So unless I misunderstood, it sounds like you could play the game’s acts in any order. If that is true how will the story pacing work? If I start out fresh and skip Act 1 to run off to Act 2 or even 3 will that change the narrative of the story at all or will it be more like reading a book and deciding to skip chapters? As neat as it is to do anything and go anywhere it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to play the game’s story out of order.
Think of it like a quest log the main story quests in the log will need to be done in a particular order and zone, but that doesn’t stop you going to other zones and doing other quests so in that sense map/zone order doesn’t matter for exploration.
You just won’t complete the main story out of order.
It’s a cool factor because if you get bored or distracted from main story you can go exploring then come back to it anytime.
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If this is true that you could play acts out of order from the very start it would mean that each act will have its own self-contained story, but they will also tie into the larger overarching narrative of the game. So even if you choose to skip ahead to Act 2 or 3, you will still be able to follow the main story and understand the events that have led up to that point.
Otherwise, you may have to progress the main story in order, but be able to do side quests out of order.
I haven’t really looked into this, but that is two ways a non-linear approach to questing would look.
I think to unlock the final Act you will need to have completed all Acts before, however after Act 1 you get a few more options of what order to to them in.
As Park was saying above, they are related but not dependant chronologically. In other words, the events of Act 2 and 3 do not impact each other and could be told in any order without disturbing the overall flow the story.
Specifically, after Act 1, you get unlocks for 2 and 3. What gets unlocked after that is unknown.
Most likely acts 1, 2, and 3 all lead into act 4 as the next part of their story. Therefore nothing will change based on the order. Act 1 will have A, act 2 will have B, and act 3 will have C and ABC will kickstart act 4.
Unless the game kokblocks me with gear I will follow main story to the end but if I happen to get stuck just go random exploring until I gear up and can continue on. I do enjoy an open map like this, and a horse will make it fun to run here there and everywhere just for the hell of it.
From BlizzPlanet Diablo 
During the Diablo IV Early Access Beta, the Challenges tab (the equivalent of the World of Warcraft Achievements tab) revealed how many Acts are in Diablo IV, and the name of each Act. Completing each of the Acts grants a separate achievement.
- Prologue: Wandering
- Act I: A Cold and Iron Faith
- Act II: The Knife Twists Again
- Act III: The Making of Monsters
- Act IV: A Gathering Storm
- Act V: Secrets Bartered, Fates Sold
- Act VI: Dance of the Makers
- Epilogue: From the Wound Spilled
We know about the 5 main “zones” but they also said that we will also be going to Hell 
so is that the 6th “zone”?
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I guess it could be described as Act vs. Zone. You could be in Act 1 of the campaign line, but you are free to travel around each of the 5 zones as you see fit. I don’t see the Acts and the Zones as being intertwined.
Finish the Story line in Act1 (Fractured Peak), then you can work on the Act 2 (Scosglen), but you can also go wander around Withered Heath for a while and do side quests and dungeons, then go back to Act 2 story whenever you feel like it.
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As I understand it, the Class Quests are, unlike Beta, in different zones. So, Druid quest is in Scosglen; Barbarian quest is in Dry Steppes, etc. and that means starting that character in that zone or quickly traveling to that zone when you hit level 15. In the Beta, I was able to get past level 20 by just doing the Act 1 storyline. Also, Icy Veins D4 guide states, " Unlike previous games in the series, Diablo 4 offers a fully open world. Players can seamlessly travel through five distinct zones as they explore Sanctuary. Each of the Zones has a very unique feel, with different weather, and enemies to face." This sounds to me like each zone is self contained with the stories merging at some point in the future.
I’m planning to do the acts in order but I’m just hoping that once I have a horse, I’ll be able to go around to different zones and hit the dungeons that have codex aspects I want.
You will still have to follow the Main Campaign quests in tandem to unlock the next ACT and quests. However, you don’t have to necessary follow any sequence given by the plot. Eg. ACT 1 after defeating Vhenard, you can either go do the Seek Inarius Blessing quest first or you could go to the Horadric Vault quest first. Only after both are completed could you trigger the final part of ACT 1.
For first playthrough playing in order will probably let the story unfold the best way. Yes it will be A+B+C or C+B+A trigger D, but some things will give better understanding of the background in proper order. Like Lilith’s motivation after the events in Act1.
And this is not Witcher 3 where you can get special reactions for playing weirdly out of order.
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Well there is a trailer about it so it better had some substance.
Also the loadscreen door is actually in the game, maybe this is what the key unlocks.