Den senaste tidens skriverier om långa cooldown-tider för kraftfulla färdigheter har lett till en detaljerad förklaring på ämnet från Bashiok. Han menar att Diablo 2’s endgame-färdigheter går att jämföra med Diablo 3’s mid-game färdigheter. De allra kraftfullaste färdigheterna i Diablo 3 måste därför ha en cooldown just pga att de inte designade för att spammas. Ett exempel på detta är barbarians färdighet Call of the Ancients, som fungerar på så sätt att den kallar fram the ancients (från Diablo 2) som slåss vid din sida under en begränsad tid.

Diablo II had a single resource mechanic (mana), and the biggest end-game skills in Diablo II are low-to-mid tier skills in Diablo III. The big ”end-tier” skills we have are more complex and usually wouldn’t make sense as spammable skills, or would likely outright have to be pulled from the game if it turned out they ever could be spammable. And we have varied resource systems that we can’t just throw a problem-solver at, like Diablo II could with mana potions.

For instance Call of the Ancients literally calls down the four barbarian ancients to fight alongside you. How would that work if it was spammable? Should we make it cost 100% resource to keep you from being able to spam it, and then leave you drained to cleave back enough fury to follow it up with anything? That doesn’t sound like something *I* would take. Maybe someone could find a build for it, I don’t know.

Bottom line is that cooldowns allow for skill complexity or power by limiting them in a meaningful way because it can mean long-term balance even as stats inflate. We do want to make sure we’re only using them where appropriate, though.
A ’cooldown’ as a game mechanic has literally existed for millennia. A basic idea of ”you can’t use that multiple times in succession” is not something new, it’s definitely nothing specific to World of Warcraft, and by spending time to make that comparison and belittle others you move further and further away from what could be a meaningful and interesting discussion of game mechanics.

Now if you instead want to state that abilities shouldn’t be as big and complex as to require cooldowns, or there should be one resource system and spammable potions, I think those are completely valid viewpoints to take, they’re just not ones we agree with.

[edited 17 times to word things better]