Good to see the iLvl changes. I felt that was the biggest problem with the loot progression in this game.
In this regard, they shouldn't have mimic'd D2's loot tables. iLvl ranges were just as broad in that game -- you had just as much of a chance of getting iLvl 84 Archon Plate as you did iLvl 74 Dusk Shroud -- but it wasn't really an issue for a number of reasons:
1) The game was definitively easier so even if you did get lower iLvls, they were still usable and possibly an upgrade if you got a good stat roll. Diablo 3 is much more of a gear check and iLvl of an item plays a much more important role in your ability to progress, especially your weapon.
2) With Str/Dex requirements on armor/weapons, some classes needed those lower iLvl items for their build. Diablo 3 gets rid of these prereqs. Lower iLvl items are almost always a downgrade if you already have a higher iLvl item equipped (even if it's blue), unless you get a godly stat roll. Which is probably why 95% of the drops in this game are total crap, including legendaries/sets.
3) In regards to legendaries/sets, in D2, there was a unique for every base piece of armor/weapon. But they made it so even if a unique was based on an iLvl 75 weapon, it often had the stats of an item 10 iLvls higher, making most uniques a worthwhile upgrade that could last you 5-10 levels before you found a higher iLvl rare. For D3, they need to redesign the stats on their legendaries/sets so that they're significantly better than what their base iLvl would place them as.
