[Milawe]

The death mechanisms on any serious roleplaying mud would play a significant part in the roleplay. It's a pretty major mechanic that all players have to deal with and very few (if any) ever get to opt out of it. I'm not sure if permadeath on a roleplay enforced game could ever be an incidental part of the game, could it? That's the end of your character and whatever time you spent on it. It'd be interesting to see if there could be a roleplay enforced mud where permadeath was just an incidental part of the game, that's for sure. I guess you could do something like "Toons" where you just don't get to come back.

Permadeath mostly just presents a challenge to me to see how long I can last or quickly I can die. I don't believe it really invokes much difference to me as long as the games I'm involved in have a pretty serious penalty. In permadeath muds, I don't spend hours creating my character and developing the details because it can all go up in smoke at the whim of a player. (And unfortunately, no matter how great a mud is, twinks manage to still find their way on.)

Now would permadeath enthusiasts be willing to play a game that mixes permadeath and non-permadeath characters assuming the story fits and the permadeath characters have certain advantages? Or is it all or nothing for most?