They feel that Witch Doctor is too close. 
 
WALL OF FUCKIN' ZOMBIES MAN.  
 
IMO, Druid is a much bigger omission considering the line-up as it is. 

Necro or not this game can't come out fast enough.

I think the biggest class that they are missing is the Witcher class. 

Necromancer always reminded me of Ian Mckellen. I, too, am going to miss playing as him. But the Witch Doctor looks like he might be a decent substitute.

Got replaced by the Witch Doctor.

I just hope that I'll be able to summon a hoard of minions like i was able to in d2. But yeah, witch doctor is the necro of d3.

Yeah I am gonna go with Witch Doctor instead, but a necromancer would have been dope. always been my favorite class.

I think the biggest class that they are missing is the Witcher class. 

Witch Doctor is totally the new pet class.

They're not going to put them all in at once.  There's still at least two expansions planned so most likely 4 more classes.
 
Necro -> Witch Doctor
Assassin -> Demon Hunter
 
Paladin and Druid are the biggest gaps I see right now and imagine will get something close to those two in the first expansion.

I think the biggest class that they are missing is the Witcher class. 

I am like 75% sure that Necromancers got replaced by Witch Doctors just so that the Necromancers can become bad guys in Diablo 3. 
 
Consider that all the prime evils are dead and it can't be a diablo game without Diablo, so there needs to be some kind of revival event.  Also, cultists are also going to be enemies based on the gameplay shown. 
 
Although, the worldstone's destruction has had unknown effects so who knows.

I was disappoint that there was no Rogue in Diablo 2....

                    I am like 75% sure that Necromancers got replaced by Witch Doctors just so that the Necromancers can become bad guys in Diablo 3.  Consider that all the prime evils are dead and it can't be a diablo game without Diablo, so there needs to be some kind of revival event.  Also, cultists are also going to be enemies based on the gameplay shown.  Although, the worldstone's destruction has had unknown effects so who knows.

                   

               

I'm more upset that there's no pally. >:[

Paladins were the best. They could be played so many different, awesome ways.
 
But as everyone has been saying, the Witch Doctor is very much replacing the Necro.

Necromancers were so cheap anyways.

Necromancers are badass yes but eh. Witch doctor looks equally badass. Enjoy some variety man! :D

Meh, things change. The Witch Doctor retains most of the Necro's defining characteristics so it's no biggy.
 
Elements of the paladin are very much present in the monk too. The monk is basically a mix of the pala and assassin.

Necro was insanely powerful. Maybe not at lower levels but once you got there, he would destroy anything. Probably decided not to include him as they'd have to nerf him and fans would be pissed.

@Enigma777 said:

I'm more upset that there's no pally. >:[

@dirkfunk said:

Paladins were the best. They could be played so many different, awesome ways. But as everyone has been saying, the Witch Doctor is very much replacing the Necro.

TO ARMS BROTHERS!

(Paladins are amazing, level 96 woo.)

I miss the Necro too but the WD is so awesome..

I'm not liking a whole lot about D3.

@mrcraggle said:

Necro was insanely powerful. Maybe not at lower levels but once you got there, he would destroy anything. Probably decided not to include him as they'd have to nerf him and fans would be pissed.

The witchdoctor looks like an idiot. I'd never want to play with such a comical figure, no matter what powers he has.

I wouldn't mind if they added a Diablo 2 class in the inevitable expansion.

I was a necro man myself, will go Witch doctor in III.

Major Fan of the necromancers... hell, I PVP'd with them and wrote guides for them for diabloii.net back in the day.

Totally bummed there isn't some reppin' from beyond the grave with a pasty-assed white haired dude.

I remember reading some really early DIII coverage where journalists were asking specifically about the lack of Necromancers and whoever they were speaking with hinted at the possibility of the class returning in a DIII expansion pack.

BLOOD GOLEM YEAHHHHHHHHHH!

They're not going to put them all in at once.  There's still at least two expansions planned so most likely 4 more classes.
 
Necro -> Witch Doctor
Assassin -> Demon Hunter
 
Paladin and Druid are the biggest gaps I see right now and imagine will get something close to those two in the first expansion.

I'm just disappointed this game has so much influence from Wow's style, but yeah the Necromancer was great and probably my favorite.

The Witch Doctor will have a different playstyle more akin to a warlock from wow. His pets will do damage and crowd control whilst the Witch Doctor debuffs/damages targets with various spells. I have a feeling Blizzard will eventually bring the missing roles back with subsequent expansions.

Personally I'll miss the druid, turning into a fucking werewolf was badass!

The Lack of the Necromancer is dissapointing but I'm outright bummed about there not being a Paladin... Having a Templar Follower isn't the same.

I'm gonna miss being all "Hai Baal Imma whale on you wicked hard with my Zeal and Fanat Aura! Oh you can't hit me? I has holy shield! GG Baal, GG!"

Who cares? If you want the exact same game and situation, just go and play Diablo 2, it's still there. They can't just put the same things in again, because people would complain that it's stagnant and not progressing.

Actually they could Reuse the classes from D2 with out it being stagnant, they seems to have added enough gameplay wise that giving people the familiarity of the D2 classes would be good thing for players.