Diablo II Expansion Kibble

The place to go during this time o' Expansion unfolding (Diablo II's Lord of Destruction) is DiabloII.net where they've been busily building their resevoir of new lore. You'll find a fresh update of the beta diaries and one Druid's account of life at the earlier levels.

Also, a bit of good news regarding gems: apparently gems will not just be pretty and useless, or pretty useless. Take a look at Expansion Gem Stats and why you'll think twice about tossing away those now frequent stones in the future.

Gems aren't the only socketable item. D2.net has a list of all of the known Runes in LoD which lend items powerful attributes when socketed... and even more powerful when put in items in the exact right order.