[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN] Perma-death

[cruise]

Thus spake Dana V. Baldwin...
> Always better to ask the right question than to spout answers all day.
> This is the right question. What I actually enjoyed from perma death is
> not the grief of loss of the character but the joy that resulted from
> being compelled to explore the game through the eyes of a new character
> and the enhanced feeling of achievement when my character didn't die but
> came close. Perma death then might be used as an achievment mechanism
> that rewards with life. I'd rather play a game where I get the
> opportunity to explore all of the content than one where I race to
> maxLevel and repeat the same content over and over.

This, actually, was my original question :P

[from my initial post]
"Well, the first question is surely why?

a) A high-level character really means something. It's not just a
question of time."

A later reply from Nick Koranda provided:

b) Much more emotionally thrilling/involving gameplay.


Also from my original post:
"What other ways could we create such a feeling (assuming that's
something we even want to do...)?"

For a) I suggested player titles, or recording deaths somewhere visible.
For b) I've recently suggested other "character defining" moments, like 
the side-switch in CoH/V.

The question seems to be now, therefore, are these alternates good 
enough to not need perma-death, or is there still a compelling reason to 
include it?