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So, no mention of a self found mode, PvP, ladder, or any kind of competitive, community driven addition to the game. It's gonna feel like a weak expansion if the Loot Run random dungeon is the highlight of the end game. Really hoping they will announce more cool features in the coming months.
Also, all those legendaries should stay permanently account bound, because a simple gear/power reset like they always do with WoW is not gonna cut it in the long run if the bots/AH can continue to devalue gear with each passing day.
Great trailer though. As expected.

Quote from Elendiro

we already have a "summoning class", I think it's more likely that it will be the druid

There is always the possibility they will be once again adding two new classes to a Diablo expansion. And seeing that Blizzard's class design is mostly impeccable, I say the more the better.

Does anyone else feel like Blizzard will offer us more than a one-act expansion for 2014? Very excited about this.

And with one simple image scorned hearts once again fill with hope.

The passion people have for this series is simply undeniable. Everyone wants to see D3 redeemed, and perhaps this will indeed be the expansion we've all been waiting for. Can't wait for some big news and juicy details!

I play on HC and I'm not buying anything from the vendors (except some stylish dyes), only relying on luck and craft when available. In my opinion, selling items on the AH to fund crafting ruins the self found experience, and buying items from vendors doesn't help that much either.
Yeah the progression is slow, and RNG plays a big part in how fast you improve your gear, but it's worth it. When a big upgrade drops it's a great feeling. As Bagstone said, making the game easier for yourself in an accessible, cheap way just makes you feel like you betrayed yourself. Like there was some magic to it that just disappears in a single moment. And you'll probably end up quitting that character soon enough.

So, stay strong, stay frosty, and keep clicking.

Quote from Melt

Nah you are right, Let's all hug each other and embrace any idea that simply says "better loot for everybody" or "more abilities = more diversity"...

Instead of trying to figure out what's wrong with a system let's just keep nagging how much better that one single contribution is than everything Blizzard came up with. That'll lead to the most desirable outcome, will it not?

If people seriously can't find anything to criticize in that post then it's probably for the best that Blizzard ignores us.

Actually, a lot of people on the forums criticize the OP, mainly because of the MF/Paragon section of his post. I absolutely do not agree with everything he wrote, but still find two of his ideas to be quite cool.
The first would be the 'Recognition for discovery' which is such a simple, yet powerful idea that could be used in a variety of ways to promote the actual playing of the game. Personally, getting some small recognition for my luck/perseverance and slightly improving one of my characters at the same time is more than appealing to me. I don't have trouble seeing Blizzard implementing something similar to this in the future.
The second idea is the 'Empty Rune Slot', again seemingly a simple concept that has a ton of potential to drastically enhance the gameplay experience. Developers can go wild with an idea like this one, opening up a ton of possibilities for new builds. With something like bi-monthly additions of legendary items, similar to PoE, Blizzard could keep the game fresh for a pretty long time.

This is my personal opinion, and I don't expect it to be universal or without flaws. Nor should you think that you know something that the 'masses' do not. If a lot of people like OP's ideas, maybe they're not wrong or delusional. Maybe they just have different taste and views on what would make Diablo 3 more fun. Your ideas are well though out, and I can appreciate the passion it took to go into such detail when writing about this game, but I still can't see your Charmwords and Imbues implemented into D3 any time soon, if ever.
The developers intend to keep the game user-friendly and as simple as it can be, while trying to enhance the experience for those of us who bought Diablo 3 to play for years to come. And the community seems to recognize their intent. Because of that, simple, yet effective ideas similar to those of the OP can get more people behind them. These concepts are just more plausible. It's not all in the pretty pictures.

Quote from Melt

Is this really all it takes to convince the masses?
-Rant-
NONE of these changes will make the game a longterm success or add much(any) depth to it.

You strike me as a person of superior intellect, stranded on the shores of the internet with us ignorant sheep, who need to be told what they should enjoy or approve of. I can't wait for you to dip into that endless pool of knowledge and wisdom that is your mind and blow me away with some amazing ideas of your own.

D3 in 2012. should have been superior to D2:LOD, right from the start, in every possible way. Comparing this game to original D2 and giving a company like Blizzard (which has the biggest experience in the industry with role playing games) some slack there is just silly. Because, not only did D3 fail to evolve in some of the key aspects, it basically regressed in quite a few of them. And somehow it's still the best ARPG out there.
D3 failed with map randomization and linearity, it failed with itemization, the removal of ladder system, but personally, the one thing that really bothers me and hasn't been discussed that much is how bad it failed with quests.

Quests are an integral part of any role playing game (you're always a hero on a quest), and it's about damn time they evolved in the ARPG's, because nowadays they're all either copying D2 or, in case of D3, making even worse and lazier quests than those that came 10 years earlier.
If you take time to create hundreds of random quests (time quests, class quests and epic quest chains) ranging from short and sweet to hardcore and extremely rare ones that happen somewhere in the world zones, or only at certain times, or only at high MP levels, opening hidden unique dungeons and portals to further promoting exploration, then you will add a powerful incentive to play again and again, at the same time massively improving the overall gameplay experience and fun of finding something new.
Give out cool rewards (small permanent buffs, leveling gear, flasks, special cosmetic items, titles, pets, the opportunity to change a name of a single item, add a color or an effect to a weapon, etc.) and make quests one of the focal points of the game. You cannot go wrong with this.

Quote from maka

I liked how I could complete sets by just playing the game, i.e., farming. Even if they weren't great, or were low level, I could deck new characters out with them. It was fun to me.

Honestly, this was the one thing I was really hoping will improve and evolve the most before the game came out. D2 didn't nearly have a perfect system and it sucked when you got Isenhart's Case or something from Nightmare/Hell bosses and mobs, but still, sets actually dropped from the start of the game, and it was fun collecting them for new characters. What a huge step back from this is the fact that in D3 you most likely will never see a piece of a set well into farming Paragon on Inferno.

Quote from Zero(pS)

I might start a self-found Hardcore character soon. Just gotta gather some survival tips and make sure my internet isn't gonna have any hiccups. The frustration would kill my desire to play for a looong time.

Imo it is the best experience D3 has to offer gameplay wise, even though the current loot distribution is not designed for the self-found characters. It's flaws and shortcomings becomes quite evident as you try to progress further into the game. On the other hand, I've never been so excited to see a rare upgrade drop than on hardcore self-found. A very satisfying feeling, that is perhaps the heart & soul of a good ARPG.

If Blizzard could somehow work it out to have a separate loot distribution system for a self-found ladder in the expansion, that would be the biggest improvement they ever could have implemented to the game. Still, it's not something to be very hopeful about, because it seems that they are trying to figure out a way to keep the AH relevant and make farming items viable, most probably by making the higher level legendaries bound on account.

Quote from Bagstone

And although PvP was (and is) an important aspect for some players in the Diablo universe, it is and will never be the main aspect. Their stance against competitive gaming and the announcement that they don't want to turn D3 into yet another e-sports game made that very clear. PvP will come eventually, but it's not number one priority (and probably not even number 2 or 3).

I think this stance has already changed within Blizzard, because they realized the fact that PvP has to be competitive in some way in order for it to be successful. It's obvious that they won't implement the system just for fun. Not anymore. It probably won't go the full e-sports route, but some sort of a rating system will be put in place, I have no doubt of that.

Quote from VTurth

Tweaking numbers/stats on items is not a 5-9 month job. Im sure basic programmers could do this in a weekend.

Not over a weekend, but by 2014. a one-handed monkey with alzheimer's and basic typing skills would patch it in.

It's good that they are taking their time to do things right and everything, but c'mon, no one can honestly believe that this job requires a team, no matter how small it is, to work one full year on it.

Such a shame. Guess it's time to take a prolonged break from D3. The inflation will continue to rise, and whatever they have in store for us before the itemization patch, it seems that most/all of the current items will probably become too cheap or even useless when they decide to implement this huge overhaul of the system. And If it will take them almost a year to do this, chances are slim that we will see any other major unannounced improvements before it.