to the game as separate armor slots. It also seems like they've removed the second weapon arrangement option.

 

[Xarwin]

Thanks for the review!

I'm looking forward to the full version .

 

[HINDYhat]

I will likely be streaming some Diablo III tonight starting around 5 PM EST, if you're interested.
http://www.twitch.tv/hindyhat