[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN] Perma-death

[Tess Snider]

On 5/15/07, cruise <cruise at casual-tempest.net> wrote:
> Is there /any/ ways perma-death can be implemented without being hated
> by players?

I used to be an admin on an RP TinyMUSH with permadeath.  So, what I'm
about to tell you is not a load of ivory tower theoretical BS.  For
permadeath to work for the players, you need to satisfy the following
requirements:

1.) Death must be rare.
2.) Death must be meaningful.
3.) Death must be noteworthy.
4.) Death must be avoidable, and it should be a *consequence* of
something the player has consciously chosen to do.
5.) The player must be able to make a new character with the same --
or roughly the same -- level of ability as the old one.

#4 sounds hard to implement, but here's one example of how you could do it:

Every player has a "Heroic" special attack/heal/buff that is wildly
more powerful than her other actions, but if she uses it, any death
for N seconds is permanent.

> Well, the first question is surely why?

I'm glad you asked this question, because it's the first one I'd ask
you, if you hadn't already brought it up. :P

Tess