[Threshold]

It is still just a feature though. It is a significant feature, but it is still just a feature. There are many other features that have a far more significant impact on the game.

But the point is, the direction you go with this feature choice does not inherently make a game better or worse for RP. It does not create more or less "issues staying IC." Perma or non-perma death is not the determining factor.

I understand the point you are making, but I think this is a somewhat absurd example. I simply would not gamble my life on an arm wrestling match, and I really wouldn't enjoy a game that forced me to do so. I would find that extremely unbelievable, and I think believability is a more important goal than "realism." Realism is usually a poor goal for game design.

Furthermore, it isn't even a good analogy for permadeath games. The fact that you are allowed to create new characters means it really isn't at all like real life. You know at all times that you can simply make a new character. In my experience playing permadeath muds, people end up being friends with the same people a lot of the time even after making a new character. So the permanent "death" is really little more than a speed bump. In no time at all, they are pretty much doing the same thing they were doing before the death, which is not very different from a pendeath game.

If you want to use analogies that compare situations in permadeath games to dying in real life, you would have to make a game that once you die you are never allowed to play it again. Otherwise, it is totally invalid to try and compare permadeath to real life death.

But in a permadeath mud, they still just start over. The difference is really not as significant as you claim.

And in some respects, permadeath can make things easier. If you get your character in a really nasty situation, death can be an easy way out. Die, make a new character, and you are totally free of the consequences of your actions. But in a non-permadeath mud, you might have to face the consequences for years to come. So for some RP decisions, the results can be more grave and more serious on a non-permadeath mud. This isn't as cut and dried as some people think it is.

In fact, one could argue that this is actually MORE realistic, since most conflict situations in real life do not boil down to one party murdering the other. If it did, either Hillary or Obama would have been killed months ago. People in real life are generally forced to deal with the consequences of their actions for decades. They cannot just die and start over. But I don't particularly care about this argument, because as I already said, I think realism is usually a bad design goal. Believability and internal consistency are better goals.

But again, this isn't even the point I was arguing (although it is an interesting issue to discuss). I was responding to Delerak's claim that permadeath results in universally better RP, and that non-permadeath muds create "issues staying IC" and people don't "play their characters the way they would be played."

Perma or non-perma death is definitely a significant feature difference. It does indeed create a very different game play experience. It dramatically affects the way you make decisions for your character. Some decisions have to be taken more seriously on a permadeath mud, and some decisions have to be taken more seriously on a non-permadeath mud. But in the end, it is still just another feature, and the direction you go with this feature has no effect (by itself!) on the quality of RP on a game or the potential quality of RP on a game.