True, but what I meant was that in Diablo 2, you had to go through certain quests and what not to progress and even if you joined your friend's game, you were still limited to what act you were on (not counting normal, nightmare and hell obviously).

In Diablo 3, I joined a friend's game and it let me into Act 4, showed me the cutscene and I could teleport to them in the action even though my character's progress was only still in Act 1.

It was that way in Diablo 2 at the beginning also. I think until version 1.09 (8 versions after initial release), you could go to any act just by beating the act boss. So high levels would just tele to boss, tp in the level 1, kill the boss and be in act 5 in no time.

Sure, it's easier in D3 for now, but I'm sure that will change soon. People will boost regardless.

What the fuck?! Scheduled maintenance? I seriously think Blizzard have become incompetent.

Really? That's a little weird for a Tuesday morning one week after launch.

Quick question: Have any of you gotten any uniques or set items? I'm only at the beginning of Act III but I've yet to see one.

I got a unique bow in act 3 on normal - put it on my Scoundrel companion. No set items yet and I'm in act1  Nightmare.

I got one, but you arent really supposed to find many. I only know one other person that has gotten a set item.

I got to uniques (a low level bracer and a level 36 amazing polearm), but they're indeed quite rare. No set yet.

In other news, my Monk kicks ass. I mainly use Cyclone Strike to pull crowds in, hit them with Crippling Wave then Lashing Tail Kick to kill or send them away. I've got Seven-Sided Strike for Champions and Rares enemies, Serenity for when things get rough (3sec immunity and some healing) and I've got a the evasion Mantra (which also helps me regenerate my Spirit with a passive ability).

Speaking of Monks, the polearm unique that I found is pretty good for a Monk:  http://d3db.com/item/i/standoff 

The extra modifiers it has are +74 to Dex, +18 to exp and +4-11 arcane damage.