Bashiok announced on the World of Warcraft forums that there will be a system put in place for Diablo 3 players to reset their skill points, allowing more ease of experimentation with skill points as you gain, or even just allowing you room to mess up once in a while, and not have to make a brand new character as a consequence.

Also, Bashiok notes that the system that will be put in place for Diablo 3 will not be identical to the World of Warcraft respec system, and players will not be able to respec their characters so liberally.

“There will almost definitely be some sort of system to respec; however, it isn’t likely to be as liberal as World of Warcraft. We don’t want to lock a player into a system that punishes them for mistakes, experimenting, or lack of knowledge early on in the game. We also don’t think a system that allows immediate, complete, and at-a-whim changes to a character spec matches the feel of Diablo. It’s likely to be somewhere in between.

That said we still feel like the desire to play the same class again that you may have played before is still a part of the game, and with some ability to respec could potentially require other incentives. “

Several sections have been added to the Diablo 3 Knowledge Base, as you can tell by looking in the navigation bar at the top of the website. First of all is the Confirmed Diablo 3 Features page, which highlights all the features that have been Blizzard-confirmed so far. Second, pages have been created for the Barbarian and Witch Doctor classes, and of course, new pages will be added as new classes are confirmed for Diablo 3 by Blizzard.

• Diablo 3 Confirmed Features
• Diablo 3 Barbarian Class
• Diablo 3 Witch Doctor Class

Cheers, and enjoy!

Rob Pardo revealed in a recent interview with 1UP that in the most likely case, the payment structure (Buy the game, play free online.) of Battle.net will not be changed. Blizzard is not planning on utilizing a subscription model like in World of Warcraft, but rather follow the model of its predecessor, Diablo II.

I’d like to share with you a few key questions I found interesting during 1UP’s Interview With Rob Pardo.

1UP: Speaking of the WOW experience, other action-RPG games have attempted a subscription model of sorts, can you talk at all about that for Diablo III?

RP: Well, ultimately, we’ll decide on the final business model of the game in the future, but I don’t think you’re going to see a subscription model in the realm of WOW. It’s a boxed product game, it will be more similar to say, the Diablo II or the StarCraft II model.

1UP: Can you talk about any specific Battle.net changes that will be made for Diablo III?

RP: Battle.net is in constant evolution; for each game we really add a lot of features to Battle.net. And right now we’re really focusing on the Battle.net features for StarCraft II. But we definitely have been keeping Diablo III in mind also. I think probably sometimes towards the end of the year, we’re going to really start talking about the new Battle.net features as they pertain to StarCraft 2, and a lot of those features will carry over to Diablo III.

1UP: Will it be similar to Diablo II, where it’s around five, maybe a few more, classes in the core game?

RP: I don’t think we’re saying today, but it will be very similar to the previous games. [Note: This was asked and answered before the FAQ for the Diablo III site went up, where five classes were confirmed.]

1UP: As a bonus nostalgia kick, the demo had Deckard Cain. Are there any other nostalgic bits you can touch on? Will Wirt be the key to the cow level?

RP: [Laughs.] You’ll have to wait and see.

Shortly after the Diablo 3 announcement sent the gaming world into a frenzy, Blizzard made attempts to calm the masses, and released a screenshot package showing some key points of the game so far.

Screenshots capture images of the male and female versions of the Barbarian class, some of the new moves featured by both the Barbarian and Witch Doctor classes, and tons of new evil baddies to slay!

Of course, this is probably old news to you by now. But, for posterity’s sake, the first article in the Diablo 3 Knowledge Base details the announcement of Diablo 3′s development at Blizzard’s WWI in Paris, France.

Blizzard released an official synposis and features list during the discussions at the event:

Two decades have passed since the demonic denizens, Diablo, Mephisto, and Baal, wandered the world of Sanctuary in a vicious rampage to shackle humanity into unholy slavery. Yet for those who battled the Prime Evils directly, the memory fades slowly and the wounds of the soul still burn.

When Deckard Cain returns to the ruins of Tristram’s Cathedral seeking clues to new stirrings of evil, a comet from the heavens strikes the very ground where Diablo once entered the world. The comet carries a dark omen in its fiery being and it calls the heroes of Sanctuary to defend the mortal world against the rising powers of the Burning Hells–and even the failing luminaries of the High Heavens itself.

* Explore a fully-realized Sanctuary–the living, breathing gothic fantasy world of Diablo III rendered in gorgeous 3D.
* Battle the unholy forces of the Burning Hells with all-new character classes like the otherworldly Witch Doctor, or with re-imagined warriors from Diablo’s past: such as the fierce Barbarian.
* Rain Hell on your enemies wielding the interactive environment as a weapon: lay cunning traps, turn destructible objects against your foes, and use environmental obstacles to your advantage–all powered by the Havoc physics system.
* Experience the intensity of multiplayer Diablo III over an all-new, wickedly-enhanced Battle.net platform with numerous enhancements to make connecting with your friends easier–and cooperative gameplay more fun.

Obviously, there is currently no scheduled release date, but they stated that Diablo 3 has already been in development for several years, which started shortly after the closing of Blizzard North.

Official Diablo 3 Screenshots coming next!