We all don't rightly know how death will be handled in game, but I am getting the notion that it will be very significant and the repercussions will be severe. Well to add to that, what if there was a way to show how a person has died in the past? I suggest that in the game, when you're in combat, depending on what kind of enemy your are facing, the finishing blow that was done to you should leave some kind of mark. Say a Knight swings his blade at you that would end your life, you'll have a randomly generated scar somewhere in your body (Granted it would be cooler if it would record the arc and angle of the slash to apply the scar accordingly, but that'll be asking for too much). A fire-breathing dragon will leave some kind of burn mark, a wolf would add some kind of bite mark, etc etc. Now these marks do not need to be permanent since there will be a "New You" makeover area in the game, but depending on how much it costs to redo yourself, it would make it so players would think twice before going out into certain death. However, these scars could also occur outside of death. Scarring could also occur if a person gets below, say for instance, 10% health and the next hit, if he survives it, still grants him a scar. These are just random thoughts, but it would help with the individuality of players. It could be used as a physical portrayal of what a person has done in the game instead of just relying on the gear he is wearing.
Most games allow you to add scars at creation. I see no reason you can't keep scars later. But this should be highly optional. Death may be "significant" but it's going to happen dozens of times a day.
I know most games already have scars as an option, but what if some of these scars can only be acquired, and later unlocked in the character creation? And the keeping the scars thing is again optional like I said. But in terms of death being significant and happening dozens of times a day, I am hoping that they would make it so you REALLY don't want to die and would be screaming and flailing at the screen trying to run away.
How about making scars permanent and not optional at all. Yet magically you can erase and replenish the dead skin?
You're sorta messing with character appearance now, something people can get a bit particular about. It would just be an annoying grind if you had to cough up gold everytime you got a "scar" just so you could preserve how you looked. On the otherhand, I like adding a few scars to my characters if it's an option and I would want to retain a specific look, not have to micromanage it after every combat. Maybe compromise would be temporary effects (ie: if you have just been dragonfired, maybe you should look burned for an hour or so) - it would be pretty interesting and indicative of what you had just been through recently. But not something that is permanent that you have to grind gold to fix. That would just be annoying.
I think it would be interesting that if you die in certain ways it unlocks new scars you can add at the new-you place. sort of like an achievement... and when you create a character you can't have any scars to begin with.. some people might be upset that they can't have their eyepatch and scar over their eye to begin with and actually have to pick a fight to achieve it... That would be more of a reward system and not a punishment system, which I kind of like. scars as a punishment for dieing doesn't seem to be detrimental except to people who are particular about their appearance because they have a story or look they are trying to pull off.
I wish I could edit the OP so I could list out everybody's idea, but I sort of like Ashlynn's idea now after thinking about it. But the whole unlocking thing like what Mishri said is what I was sort of going for.
It could be optional. So you can just turn some of your memorable scars on/off, to brag about 'em later, but you could only get them during the gameplay.
I like the idea of scars and tattoos coming after creation. It would be cool if we could design our own tattoos instead of having the same generic ones that everyone else has. Elite tattoos that can be earned through achievements would also be nice. I like gold sinks, so paying to heal unwanted scars is a really cool incentive not to die repeatedly. I would even be willing to go with a system that caused the players to seek out a special resurrection after being decapitated or completely mutilated; one that causes total loss of equipment and is a rare occurrence. Unlocking scars could be a side bonus to this. I don't like too many handouts at character creation, I would rather build character after creation than have cheesy back story props to select before entering the game. Character creation should be an on going event.
I like the idea of scarring. In Black and White I loved how your monster would get permanently scarred in battle. However, with an MMO where you are in battles and probably dying an almost infinite amount of times your character would just be a complete mass of scar tissue. In the end I think this mechanic would just fill the world with a bunch of disfigured people. Of course, like Acrylic says having a way to heal them could be a good idea to overcome this. I guess the real question is whether Portalarium has the resources to pull off something like this for EP1. We are talking about evolving textures and models, so not sure what kind of work would be involved.
I think adventuring should also include a grime factor. Heading to a bath house after a hard day of exploring would be a nice touch, the same place could wash and mend gear. This would be a funny punishment for murderers not being able to make it to a bath house. We could have flies that swarm around the stinky people or a little cloud of dust following them like Pig Pen off of Charlie Brown. Some people are so vain this alone would stop them from murdering. Grand Turismo 5 is a good example of how grime works: 2000 cars all with road grime that can be washed off.
That actually sounds like a brilliant idea Acrylic! Know who the bad people are just through smell alone... Anyway, like your previous statement, I also agree that character creation should be an ongoing event. And like what others were complaining about, if going to the makeup shop to remove scars is a money sink you don't want take part in, then don't die (as blunt as that statement is, I meant to make a point, not sound like a butt). But again we don't know how "difficult" it will be in game. I don't want people instantly getting knocked off with one hit, but would rather like for a person to experience legitimate fear when playing, not irritation that some high level mob is in the way. Make almost encounter escapable if somebody just REALLY wants to get out of the way, but make it difficult for them in a bigger encounter.
@Jouten - I expect dieing to have penalties on its own, aside from needing to run to the beauty spa and paying for the scars to be removed. I'm not in favour of adding some superficial but annoying additional penalties. If the scars are caused by death or hard blows, it's going to become an annoying penalty, just a chore you need to take care of after dieing unless you want to roleplay someone very scarred. I like the idea of character creation being an ongoing event, but having a system where dieing causes a need for active aesthetic management sounds like it's just going to be a chore, and it probably means a good portion of the population are just going to give up on their aesthetic appearance and walk around looking like frankenstein's monster. Making them temporary sounds a bit better, though at that point it sounds kind of boring. Unlocking new scars by dieing in certain ways sounds cool, though it's odd to incentivise dieing. As for difficulty, if the game isn't hard enough that you sometimes get into situations where there is a probability of death, there's no risk in the game, and I very much doubt it's going to be that lame. And I don't want to have to avoid any hard content just so I avoid getting a scar.
I'm not sure how often dieing will occur. In games like WoW it could be several times an hour. In games like UO pre-Trammel once every 10-15 hours of game play. I survived 3 months in Trammel without dieing before cancelling my account. In games like Dark Souls where you can die 10-15 times an hour, scars would be a chore. In games like UO Trammel, smart players never die so it would not even be noticed.
@Alayth - I see your point, but again I don't know how often we'd be dieing in game. If we are constantly dieing in the game, I could see running to a character remake station to remove some scars be incredibly annoying. SO! How about we settle for a middle ground? In the dev chats, RG and Tracy were still considering how they should revive characters in the game. Well, upon "revival", what if there was simply an option to come back with/without scars. Make those that were acquired instantly visible upon resurrection or just have it unlocked for you to place on your character once you get to a character remake station. So now people won't have scars if they don't want it, but it's now available for people who want to show off their war stories.
