[incognito9]

Now I've already weighed in on permadeath-- but I'll add one thing: I've played permadeath muds, and in my opinion, it definitely adds a ton in the way of thrill and excitement much in the way prof1515 describes.

This is offset somewhat by the fact that thrill-seeking and adventuring is actively discouraged by the mud (because, you know, you can really die doing that).