[LoD]

There can certainly be an unbalanced agenda when it comes to violent interaction between PC's on a permanent death system. Disappointment is a frequent emotion that accompanies the death of almost any of your characters, especially when that death was at the hands of someone who treads upon your creative work with reckless feet. That said, there are qualities I appreciate behind the random acts of violence that populate these words. I enjoy the lack of security and potentially breakneck pace at which scenes can sometimes fly. I enjoy both the benefits and consequences of a system supporting the immediacy of free will on your environment and its inhabitants.

I played a Vampire (Masquerade) MUSH for about 6 months many years ago, and while I thoroughly enjoyed the RP that I found there -- I didn't happen to meet a known vampire the whole time -- I highly disliked the almost scripted and horribly sluggish encounters where violence and potential death were possible. Imms would descend from on high to mediate between your character and another as they engaged in combat, one action at a time at a crawling pace. While this granted each character an appropriate amount of time to emote and treated both players with respect, the pace and steps felt unnatural to me.

Armageddon's death may very well come swiftly and unexpectedly, with little or no regard for your wishes, but I don't necessarily see that as a complete negative. There can be negative elements associated with the outcome, but the positive experiences generally outweigh the negative -- for me. I'm well aware that others may appreciate other systems that allow them more time, more respect, and more attention to be placed on the scene at hand.

The more dialog produced in this thread, the more I become acutely aware that much of this boils down to personal preference and goals. We all play games for different reasons, not just MUDs, but everything. Some people enjoy the thrill of victory, others are content merely to enjoy the company of others, while other still find reward simply in the physical or mental exercise encompassed by the entire process. I enjoy perma-death MUDs because it feels like a raw and dangerous world -- one in which the accomplishments feel harder won, the survival feels harder earned, and the encounters carry an excitement that I've not found in any non-permadeath game to date.

I understand how those qualities would be offensive or frustrating to other players, but it doesn't lessen my personal enjoyment of that system and the many negatives and positives it carries.

Thanks for the nice reply.

-LoD