So, just listened the Blizzcast and I only got more and more angry about D3.

-Skill system has become like WoW's

im assuming you mean the "put XYZ amount of points into this tree before you access the next set"? if thats the case then at least take into account that the lower tier skills are still considerably useful and more general, while only the higher tier skills are more skill-tree specific. if thats still a problem, then i really cant help you with that other than remind you that its a new game, not a D2 expansion.

-Inventory has become like WoW's

ill give you credit here - i prefered the old D2 skill system. but thats because i like charms, and the new system doesnt seem charm friendly.

- No potions (I know mobs will drop health, but there's a world of difference between starting with a potion and hoping for a drop)

potions are still in the game, just not buy-able from an NPC - meaning that a skill such as find potion for D2 would actually be useful now, which is what they want to do - encourage more people to use all their skills, not just their endgame skills (aside from casting things that are duration based, how different skills would players use? at best my most complicated D2 chaaccter used 3 different skills with 3 separate re-castables. most others used no more than 2 consistently).

-Predetermine stats, you no longer get to allocate them yourself.

from what i understand, the D3 team is figuring out what to do about this. the reason why they do this is so that they can expect certain stats out of a character by the time it reaches a certain point in the game - and no, this does not mean you cant wear anything you want anymore either - gear has no stat requirement now. one of the things i've heard of was a character rune system - where its something like you have 7-9 slots in your character screen that you can manipulate with runes to change certain stats. but i dont know much about that, or if its even gonig to be in the final build.

also - another reason why the auto-stats was considered was to stop people from breaking their chars without knowing what to do. on the other hand, with the charms of D2:LOD and the newer rune words, there was no actual point to the stat system. it was allways "Get enough strength/dex for your gear, never touch energy, and dump everything in vitality", since your gear or charms provided all the attack rating / mana you could need. you cant honestly think like a game designer and think "i made all this great stuff, and yet no one uses. how awesome!" now can you? though that last sentence is my own speculation.

and now Barbarians use rage, errr.... I meant fury, instead of energy.

is this really something to nitpick for? that they dont use mana? this is an unneccessary argument at best.

Next thing I know the melee stealth class they announce will use energy....

so what if they do? barbs in D2 used the same source for their melee skills as sorceres did. and yet you complain about that. sounds a bit like you contradict yourself here but meh.

I don't want a top down WoW I want an effing Diablo game.....

so. a similar skill system and barbs using fury (and WoW-ish graphics, even if i dont see it - i would think its the move to 3-D) all of a sudden makes it a top-down WoW? fair enough.

direct responces above in red.

I don't see cartoon at all.  Some of the architecture looks "WoWish"  but everything else fits right in line IMHO.

Does this really look any less Cartoonish than :

I don't really think so.