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	The ability to fight outside instead of in those dark, tight, caverns will be a nice touch to Diablo 2.

When asked about cheating on B.net, Bill Roper replied, "We don't want to go into too much detail, but we will - among other things - be utilizing a form of client/server architecture that utilizes Battle.net far more than any title we have done to date." However, I am still skeptical. Despite the numerous patches, Diablo still has a serious problem with cheating. However, Blizzard wasn't anticipating it so I can give them a break. With the Release of Starcraft, Blizzard said they were taking all possible precautions to cheating with SC, however it is still there. Will they truly fix it with Diablo 2? Well, who knows. Some people say that they can, while others say that no game is totally cheat/hack proof. I tend to lean towards the latter of the two - for I have yet to encounter a game in which there has been no hacks/cheats/crack/trainers etc.

Moving on, what good is a game with neat quests if you don't have any original or inspiring monsters to slay in them? Don't answer that, it's rhetorical. Actually, it's a topic sentence, a kind of foreshadowing as to what I'm going to discuss in this paragraph - and for the mentally challenged, I'm going to discuss monsters! Instead of going with the traditional AD&D system of monsters, Blizzard is going all out with their own heiarchy of monsters. Bill Roper said the reason they are going in this direction is because "By creating our own world, we get to inhabit it with our own monsters." He goes on to say "These creatures are not limited by pre-conceived notions of what they should have for weaponry or spells. We really get a chance to be as creative as possible and, hopefully, add tot he monster mythos that exists among gamers everywhere." This is both a good and bad thing. On the good side, we really don't know what to expect from the majority of monsters in Diablo 2, which adds to the element of surprise. On the downside, if Blizzard gets too creative, we might not want them trying to redefine the traditional system of how characters are portrayed.

Well, suffice to say that we don't really have to worry about Blizzard messing anything up, so let's get down to identifying a few of these nasties. One of my favorites, and highly anticipated among my friends, is Baal, Diablo's second brother. What really tickles my butt is the fact that now we will actually get to see him in the game, and destroy him, all the more fun. Another interesting monster - The Bighead - Is one that fires balls of lightning from its eyes and mouths. Interesting. A few of the other creatures will include the Titan, Mantis, Winged Beast, and Thorned Hulk, among others. Special note: Monsters names are subject to change by the final release. And likewise to Baal, another one of my favorites will also make an appearance - Mephisto. Mephisto is another brother of Diablo, which makes him all the more evil.