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Old 03-09-2010, 11:20 PM   #67
DonathinFrye
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Name: Donathin Frye
Location: Columbus, OH
Home MUD: Optional Realities
Home MUD: Atonement RPI
Home MUD: Project Redshift
Posts: 510
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Re: What types of games are impacted the most by permadeath?

I don't know about that. As an admin that interacted for hours a day with characters on both SOI and Atonement, I put the most heart of anything I do into the moments/time before a character's death to give them a chance to say their final words, think their final thoughts, remember their past - and otherwise find some resolution. On Atonement, you can die from genetic mutative infection from some of the monsters. It's a slow disease (with various, but not certain means to treat it) that not only does end up killing off characters - it gives them the time to resolve things, creates roleplay centered around the other characters who are watching them "turn" and allows them a chance to play at madness or courageous suicide and other heavy-hitting subject matter. Funerals, the loss of a mentor, a leader, a lover, a father - these are all elements of roleplay that all of us can relate to in some very personal way. Self-sacrifice, cowardice, fear ... there are so many really potent forces that are either unlocked or amplified when permanent death is on the table. I'm not advocating that it is the only way to manage a good roleplaying-focused MUD, but I definitely think that it is the catalyst for some of the most beautiful roleplay that I've ever seen.

Don't be so fast to snub a philosophy so different from your own. It is unbelievable how much heart players invest in the lives and deaths of their characters on RPI MUDs. It may be more or less true depending on who your Roleplaying Administrators are, or what your setting is, but it is always there and always important on an RPI.

Last edited by DonathinFrye : 03-09-2010 at 11:29 PM.
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