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You can see more information about this in [http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?locale=en_US&articleId=26886 Blizzard's Beta Opt-in FAQ].
==What will be in the Diablo III Beta?==
No one outside of Blizzard knows. A beta test needs to include enough of the game to keep people testing and giving feedback on software/hardware issues, and the developers want to make sure that (especially) the opening sections of the game are as good as they can be and will suck in new players. The whole game is very seldom included in a beta test though, especially not for a non-MMORPG like Diablo III.
Blizzard has been very careful about not leaking details about Diablo III's plot, so it's widely expected that they will not include more than Act One of the game, and will probably rip out some of the plot details from whatever they do release.
It also seems that they'll want to test out the [[Arena]]s as extensively as possible, so the inclusion of those in the beta, either for Beta characters or for premade Arena characters, seems very likely.
===What was in the Diablo II Beta?===
The D2 beta took place in early 2000, and like all Blizzard betas in those days, there were only about 1000 testers, all of whom had a beta CD mailed to them. Modern betas start small and ramp up with more testers added over time, until far more than 1000 people are enabled to test.
The D2 beta was all of Act One, in exactly the same form it had in the final game. All of the same quests, NPCs, levels, waypoints, mnercenaries, monsters, items, etc. PvP worked just as it did in the final game as well. All five characters were available, and while they could be leveled up as high as you liked, only the first three tiers of skills were available; at Clvl 1, 6, and 12.