not 12, 16 seconds. and if the damage is lowered to 200 or 175 it would hardly matter. youd be giving up anything CD related, AB related and command throws.
Except Raiden can still do GCCD, which is probably the only thing that really screams "unfair" to me.
There are lots of possible ways to balance out his drop kick, but what I'd most like them to do is cap his regular drop kick as level 3, which is a little less safe/damaging. If a move is going to be as damaging, high-priority and safe as his level 4, I think it needs to cost some stock. So they could give Raiden an EX drop kick. Both buttons charged for 12 seconds = his old level 4 drop kick.
This way, Raiden gets something in return for the nerf: He can now charge a level 4 drop kick four seconds faster than before.
But he can no longer link two level 4s together, his normal drop kicks won't be as invincible, and may of his old 100%s won't work because he needs a bar to do the level 4. To me, this would remove all of the really stupid Raiden stuff, without making the character less fun to play.
Just my two cents.