[MUD-Dev2] [DESIGN] Perma-death

[Jeffrey Kesselman]

On 5/29/07, Tess Snider <malkyne at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> So, in the end, you either:
> A.)  Don't have permadeath,
> OR
> B.)  Learn to live with ActionGuyJr,
> OR
> C.)  Find some way to make fiction matter in your game.
>

This really begs the other question asked above and I think its a good
one.  Perma-death is a mechanism, not a design goal.  What is your
goal in wanting perma-death in your game.

In a game ai designed the goal was to prevent the effect of old
players hanging around and thus making the newer players feel like
dirt in comparison.  This cna be very discouraging and frustrating to
newbies.  It also tends to create a real caste system in game where,m
if/when newbies DO get up to max lev els, they want their own asses
kissed the same way they kissed the ass of the older players.  Some
may call this "social structure" but I see it as damaging and a
distraction from the experience Im trying to craft.

Ergo, in one game design I did that I still play with and some day
want to implement, its structured so that there will be turn-over  in
the highest ranks.  Its designed to force them out of the game either
through death or "retirement" to avoid death.

Perma-death in this design (a) DOES lose you all experience and (b)
becomes more likely the higher level you get.

Now its possible the players might revolt against such a system.
Certainly it flies  in the exact opposite direction of where the mass
market is going today.  But sometimes you make big discoveries that
way too-- by bucking the trends.