The Diablo III Website announces some systems changes for Blizzard's upcoming action/RPG, as they are describe plans to revamp crafting, items, core attributes, and inventory based on feedback from the game's ongoing beta test, adding they are also implementing changes to the game's skill and rune systems that they aren't prepared to discuss just yet. How this might impact the game's release schedule goes unmentioned, though they do note: "No one will remember if the game is late, only if it's great." Specific changes they announce are the removal of scrolls of identification, the addition of a dedicated potion button, the removal of superfluous system objectives such as the Mystic artisan, the Cauldron of Jordan, and the Nephalem Cube, and that common items will no longer be salvageable. They also outline changes to attributes, as they are dropping Defense, Attack, and Precision, leaving characters with Strength, Dexterity, Intellect, and Vitality. Here's more on the plan moving forward:

There’s a lot of work left to be done, though. We’re constantly tuning and making balance changes; it’s a massive task. Some of these changes can be seen in the beta, like changes to item rarity, the levels at which we introduce affixes, and how many affixes enemies can roll up. Some you can’t see in the beta, like balancing the difficulty of the entire game for four different difficulty levels, adding tons of new affixes, creating legendary items, filling out crafting recipes and itemization, working on achievements, and implementing Battle.net features. We’re also working on a number of other large systems changes -- specifically with the skill and rune systems. We're not quite ready to share what those are just yet, but we look forward to being able to do so in the near future.

We want Diablo III to be the best game it can be when it launches. To get there, we're going to be iterating on designs we've had in place for a long time, making changes to systems you've spent a lot of time theorycrafting, and removing features you may have come to associate with the core of the experience. Our hope is that by embracing our iterative design process in which we question ourselves and our decisions, Diablo III won't just live up to our expectations, but will continue to do so a decade after it's released.