Lots of players liked Hardcore mode, it provided an additional challenge, and even an adrenaline rush in some cases. Frantically running from monsters, fearing for your characters life was definitely a solid motivator, and that extra bit of fear involved pushed your clicking finger to the utter limits.

But, nobody ever looked deeper into the meaning of "Hardcore" mode. People simply thought that hardcore meant nothing more than a hardcore game experience.

As it seems, the players are WRONG!!!



Little did we know, that this mode was ACTUALLY intended for hardcore people. Oh, how foolish we were, assuming that hardcore mode was intended for us, the average gamer. In reality, this mode was meant for people like King Leonidas, Bruce Lee, and Henry Rollins. We intruded in their world, and we will always be at fault.

BUT DON'T FRET!

If you're not a hardcore person, there are steps that can be taken to simply seem hardcore. All you need to do, is look at others who are hardcore, and mimic their clothing, or their actions if possible. The goal here is not to actually BE hardcore, but to fool the game into thinking you're hardcore.

First off, is this so called "Hardcore Dancing". Kids who do this, are seriously hardcore. Flailing their arms around and kicking at air, usually when surrounded by people trying to enjoy a concert. They take what would normally be an enjoyable evening at a concert, and completely ruin it by bludgeoning those around them, making people spread out, and generally cause a scene.

Pictured above and to the left, is a hardcore dancer in action. Note the various tattoos, the flailing pose, and the skull T-shirt. This is the apparel you need to be hardcore, and it can easily be done on a budget. If you're not one for pain, you can simply get your hands on some temporary tattoos, and stick them on when you're about to play hardcore mode (Be sure to verify that you're getting hardcore temporary tattoos, if you end up with butterflies and flowers all over your arms, then you're more like a hippy, and thus, not worthy of playing hardcore mode). Make sure to wear a hardcore looking T-shirt, as well, lest the game reject you. Anything with skulls, guns, even dead babies will do. The pose, can be difficult. Maintaining the flailing pose can be rather difficult to do when you need to click, so be sure to take regular breaks from the game to "Hardcore Dance" near the computer.

However, if hardcore dancing is not your thing, then another viable method exists. Pictured to the right, is King Leonidas. He killed like... twelve billion Persians, with a sharp metal stick, wearing nothing but a speedo, a cape, and a helmet. Obviously, taking this many lives while so scantily clad qualifies one as being "hardcore". Add in the fact that he did it surrounded by muscled dudes, also wearing speedos, capes, and helmets, and you've got what could be the most hardcore gathering of people the world has ever seen.

But, if you're like me, then you don't have a supply of 12 billion Persians readily available. So, much like the hardcore dancer approach, you simply need to look like a spartan to pass off as a spartan, and thus, to look hardcore. The speedo is easy enough, simply go buy a speedo. The cape, also easy, as any towel can pass off as a cape when properly secured around your neck. The helmet, however, may be a bit of an obstacle. Costume stores are always a good place to look, but, if you're on a budget, then cereal boxes can be cut and taped to form the shape of a helmet. Make sure to have the grey inside of the box facing outwards, lest your helmet have a leprechaun or smiling honey bee on it.

Thus, with either approach, one can feign being hardcore, and be qualified to play hardcore mode. Just remember, you don't have to be hardcore, you simply have to look hardcore.

1. The Cosmology of Diablo
2. The Cosmology of Diablo: Worlds
3. The Cosmology of Diablo: Angels and Demons
4. The Cosmology of Diablo: The Worldstone

  
Have you ever gone into the Lore and Storyline forum here? I'm sure you have at one point, and when you did, you might have searched for answers to the most pressing questions you had regarding Diablo: What happened to Inarius at the end of the Sin War? Why did Tyrael destroy the Worldstone? What will the Necromancers do in D3? What order should I read the Diablo books in?

All questions valid enough to merit an answer to be sure, but a bit limited in scope, focused in the game and the near future. True, you might have found deeper discussions in there as well, regarding the nature of the soulstones and the relations between demons and angels. But what of the truly large questions, not just how a specific aspect of the world worked, but how the world itself worked? Perhaps you have never considered them.

Allow me then to enlighten you all, for I present to you the cosmology of Diablo. Through a series of analytical posts, I will try to assert the structure and purpose of the entirety of creation in the world of Diablo. To my aid I will use a multitude of quotes and passages from the Sin War Novels, the latest and most encompassing piece of lore released regarding Diablo. This first post will deal with the beginning and general world order of the Universe. My next posts will deal more with the nature of the worlds, the structures of Heaven and Hell, the Worldstone and it's function, and eventually a speculative post about the end of all things, with whatever might present itself in between.

Remember that this is purely a hypothetical line of reasoning. It's as good as dead certain we'll never see any of the following theories actualized or proved in any games or novels. I even doubt that Blizzard has an planned cosmogony or eschatology for either Sanctuary or the world of Diablo itself. Nevertheless, the information we have from the games and books certainly allows us to theorize about the matter.

(If you do not wish to read any spoilers from the the Sin War Novels Birthright, Scales of the Serpent and The Veiled Prophet, I advise you not to read the rest of the post.)

Things  to know
The Beginning
The Eternal War
Summary
Next Time

Things to know
Before continuing, there are certain facts about the Diablo Universe that one needs to know before understanding my line of reasoning in this post.

Sanctuary: Strictly refers to the "mortal world" which is the main the setting for all the games and books. This does not include Heaven, Hell, the Void, Trag'Ouls realm or any other worlds that might exist.

Heaven and Hell: Refers to the High Heavens and the Burning Hells only.

Other Worlds: There is indirect evidence that Sanctuary is not simply one of three worlds, but that there are many more worlds beyond those we know of. This will be further explained below.

The Universe: Refers to everything that exists, all worlds.

The Beginning
We must of course start at the beginning, and if there is no beginning there can be no end. So, first question: is there a beginning? Although it may appear a stupid question at first glance, it is a valid question and must be asked.

First, let's look at the Universe as a whole.

Scales of the Serpent, page 192 said:

Notice Rathma's choice of words. He doesn't say beginning of Sanctuary, or beginning of the world, but beginning of creation, signifying that Trag'Oul comes from the very start, but also that there was a creation to speak of.

If we instead merely look at Sanctuary however, it becomes a much more interesting question and one specific to the Diablo Universe. And naturally, there is a beginning to Sanctuary:

Birthright, page 3 said:

The above is from the prologue of Birthright, and comes from the writings of a fictional character named Kalan, most likely someone similar to Abd al-Hazir. But while this text seems to suggest that Sanctuary was caused, i.e created in the sense of a total creation from nothing, it must be taken with a grain of salt considering that it written by a human hand. What he perceives thinks to have happened is not necessarily what has happened.

The apparent problem with Inarius creating the world is that he is not the most powerful being; the other archangels of the Angiris Council, and the Three, are by all accounts his equals or even superiors in terms of power. Why then do the angels and demons not create another world instead of warring over one? Why is Sanctuary so important to conquer? There are several possible explanations to this.

One is that the other high angels and demons can indeed create new worlds, but they cannot fill it with what actually makes Sanctuary important: humans, the Nephalem. Although how one could create an entire world from scratch with physical laws, matter and all plants/animals, but not humans, seems strange. Even supposing that were the case however, why not create a new world in the perfect image of Sanctuary, steal a few humans from the original, then place them in your copy and have them reproduce? Much simpler than fighting with the other side for control of a defiant world.

A second position that seems more plausible is that neither Angel nor Demon can create a new Sanctuary on their own, but by combining their powers they can achieve something much greater. The nephalem, children of both angel and demon, have the potential to become more powerful than their parents, as is first mentioned by Lilith:

Birthright, page 196 said:

Inarius then thinks the same though:

The Veiled Prophet, page 78 said:

If this is because of the mingling of angel and demon blood, which seems to be the only possible explanation, then it stands to reason that the powers of angels and demons compliment each others. Thus, working together, perhaps they could have made something like Sanctuary.

This explanation seems more credible, as it is unlikely an angel and a demon of Inarius' and Lilith's strength would have cooperated in creating a second world by spawning new humans. The problem here however is that there seems to be a host of other worlds somewhere that remain unknown to any angelic or demonic force, thus could not possibly have been created by either.

The Veiled Prophet, page 96 said:

This leaves little doubt that there are other worlds besides that of Sanctuary, and it also shows that Trag'Oul is linked to Sanctuary, while remaining unknown to Inarius, in fact to any angelic or demonic entity.

Thus we come to the third and most plausible explanation, that Sanctuary was not actually created by Inarius and Lilith at all. This is supported by the improbability of the above two scenarios, as well as a slew of quotes:

Birthright, page 122 said:

The Scales of the Serpent, page 38 said:

The Scales of the Serpent, page 38 said:

Notice the keywords forged and found, not created. It seems to suggest that Sanctuary was discovered rather than made, and only after then remodeled a bit by its new inhabitants; the Worldstone being such an example. What Sanctuary was before Inarius came there is unknown, but I think it reasonable to assume that it probably looked much like Earth would have done without humans. Hell certainly has no grass, animals, plants or similar, and it is unlikely that Heaven has either. Seeing as no angel or demon is omnipotent, it is not feasible to assume they could have created all those things without prior knowledge of them. Even humans, something definitely created by angel and demon, was only a mistake to begin with, and the result, how they eventually came to "function", seems to have been governed by some cosmic force (like genetics or some magical property intrinsic to the Universe) rather than the will of their parents.

Taking this last position also brings with it several benefits. First of all, it explains why no other world has been created; no one can. Second, it explains how it is that Trag'Oul remains unknown: he and the others were not created by Heaven or Hell, and are linked to their own worlds, most likely since whenever they were actually made. But this raises other concerns. It would seem that there is a large amount of other worlds out there, yet all somehow related to Heaven and Hell.

The Eternal War
This quote was shown in the earlier part of the post, but it is highly relevant, so I will show it again.

The Veiled Prophet, page 96 said:

Notice how the war is called eternal, which would seem to counterprove my earlier point that there was a beginning to both Heaven and Hell. It does not say however that it is the war that the Angiris and the Three are fighting that he is referring to. Oh the angels and demons may well be the carriers of the conflict, but not necessarily that they are the cause. The eternal war can refer to some conflict of order and good that is a factor of the Universe, eternal in the sense that it cannot be ended and has lasted since time began.

Interestingly enough, Trag'Oul is as we know not known to exist by either Heaven or Hell:

Quote

It is reasonable to conclude that, given that there appear to be other beings very similar to Trag'Oul, none of them are known to Heaven and Hell. Of course, Rathma could be wrong here, but Trag'Oul is never mentioned or even thought of by any angel or demon throughout the Sin War. Perhaps with the increase in Necromancers since then up to our time, the two forces have learned of the dragon in present times, but we know nothing of it if that's the case.

The "others" also mention the Balance, which is the path that necromancers follow. This quote from Trag'oul describes what it is:

The Scales of the Serpent, page 130 said:

The entire Universe is here then revealed to be dualistic in nature: not only are Heaven and Hell two forces that fight over Sanctuary, a random world, but they are the two driving forces of the Universe, the two powers against which all others, regardless of who they are or where they are, must stand. That is what the eternal war most likely amounts to. The Universe is not beyond time, but for as long as it exists, this war will be waged by both Heaven and Hell. This may not be a surprise; after all it is quite common knowledge that Heaven and Hell fight a great war. What is revealed however is that this war concerns all world, or at least all worlds that have watchers like Trag'Oul. It is impossible to say whether all worlds that do exist have such guardians, but many do it appears.

Summary
To summarize.

1. The Universe is not eternal, it had a point of creation.
2. Sanctuary was not created completely by angels and demons, but merely discovered and shaped by them.
3. There are other worlds like Sanctuary, with guardians similar to Trag'Oul, all linked to the conflict between Heaven and Hell. The angelic and demonic forces seem to be unaware of these guardians.
4. The war between Heaven and Hell not only concerns Sanctuary, but other worlds as well, perhaps all other worlds.

Next Time
Next time I will deal with the nature of all worlds, how they correlate, and where the Void and Abyss fit into it all.

(Image courtesy of Jetrall)

When you think of a clan, what comes to mind? Better yet, what exactly is a clan? In modern times, clans are nothing more than a group of people who are working together to achieve the same goal. Sounds pretty simplistic, right? Back when Battle.net was in it's infancy, legendary clans that have impacted our online society were being born as well. We were fortunate enough to interview Clan Tysan, one of the most respected, well-known, and longest standing clans around USEast, and all of Battle.net for that matter. Specifically, Prospero, one of the most committed members of the clan, answered our call. Here is our somewhat lengthy, but amazingly memorable, interview with the great Clan Tysan.



DiabloFans: Clan Tysan has been around for quite some time, including your presence in the Clan Hall. What would you say are the key elements that birthed an enduring clan when most others died shortly after their founding?

Prospero: Well you have to consider that I joined Tysan in 2001, which is four years after it was founded. When it was first founded in 1997 it wasn't that different from the average Battle.net Clan, with a single "dictator" who called the shots. I don't think it lasted long, because in 1999 the clan was restarted with a more fair (albeit aristocratic) system of rule. I would say that there are four key elements that have ensured Tysan's endurance since then:

• A core group of dedicated members. I've known many of Tysan's current members for years now, and I'd say that our friendship has kept us together even when our gaming activity dwindled.
  
• A stubborn refusal to give up. I once said that if I ever voluntary left Tysan, it would be because nobody else was left. Seeing as several other members have made similar statements we're not going to be stopping anytime soon.
  
• The ability of Tysan's leaders to recognize those who wish to take an active role in the clan and give them the opportunity to do so. One thing you see with many clans on Battle.net is that they have these huge hierarchies with dozens of ranks you have to climb through before you can do anything of significance. Tysan has very few such barriers. Theoretically, you could become Tysan's leader in about 4 months after you joined, and take an active role much sooner than that by joining one of the various committees or gaming groups.
  
• Continuous reflection on our way of doing things. Our system of rule has changed a lot since I joined, and we continue to make improvements as we go along to ensure it remains fair.

DFans: What has been the largest challenge Clan Tysan has ever faced?

Prospero: I'd say there have been two large challenges. The first was back in 2001 just before I joined. It is quite a complicated story to recount in an interview but essentially the clan was split in two. On the one hand was a group of Tysan veterans (including 90% of the leadership) that decided to quit Tysan to create a new clan. On the other hand was a group of other members who felt the leaders were running from their responsibility. Tysan was in chaos and would have imploded if not for two things. The first was the fact that Midnight(K'MA), the rather notorious leader of one of Tysan's allied clans stepped in to reorganize those that wanted to keep Tysan going. He helped a new council form. The second thing was the fact that I took over website administration - the veterans who had left still had control of the website and I was one of the few people they trusted, having some history with Tysan prior to joining.

The second challenge was World of WarCraft. Quite a few of our members had access to the World of WarCraft closed beta due to our ties with Blood Legion (who seemed to have some connections at Blizzard who kept supplying them with beta keys) so we had quite some experience playing the game together. Seeing no harm in adding another game when the others were doing quite well, we decided to keep playing after release. While the beta had prepared us quite well for many of the facets of the game, Tysan had no other experience in MMORPGs. Things went horribly wrong once people started reaching level 60. Tysan has always had a mixture of hardcore gamers and more casual gamers. If you put those together in an MMO guild you're going to get clashes between people who want to do endgame and those who want to take their time enjoying the leveling process. We eventually decided it was best to stop playing World of WarCraft and most of our WoW member base moved to different guilds. This move eventually cost us about 60% of our members, and we still have not equaled the clan size we had before this happened.

Both these challenges have made Tysan a better clan as a whole. The first event has inspired us to ensure our leadership can be easily replaced if necessary, and the second event has ensured that we do not expand into new games without thorough planning.


DFans: Names function as banners for others to follow behind. Did "Tysan" come easily in the early days, and how was it chosen?

Prospero: Funny you should ask that. None of our current members were around when Tysan was founded in 1997 (except maybe Mach114). I joined Tysan in 2001 myself so naturally the name was already chosen at that point. I think the 2001 website explained the name as coming from an old Mongol clan that once rivaled that of Genghis Khan - this reflects the way we play games: not the best, but enough to be reckoned with. Another explanation I've heard is that it means "wealth" or "richness" in some language, which would also be correct if applied to our history, structure and our diversity of members.

Many clans seem to go for a rather formulaic names such as "the X Y" (where X is an adjective and Y a plural noun, for instance: the Forgotten Warriors) or something like "the Y of Z" (where Y is a plural noun and Z another noun, for instance: the Guardians of Light). I think part of Tysan's appeal comes from the fact that it's a rather unusual name for a clan and does not follow these formulas.


DFans: Tysan has an immensely thought-out and functioning hierarchy system, grouping members in to positions with voting power and influence, as well as rules to go along with the privileges. How important is such a system in new clans, and how has it benefited Tysan in its old age?

Prospero: I think that every clan should pick something that works for them. We've only been using our current system for about 5 months, but it was something we gradually grew into. When I first joined Tysan it was run by a council that picked it's own members. This was gradually replaced by a system where the whole clan could elect the council leader who in turn appointed the council members. From this point we gradually added more voting power until we ended up with the current system which more or less adheres to the principles of the Trias Politica. But it's important to understand that it was the result of gradual transitions rather than something we introduced at once. It's also important to understand that our website does a lot of our work for us.

One of my co-workers sometimes jokes that Tysan has more bureaucracy than a small country, and I think our system would be a bit unwieldy for a new clan to start out with (even though it was designed to scale down as well as up). I think it's most important to have a system in place which is fair to all members and rewards those that are willing to put in extra effort for the clan. I think it is also important to have a system that encourages friendship. New clans should focus on these aspects first and worry about extensive rules later on.


DFans: Tysan currently supports multiple Blizzard games, including Starcraft and Diablo. What made you decide to focus on these two games and how do you decide when to drop or add another one?

Prospero: This is actually an issue we're currently discussing in the clan. Formerly the addition of new games was the responsibility of the Chancellor, but since we moved to our current site 6 months ago it's not really anybody's responsibility. Our future plans include a sort of petition for new games. If one member wants to expand to a new game and he can find enough people to play it with him, we will accept the game. If too few people play a game the Chancellor can decide to remove it.

Our current games each have different reasons for being accepted. Diablo 2: LOD is basically the game we've been playing more or less continuously since before I joined and we're playing it mostly because it's what we've been doing this whole time. StarCraft 2 was added because we have quite a bit of history with RTS games (WarCraft 3 and Broodwar) and we wanted to start focusing on that again. I also think we'll be looking at Diablo 3 in the future, mainly because we all loved Diablo 2.


DFans: Joining Tysan could be considered a lengthy process, as opposed to many other clans that accept any new member right on the spot. What is a benefit and a disadvantage of this approach to recruitment?

Prospero: Well the obvious disadvantage is the length of the procedure. It takes us about 3-4 days before new members are actually given a trial membership, and another 17 days before that trial membership ends and the new members gets the rank of Junior Member (assuming he passes the vote). Our join procedures scare away a lot of potential recruits which really slows down our growth rate. On the other hand, it does give us the opportunity to get to know them better prior to making a final decision about wanting them as members. Suppose you have a member who does not break any rules but doesn't really get along with anyone. Kicking him out of the clan is possible, but messy, since our charter as well as our website prevents members from being kicked without a fair trial. Even if such a trial were not to exist then kicking someone out will likely result in drama. People tend to respond better to a voting process since it is the opinion of the whole clan, not just those in charge.


DFans: Do you have any advice for prospective clan founders for the Diablo series?

Prospero: I could go on for hours, so I'll just stick to a few basic "good ideas":

• Get a few friends to help you out. This takes care of the "core group" I mentioned in my answer to the first question. But be careful not to give these friends privileges at the expense of other capable members
  
• Know the game you're playing. You don't need to be the best player in the world to lead a clan, but a good grasp of game mechanics is essential. Clans always have to deal with in-game disputes (with regard to loot, skill choices, which class is best for PvP), and having good knowledge about the game can often settle these disputes peacefully.
  
• Get a website and possibly a forum. Having a place to put down information about your clan is a must if you expect to live longer than a few weeks. If you don't know how to do this, find a guy who works with websites for a living.
  
• Be ready to spend lots of time on this. You can manage a clan with minimal effort, but it won't be anything spectacular.
  
• Be fair to your members. Being the almighty dictator only works as long as your members are willing to go along with it
  
• You are not the best clan ever. There's always a bigger fish. Don't provoke them

Diablo II patch 1.13b has been confirmed to not be the last phase of the latest updates to the nearly decade-old game. Bashiok posted today that a 1.13c is in the works and it is coming to completion, but warns that we will most likely not be seeing any updates from Blizzard until a week before the patch finally hits the official realms.


As has been noted lightly before, the Legacy Team will also likely be working on patches for Diablo II in the future, though no dates or specifics have been provided.


So play up your last-minute cheats on the PTR while you can, we may not be far from the long-awaited ladder reset and finished patch that has dragged us through a long and harrowing year.

We at DiabloFans would like to give a hearty welcome [back] message to the Guilds and Clubs Forum. This forum was used in the past to host specific Clans that were supported at DiabloFans. However, this section has been long gone and we would like to revamp how it will work for the future. If you have a current clan or have plans of starting a clan, feel free to contact me. From there, the entire staff will discuss whether or not we supporting your clan endeavors would be a logical choice. To kick start this new "feature", I would like to introduce (not that he needs an introduction), Nektu, leader of the newly formed Brotherhood of Destruction.



DiabloFans: Have you been involved in clans previously? If so, what were your experiences in dealing with them, and what was your particular role in said clans?

Nektu: I spent a year and a half with a West Realm clan. I had some great experiences with that clan and enjoyed my run with them. But it was run mostly like a dictatorship. After some time the rules and regulations seemed to be more of a hindrance than anything and made being a part of them unenjoyable. Other Members being kicked for not doing what was "required" of them when their real life came first. I went through their probation process and after wards quickly moved up through the ranks. By the time I had decided to leave, I was the Division Leader for their Division 1 West Realm D2 section.


DFans: BoD currently supports Diablo II, what made you decide to focus on this game and how will you decide to drop or add another?

Nektu: I think the decision to support Diablo II came from the fact that I really love playing this game. I have three platforms with a bunch of games, but I always find myself coming back to this one. For now BoD is a Diablo based clan. That doesn't mean that we will always be hindered to just this game alone. If the need truly arises to add and support another game, it will be brought up for a vote before the entire clan.


DFans: Diablo II has been out for nearly 10 years, in fact Diablo III is on the horizon. Was your decision in starting a clan for a 10 year old game easy? Do you see this as a problem for your clan?

Nektu: The decision to form a clan for a game that is this old was fairly easy. I figured that there was enough of a fan following already behind the game, that creating a clan for it would be in-effected by the games age. I don't see the release of Diablo III being a problem. BoD plans to support Diablo III, and if anything, I'm hoping that we will get a good core of people who will stick around and be a part of us when we make the transition over to Diablo III.


DFans: Joining BoD could be considered a lengthy process, as opposed to many other clans that accept any new member right on the spot. What is a benefit and a disadvantage of this approach to recruitment?

Nektu: I don't want to speak ill of any other clan that accepts members on the spot. Some think that the more members a clan has, the better they are. We have the application process because we want people who really like to play the game. Not because they just want to be part of a huge clan. We are all fans of this game. We enjoy gaming with one another. We are a Brotherhood. The advantage of us having a Probationary period for new members, is that it gives new members a chance to see if we are the right fit for them, and it gives us a chance to see if they are the right fit for us.


DFans: Names function as banners for others to follow behind. Did "Brotherhood of Destruction" come easily, and how was it chosen?

Nektu: I messed around and discussed with a good friend, who is also the co-founder of the clan, different name ideas. "Brotherhood of Destruction" was the one that stuck out the most. It comes from two things, we are a Brotherhood of fans who love the game. The last half, "Destruction", well, we wanted to make it Diablo based. So, it kind of fit.


DFans: Where do you see your clan in the future?

Nektu: As for the future of Brotherhood of Destruction, we plan on being around and having a Diablo III section of members. And, like I mentioned before, if the need arises to add another game for us to support, then we will give it a shot.

With the next installment of Diablo, comes a whole new host of weapons. Weapons to stab, weapons to bludgeon, weapons to cut, and weapons to pierce. Back in Diablo II, we had all of the above. But, you were often limited in your choice of weapons.

Rarely would you see a Necromancer wielding a maul, and even more uncommon would be a Barbarian sending arrows towards his foes. Often, character classes were restricted to two, sometimes three weapon types that really worked for them. You could experiment, sure, but would often fall short of what was possible when using the "preferred weapons."

Luckily, this seems to be changing with Diablo III, as indicated by a recent post by Bashiok.


While this does mean that characters will have an increased amount of weapons to play around with, it means nothing since we have no idea what to base this on. We do not know the current amount of weapons each character can use, which makes guesswork and speculation very inaccurate.

Which, is why the first post by Bashiok on this matter must be taken into consideration, to provide insight. While it does only talk about the monk, we can compare this to the other character by looking at the wording used. Attention should be directed to the parts I have bolded.

So, if this means that 4 categories of weapons constitutes a "small and focused" description, then what does this mean for the other characters?

I can easily see the others being able to use 6-8 weapon types each. This is because obviously, it would not be described as "small" if it were not for some pre-existing norm to base this on. Thus, we can reason out that this is considered small because the other characters are able to utilize a much larger range of weaponry.

However, this also raises the question of how effective these weapons will be. Sure, in Diablo II, a Sorceress could use a Scythe, but did it actually work well? Rarely.

While a larger range of weaponry will be great for aesthetics and customization, it will mean nothing if said weaponry does not add anything to our current build. For example, I do not want to equip a 2H sword on my wizard (Which, is possible now) just to say that it's different. I actually want it to do something for my class, and not just serve as eye candy, and to set me apart.

With some additional speculation based on this....

... we can assume that since such restrictions will be placed, that the weaponry that is left open to a character class, will actually be able to benefit said class.

It would be odd for Blizzard to give us the ability to equip a certain weapon type with a character, without actually giving us any incentive to do so. Which, makes me think that we may be seeing more generic skill bonus items, instead of the class specific items we had back in Diablo II, or the wands for Necromancers, Staves for Sorceresses, ect.

So, even though it's a lot of speculation, it does have sound logic backing it, and I can definitely see most weapons having skill bonuses for the characters that can use them. Of course, this would mean two-handers with wizard skills.

So, ditch that staff and hoist your claymore, all the cool kids are doing it.

Disclaimer: DiabloFans' Rumors are not the officially recognized positions of the staff, management, and/or administration of DiabloFans.