A question about Diablo II and it's expansion

[Gavindale]

I recently bought Diablo II and it's expansion, but I have some questions before I play it. I read that with the original game, there (roughly) four different adventures to play, and with the expansion there is another one added to gameplay. If I install the the original game and it's expansion, do I get to choose which adventure I get to play? Also, if I install the expansion, and opt to play one of the new classes, will I be playing the original game, or just the expansion? I read that there are some perks to playing the expansion, such as a bigger inventory space, now if I install the game and the expansion, but put in the orignal Diablo II disc, and in turn play one of the orignial classes, do I still get the perks? Is there anything else I might need to know about the game and the expansion before I dive into gameplay? Thanks!

[Firestormalpha]

It's not so much four different adventures as it is one big adventure in four parts or ACTS. With the fifth added by the expansion. It is a linear game, so far as I've experienced, you have to play all acts in order.

All Characters, regardless of class, advance through the acts in the normal manner. With the exception that on creation you can 'uncheck' the box indicating they are an expansion character. This would halt that characters progress at the end of Act IV. Though as I understand it you can then convert that character back into an expansion character and play out Act V.

I'm not certain, but I believe that the inventory space is the same with or without the expansion. Though it has been years since I've played without the expansion installed. What you will get is the ability to 'bank' more gold in your stash chest. In early versions it would increase gradually as you progress through the Acts, as of the most recent update (possibly earlier) I believe you can hold around 2.5 million gold pieces, that or 250,000. It's easy to misplace a 0.

Essentially, all the benefits of the expansion impact the whole game on installation. The only way to prevent them from taking effect in any given play through is to not install the expansion.