Q u o t e: Or delay the cooldown from triggering for X seconds...
That sounds pretty cool to play around... I hope it actually is in the game and is not just one of your examples-that-might-have-been-but-are-not... :P
Q u o t e: Well for me, its always been about HC and some of the changes to the game seem like they may affect the fluidity of HC. Maybe I am wrong, I will have to wait and see. One thing I know is the last thing I want is to be sitting killing the same monster for 30 minutes like in WoW.
Sorry to disappoint you but from what we know about Bosses having phases and the challenge some Champions and Uniques can give the player if the right (wrong?) kind of affixes spawn... there will be very lengthy fights in D3.
Q u o t e: Well, obviously, CotA wouldn't be included in that kind of talk. Sure, cooldown, but also a set duration and it really isn't a direct damage spell. It's a utility spell.
I wouldn't call cds "meaningful" per se. I don't know quite who you were responding to, but I still think that 2 minutes is extraneous for an arpg.
I know what you said about WoW, but some stuff is valid for comparisons. Think about Mirror Image for the mage, for instance. I only use it on quest elites (or group quest stuff) or bosses in dungeons because of the three minute cooldown. It's a really cool skill (as it's one of my favorite from D3 as well and I haven't even played the thing yet) but usage of it is kind of lame because I'm not quite sure when I'll need it, and I don't want it on cooldown...so I just don't use it.
You're facing that same kind of dilemma now, especially with a two minute cooldown. You talk of "complexity" but there's a third option, that being utility, and wanting to use a skill not because it's the uberpowerful final tier skill, but because it snares monsters, or freezes them, or gives you health back. That's much more engaging, much more deep than a two minute cooldown on what you would call a "complex" skill.
Well I understood it as the CDs not being the "thing" that is meaningful... but the choice of when to use the Skills restricted by them.
Of course the utility of a Skill is also an excellent way of making Skill-use choice meaning... but from what we have seen I believe there are many instances of that present in the game as well.
Bashiok
Q u o t e: On the wind a shout
The barbarian strikes down
Flesh renders from bone
