RE: Grind - Every change they made between D1 and D2, as well as adjustments they've been patching in, have all been oriented towards reducing "the grind" and making this a game you can play super casual and make progress in. And stuff like unlocking the subclasses is mostly just worded horribly — you don't have to just jam public events, but the language they use makes it sound that way.

RE: Builds - A lot of D1's longevity came from experimenting with the intersection of skill setup and gear selection. The streamlining in D2 has diminished some of that possible experimentation, but there's a good chance things will get more interesting as they run the numbers on PvE and PvP behaviors.