Diablo® III Open Beta Weekend

We're pleased to announce the Diablo III open beta weekend, which offers open access to all players with a valid Battle.net account! Beginning this Friday everyone is invited to log in and help us put the game and servers through their paces in this three day stress test as we march toward the games release on May 15. You can begin downloading the Diablo III client right now.

From Friday, April 20 at 12:01 p.m. PDT (noon), until Monday, April 23 at 10:00 a.m. PDT you'll be able to log in, team up with friends, and play each of the five heroic classes to level 13 as you fight to save the world from the impending demonic invasion.

FAQ

What steps do I need to take?

• Log in or create a Battle.net account at http://www.battle.net
  
• Create your BattleTag™, which is required to play Diablo III (What is BattleTag?)
  
• Download the game client, install, and play between 12:01 p.m. PDT April 20 and 10:00 a.m. PDT April 23

I don't have a Battle.net account - can I still play?
Absolutely! Just visit http://www.battle.net to create a free Battle.net account. Next, download the client from https://us.battle.ne...nload/index.xml and install it. Create your BattleTag, and then log in to the game using your Battle.net account name (email address) and password to begin slaughtering the demonic hellspawn that dare stand in your way.

Are there any differences for stress test participants versus invited closed beta testers?
Stress test participants will only be able to access the beta between Friday, April 20 at 12:01 p.m. PDT (noon), and Monday, April 23 at 10:00 a.m. PDT. In addition, stress test participants will not have access to post in the beta forums and will not be provided Beta Bucks for use in testing the currency-based auction house.

Can all regions/countries participate?
Due to regional differences and features of the stress test client, Korean players will not be able to partake in the stress test weekend. However, beginning the week of April 23, we will be conducting a separate, invitation-only closed beta test that will give players in Korea a chance to try out the game, along with players in the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.

What if the service is down/laggy/disconnecting me?
It's very possible that players connecting to the stress test could experience issues with the service. While not ideal this is exactly why we're having a stress test. We want to catch and analyze as many bugs as possible during this stress test period, so that we can try to ensure a smooth launch on May 15.

I'm having an issue, how can I get help?
Due to the limited window of the stress test we encourage you to visit the Technical Support or Mac Technical Support forums if you're having any issues running the game, and checking the Known Issues list if you're running into a bug. As a stress test participant you will not be able to post in the beta forums.

What platforms and languages do you support?
For the stress test we're offering the client in English, French, and German for both Windows and Mac. At release the game will be fully localized into English, Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, European Spanish, Italian, Polish, Korean, and Traditional Chinese for Windows, and English, French and German for Mac.

I'm an invited closed beta tester, what happens after the stress test weekend ends?
As an invited closed beta tester you'll continue to have access until the beta ends on May 1.

We have no current plans or functionality to expire or delete "inactive" characters. There's actually no concept of an inactive character for Diablo III. Pick up and play whenever you want.

D2 doesn't even delete them anymore, any char flagged expired you can login and it re-enables them in D2 now, they stopped perma expiring them long ago.
(only if someone doesn't make a new character with the same name)

There's a few key differences and features that should help you out:

• Level cap is 60, and is paced out to be something you hit around when you beat Hell difficulty. You can absolutely hit level 60 playing alone
  
• If you're struggling at some point you'll of course want to evaluate your gear, skill, rune, and passive selections to ensure you can't make any improvements or changes
  
• There's an awesome matchmaking system for co-op whereby you select what quest you want to play, hit a button, and we automatically match you with other people who are at the same point in the game. You can make some new friends from there, add them to your list, and begin to build a friends list of people you want to keep playing with

Jay Wilson on Press Tours in Korea
I know, but I won't be able to play until I'm back from press tours. (source)

Why the UI is large
Yep, skill trees aren't ok. Current system is ok, the problem is in the freaking huge UI.
A lot of the spacing is due to localization requirements. Some languages are very... verbose. (source)

Talent Trees
I suppose you're implying talent trees are superior? We've proven they aren't too many times. (see D2/WoW) (source)

The final skills UI just feels a little... rushed. You talked so much about UI during development and now it's gone.
agree to disagree? (source)