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Old 04-28-2008, 11:51 PM   #105
Disillusionist
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Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 83
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Re: How many muds have permadeath?

Something that gets overlooked a bit in this discussion is that although non-perma-death muds don't support -automatic- character deletion upon character death, they certainly don't prohibit it. More than once, I've allowed a character to die and stay dead where the mechanics didn't force it, simply because the character's story, or my wishes, did.

In that sense, non-perma-death muds are slightly misrepresented here, although no one has suggested they are perma-death-prohibited.

It's not my preference to have immortal characters that drives me more often to non-permas, it's my preference for more authorial control to my characters' stories. Despite some misrepresentations of my need for 'simplicity', I don't prefer such a choice for its simplicity. I prefer it because I can guarantee the time needed for more complex story issues. In worlds where death loses its sting somewhat, I grant that it's more challenging to keep a character in fear of -something-, but that's what RP is about. What should not be inferred is that I have some cavalier attitude about my characters dying, even when it's less impactful than in mechanically-forced situations. No matter what world you play in, dying is generally A Bad Thing, or at least, highly annoying. I played for ten or eleven years in a mud that had an afterdeath underworld that needed to be navigated (with random movement of the mob that sends you back, and random placement in a massive maze) to return to the living, after which time, phys stats were greatly handicapped, as was general health, spellcasting and even normal walking endurance. Although this generally didn't amount to more than a half-hour setback (depending on how far one reincorporated from the death site where your held items dropped), I venture to say that it took about as long as most RPIs require to roll a character, sans character approval lag.

You're absolutely right that it comes down to preference. I guess I just get rankled when elitists presume that their preference is superior. I didn't get that from your posts, and I -do- get what you're saying, LoD. I can understand and have experienced the adrenal rush of death at every corner. I've also experienced the jaded yawn of it.
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