Diablo 2 was a pretty simple game. It had a nice story divided into acts, but lets be real: it was pretty short. Even all the difficulties counted as one progression line, it didn't last very long on story alone. For most people, the replayability was in rolling new characters, gearing them, and perhaps dueling. Some also chose to go for max level as well, but in reality most builds are 'finished' far before this. These are the things that kept people playing D2 a decade after its release. Myself personally, I typically had an MF character, a rush character, and then built several different duelers. Different classes and different styles to be well rounded(Ghost, Bonemancer, Ironbarb always included/tweaked), and experimented with off-builds that looked fun.

Without those aspects, Diablo 2 wouldn't be close to what it is today. This worries me in relation to Diablo 3. There is no character customization that would promote replaying at all. Stats are auto allocated, all the classes will be exactly the same. Skills are completely respecable, taking away all choices in the leveling process. Add those two things together, and you have zero incentive to ever play the same class more than once. Level once, and never again.

So, you've completed all the acts and all the difficulties. It won't take long. What now? From where I'm sitting, your options appear to be cut in half from the previous game. Gear existing characters, one of each class being the absolute maximum. 5 replays. No alternative builds, no whacky stat perfectionism or off-playstyles. Then stare at a big GAMEOVER sign, because there isn't anything else you can do.

Thoughts?