Diablo 3 - Now Installing

Those who pre-loaded Diablo III from Blizzard or have the box in their hand can now install the game in anticipation of the release tomorrow. I got as far as the main menu.
Reviewers are apparently as restricted as the public - even IGN's Review in Progress isn't exactly making progress:

As for the Diablo III review, well, I can’t even start playing it until it goes public, because Diablo III requires an online connection to the live battle.net servers. I want to write about what it’s like taking on bosses with my friends, as well as what the experience is like selling and buying items for real money in the auction house, but that's not possible until after launch.

Over at Eurogamer, lead technical artist Julian Love rejects "dumbing down" accusations, saying the beta isn't representative of the whole game:

Some players claim Blizzard has reduced character customisation in an attempt to make Diablo 3 "casual friendly".
But in an interview with Eurogamer ahead of Diablo 3's hotly anticipated midnight launch, Blizzard said opinions about the game have been skewed by the recent beta, which showcased early areas of the game and limited the level cap to 13.
"I definitely don't see it as dumbing down," lead technical artist Julian Love said. "One of the disadvantages beta testers have is they only see the early portion of the game. That's the portion of the game that really does need to be simple and approachable in order to live up to our mantra of easy to learn and difficult to master. You only get that experience in the beta, and that's the place where we're really trying to get it to be as dead simple and approachable as we possibly can.
"So it's not that we're dumbing the systems down, so much as we're changing the balance of when systems are introduced and how much information is thrown at the user. A lot of those things are just re-prioritised to flow into the proper portion of the game, where you've already gotton used to the early systems and early combat, and now you're ready for more. That's a big part of the process of just getting it to ramp up properly."

More information.

The planet will judge accordingly how difficult d3 is, not an artist.

Good maybe now we can stop talking and hearing about this game on every site I visit. I'm not kidding ads everywhere. I'll pass and yes I mean it.

Bring on Game of Thrones and Demonicon.

I suspect that you will be hearing about the game even more for at least a few weeks after it is released. We haven't even started to get reviews yet.

I intended on waiting a little while before buying this one, but I got a little swept up in the hype today and made it an impulse purchase. Got it all installed and am just waiting for the servers to come online. I'm sure Blizzard won't let us down!

Between this, Grim Dawn, and Torchlight 2 I will have a pretty good ARPG fix for a while.

I will relish this quiet forum …

nice, I was thinking tomorrow was the 14th. Off by a day, pleasant surprise. I may have to run home and sleep so I can get up late and play til the wee hours.

Tonight at midnight, mofos!

so… tempted… to stay up past bedtime… must resist!

Getting it at midnight. Entering my key. Going to bed. I could stay up until 3 AM to get on (I will likely still be awake anyway), but I'm not going to start a marathon that late. Have fun, all.

Originally Posted by Couchpotato
Good maybe now we can stop talking and hearing about this game on every site I visit. I'm not kidding ads everywhere. I'll pass and yes I mean it.

Bring on Game of Thrones and Demonicon.

I also will be getting game of thrones instead, but I actually have rather enjoyed seeing tv commercials for a PC game. It's been years. Usually you see it for xbox or ps3 with a tiny pc logo at the bottom of the screen.

for some reason I have 0 interest in this game. But then again, I'm not a fan of 'action RPGs' (as they call Diablos and their clones). Guess it's because I never play it online? (I don't play online any games with non-consensual PvP)

I'll get this game someday. Played both D1 and D2 and enjoyed them. But action RPGs like Diablo are not day 1 purchases for me.

Never played D1 and D2, I tried the demos and didn't like them much. Always waited for it go on sale but it never did. 5-6 years after initial release it was still full price at EB Games/Gamestop so I just gave up trying. Sure I could have gone used but I didn't care that much to try.

Will have to see some good reviews and a good sale price before I pick up but I'm sure lots of people will be happy this evening/tomorrow assuming its anywhere as good as its predecessors were to its fans.

Played D1 years ago and tried D2. Meh. D3 looks like a total yawner to me. Pass. Maybe I'll give G1 & 2 another whirl instead. I always feel like I'm home in that world.

D3 beta was pretty boring, just can't get into these types of games anymore.

Jeez, sometimes you guys can be real downers to my excitement level! Bunch of negative nancies

For a game these folks care so little about, they sure seem to post a lot about how little they care. Good for you. We get it. Now get out of our D3 threads. Thanks.

I'll wait for your first impressions of the game. TBH I'm not that excited about it which SUCKS!!!

I couldn't wait to get my hands on D2 and then the expansion, but not so much anymore. Same thing happened with Warcraft (the strategy game not that MMO nonsense). Warcraft 1 and 2 were great, but I didn't buy 3 until last year and still wasn't that impressed by it.

Meh, I'm getting too old for this action RPG nonsense without throwing in something totally new and interesting. I've seen nothing new or interesting about D3 yet other than it's always online and has a store. Whoop-dee-freaken-do.

Please guys, prove me wrong. Tell us what you think of it after you play it. Maybe I'm just getting too cynical in my old age.

Originally Posted by chamr
For a game these folks care so little about, they sure seem to post a lot about how little they care. Good for you. We get it. Now get out of our D3 threads. Thanks.

Wow what logic. I say people who hate people who hate the game please get out of our D3 threads. See how that works. Have a good day now.

Someone's gotta be a downer since apparently the game is some type of sacred relic that cant be tainted. I've seen it get ugly on many forums.

Begone, heretic