Blizzard’s Bashiok Talks About The Secret Cow Level - blizzardguru.com

So, what’s the big fuss over the secret cow level in Diablo 2? Blizzard’s Bashiok comments:

Yeah, who doesn’t like fighting cows running around with halberds?

I disliked the secret cow level from a design standpoint though. It actually angered me that it existed at one point, maybe it kind of still does.

I’m not a designer, at all, but in my opinion and from a design standpoint I think the secret cow level was a failure. For a long time it was one of the most lucrative ways to level, and one of the best places to MF. For an easter egg, something fun and whimsical, to overshadow the entire rest of the game was a huge problem, and one that existed for far too long. It was a fun idea, a cool nod to the rumors that spawned it, but in execution it was just… game breaking in some ways.

Some players disagree, and dislike the changes made in 1.10 that made the Secret Cow Level less lucrative, to which Bashiok writes:

Well of course, everyone wants everything made easier for them, and that’s effectively what it was. This barrel of fish that not only acted as cheesy way to pull the slot machine lever, but almost rendered the rest of the game unnecessary.

The oversight, I believe, existed in the requirement for the current difficulty to be beaten as well as the Cow King kill. It’s easy enough to avoid the King or just have the level opened by other characters, and I can only guess that the amount of replay potential of the actual game was extremely undervalued.

Because you’re playing a game, and it should be respected that you’re playing that game. The cow level was not part of the game, it was an easter egg that made leveling and item finding far easier than the actual game. I’m inclined to almost call it cheating.

I’m really liking Bashiok. I’ve personally never been a big fan of the secret cow level in Diablo 2. Like Bashiok, I’ve always considered it to be a design failure that majorly detracted from most other parts of the game.

I wonder if there will be another cow level.. hmm...