Simple response:
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Simpler than PoE in most aspects but complicated enough to make it fun to theorise and plan builds without getting lost in the complexity that is PoE… More varied than D3 end-game build wise. 5 active skill max and generally easy gameplay - more complex that Torchlight 2 but nothing complex like MMO skill rotations… Simple end-game setup and infinite difficulty with general random maps and dungeons…
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Multiplayer is coming in 0.9 - planned for release sometime after September this year… (no confirmed release date). You can read the dev blog for more detail on that and how Multiplayer is going to work. This is currently in closed community testing phase - not available to normal EA players.
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The game will have “Cycles” but what these are going to be exactly (beyond resetting competitive ladders etc) is not yet defined. Again, there are older dev blogs that touch on this a little, but for now we are not sure.
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Dont ask about trading - its a very touchy subject and right now the devs are not in a position to tell anyone how it will work.
Based on your comments, I would wait until 0.9 when everything will be server-authoritative and you will be able to play with others.
Beyond that, its a great game and well worth a few thousand hours of enjoyment… imho…