Also, in a quite unrelated note, I hit dungeon 1 of the battlefields of Act II, and the lower level was totally empty. I was looking forward to a mighty battle but came out empty-handed. Is that normal?
Ya, if none of the quest monsters happen to generate in that dungeon it will be empty. My first time thru act1 I had both the level 1 and 2 dungeons completely empty on the bottom floor, then the level 3 dungeon had all 5 boss monsters. That was a fun fight. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />
As for your first point, I haven't had any areas I couldn't get to yet. One time I had a hall blocked by broken barrels and crates, but I just moved the barrels out of the way.