[cutthroat]

Hardly.

I've found that in permadeath games, it's really up to the player to decide if he is going to put his character in a dangerous situation that would possibly/likely kill them. In a roleplay-focused game this is perfectly acceptable; unless you are playing a suicidal person, it is reasonable to assume that self-preservation should be on your character's mind. In a H&S or PvP-focused game with permadeath, you're talking about players that want to keep their characters because of some attachment to them (for example, because of the progress they've made with it).

As for Administration acting as a long-lived character's guardian angel, I can't say I have broad experience over all permadeath games to give you an accurate answer. I know from being a player of Armageddon that long-lived and/or "important" (authority or leadership) roles have as much of a chance dying in a dangerous situation as they do living through it. Sure it's a setback when an established character dies, not only to the player of that character but others depending on that character for plot advancement and the like. But it helps keep things realistic.

Your last point would hold some merit if we're talking about a H&S/PvP-focused game with full permadeath. In such a game, old players would find newer ones easy targets (unless there are rules in place to prevent killing newer players like that). In a roleplay-focused game, old characters aren't necessarily out to bag new ones - indeed, it's generally the exact opposite if anything.

/Not a staff member anywhere, but found this topic interesting as a player.