Fire up your gaming rig (PC or Mac) for a long weekend of hacking, slashing, looting and dungeon crawling, action RPG fans. Putting the servers through a final stress test before the approaching May 15 launch, Blizzard is hosting an open beta weekend for the long-in-development Diablo III.
The open beta begins today at 12:01 p.m. PDT, and will run until Monday, April 23 at 10:00 a.m. PDT. A Battle.net account is all that you need to participate, whether you have an active account already or create one right now. That’s three days of early Diablo mouse-clicky goodness!
During the beta, you’ll be able to play online with friends and fellow adventurers, with full access to the five character classes and the ability to advance each one up to level 13.
Here’s an FAQ Blizzard sent along with the announcement to help get players ready to go:
What steps do I need to take?
· Log in or create a Battle.net account at http://www.battle.net
· Create your BattleTag™, which is required to play Diablo III (What is BattleTag?)
· Download the game client, install, and play between 12:01 p.m. PDT April 20 and 10:00 a.m. PDT April 23
I don’t have a Battle.net account — can I still play?
Absolutely! Just visit http://www.battle.net to create a free Battle.net account. Next, download the client from https://us.battle.net/account/download/index.xml and install it. Create your BattleTag, and then log in to the game using your Battle.net account name (email address) and password to begin slaughtering the demonic hellspawn that dare stand in your way.
Are there any differences for stress test participants versus invited closed beta testers?
Stress test participants will only be able to access the beta between Friday, April 20 at 12:01 p.m. PDT (noon), and Monday, April 23 at 10:00 a.m. PDT. In addition, stress test participants will not have access to post in the beta forums and will not be provided Beta Bucks for use in testing the currency-based auction house.
Can all regions/countries participate?
Due to regional differences and features of the stress test client, Korean players will not be able to partake in the stress test weekend. However, beginning the week of April 23, we will be conducting a separate, invitation-only closed beta test that will give players in Korea a chance to try out the game, along with players in the regions of Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Macau.
What if the service is down/laggy/disconnecting me?
It’s very possible that players connecting to the stress test could experience issues with the service. While not ideal, this is exactly why we’re having a stress test. We want to catch and analyze as many bugs as possible during this stress test period, so that we can try to ensure a smooth launch on May 15.
I’m having an issue, how can I get help?
Due to the limited window of the stress test we encourage you to visit the Technical Support or Mac Technical Support forums if you’re having any issues running the game, and checking the Known Issues list if you’re running into a bug. As a stress test participant you will not be able to post in the beta forums.
What platforms and languages do you support?
For the stress test we’re offering the client in English, French, and German for both Windows and Mac. At release the game will be fully localized into English, Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, European Spanish, Italian, Polish, Korean, and Traditional Chinese for Windows, and English, French and German for Mac.
I’m an invited closed beta tester, what happens after the stress test weekend ends?
As an invited closed beta tester you’ll continue to have access until the beta ends on May 1.
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Matt landed his first gig in the video game review business writing for the now-defunct website BonusStage.com. After the sad and untimely close of BonusStage, the former staff went on to found VGBlogger.com. After a short stint as US Site Manager for AceGamez, Matt assumed full ownership over VGBlogger, and to this day he is dedicated to making it one of the top video game blogs in all the blogosphere.
Matt is a fair-minded reviewer and lover of games of all platforms and types, big or small, hyped or niche, big-budget or indie. But that doesn't mean he will let poor games slide without a good thrashing when necessary! 
Without a doubt there is a legion of gamers out there who, simultaneously sighed with relief, and spontaneously exploded in anger following the release of Diablo 3.
We waited a tortuous twelve years for this game, endured the rise of MMORPG’s, spear headed by “World of Warcraft”. We saw the emergence of Social media with the likes of Facebook, and MySpace, and consequently witnessed the decline of civilization into a bunch of overweight, over bearing, self-centred , litigious individuals who would rather stick their nose in the luminescence of a laptop screen , than actually talk to the person next to them.
Why oh why did Blizzard torture us so? Do you remember the first, tantalizing screenshots, way back in 2009, with the statement that it would not be released until it was ready.
So like good little children, we waited, and waited. They did spend the time perfecting, what hopefully would turn out to be , in my estimation, a fantastic product.
So, on game day we got what can only be described as “Server Gate” . The mad dash of those who waited up beyond midnight, to download and install the game. One would expect that Blizzard knew what was coming and I’m sure they did. It was cold comfort, however, to some of us who on release day could not play the game.
For all its problems, Diablo 3 will be, for now, will be the game of the moment, to which I say enjoy it while it lasts, because it never does !