[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN] Perma-death

[cruise]

Thus spake Nick Koranda...
> I played on a player-run UO shard (Angel Island) not too long ago and 
> one character in the game decided to chose a game option of being 
> "mortal", in which if he died it would be permanent.  He was a good 
> PvPer and beat a lot of players in the game.  The entire shard got into 
> it and the battles with this man were the best anyone had seen in a 
> while.  I think the reason for that is what was at stake.

So here's another "why": much more emotionally thrilling/involving gameplay.

Is it a good why?

> So with that said, if you reduce that risk, you will find players more 
> accepting of perma-death.  Reducing the risk would entail some of the 
> following:
> 
> 1)  Removing the time it takes to build up a character or get special 
> loot.  However that this is implemented, if you remove the time invested 
> in building up a character, you will remove the fear of loosing it.  
> Now  removing the time required to build up a character is not good for 
> the games which make it a near staple to grind up characters to 100% 
> skill.  It would however introduce some interesting problems to solve in 
> order to provide game play time for players...it would make the designer 
> think of other "things" that a player could do in-game besides wait for 
> the next percentage point while hacking a chicken with a club.

Certainly it would work better in a level-less system - everyone is more 
or less equal and so there's no power loss.

But then what is being risked when you die?

> 2)  Dont make perma-death so perma.  What about implementing a 
> generational system whereby, if the father/mother dies, a son/daughter 
> can enter the game, with a percentage of the traits/skills/wealth of his 
> parent, even taking on a similar name.

This seems a sensible compromise - all characters on an account share a 
"family" name, and so the player can build a reputation for themselves, 
even if they lose several characters.