Death oOooOOoOo!!

Seeing as this is actually the END to combat, I still feel it should be placed here. I've seen this question tossed around and feel we should break it down and see what the community thinks should happen upon death.

Let's get this option out of the way... Option (1) PERMA-DEATH! *dun dun dunn!* The most hardcore and extreme punishment for dying. Your character reaches zero HP and you drop to the ground, the screen slowly turns grey, then black. Your corpse remains on the ground and is freely lootable by everyone around. You are then taken to the character creation screen.... EWWWW!

This works in some games, but I feel it WOULD NOT work with how the different modes of play have been discussed by the devs in SotA and they are already aware of it and don't plan on using Perma-death. I don't want to lose everything I worked for AND have to raise a new character back up from scratch.

Next option... Option (2) You die and turn into a Ghost! OoOoooOooOo! As a Ghost you must be resurrected somehow, be it my using a special item to rez yourself, visit an ankh, find a wandering healer, or have a friend resurrect you. Your corpse will remain where you died, and is freely lootable by everyone. When we say everyone though, we must remember that'll we'll either be playing with friends or in a PvP PoI. Your friends might just guard your corpse while you are resurrected, or someone might come and try to take your belongings.

This is not as extreme as option 1, but still puts risks for adventuring by yourself or with friends and also rewards for players involved in PvP. If you enter a PoI and know it's PvP enabled, you knowingly went in and knew it was possible you'd die. So of course you left all your important items in your bank or home and took with you only the necessary equipment to tackle the scenario.

Option (3) You die and turn into a Ghost! Your corpse remains there, but nothing can be looted by anyone. You find a way to resurrect yourself and everything you had on you is still on you.

I don't even want to go into too much detail on that option because frankly I don't believe in that one. Reminds me waaaay too much of something vanilla and tasteless. It does have its advantages though, being you don't have to worry about death really, but tbh that's a disadvantage. There should be consequences to your actions and how RG has been leading the charge, it appears there will be some.

So... which option do you all prefer?
(1) Permanent death
(2) Full loot by anyone, anywhere (of course this would be with your friends or enemies in a PvP PoI)
(3) I died but I still have everything on me whenever/whereever I decide to resurrect.

Have other options? Please post them!

 

I'm in favor of option 3 for noobs and option 2 for everyone else however make an optional perma-death mode for offline characters and make it so you can have as many offline characters as you want!

 

Generally speaking I think I'd have to go with 2.. since PvP situations are somewhat controllable as to when and how you get involved. But there might be some restrictions. Such as not being able to take something more than X amount of weight or certain types of items.

 

Aye, maybe there are certain looting rules depending on the type of PvP PoI you are in. If it's one with a quest, perhaps you are only able to lose the quest item you had/obtained and then have a fully lootable type of PoI such as a strategic location for resources.

 

I like option 3 with the addition of your equipment being damaged by a percentage. This way there is a monetary and physical penalty for dying....

 

Option 2 for sure. They can always throw in a few newbie starter items for newbies that stay in your bag when you die.

The thing about UO was that the death penalty was based on how far away you were from a res and how much gear you had on you. Of course it wasn't so bad if you had nothing on you and someone to res you but if you were deep in a dungeon and had your best gear on it was a task getting everything back. You had to have back up gear to get your real gear and as painstaking as it was it just worked.

 

Option 2. And a special skill is needed to communicate with the dead, oOooOooOOoo.

 

2

I think Ultima Online had this one perfect with the blue, grey, and red system. The only part I can't remember is if I did all of the damage to a grey or red if the corpse was free to loot for everyone. I think if someone doesn't contribute to the fight then they should become a criminal if they loot the corpse with the exception of party members.

 

Option 1 gives really good consequence. I like playing hardcore diablo, gives added adrenaline, and makes you more cautious.

if the levelling grind can be avoided, then re-creating a char should be no probs.

option 3 is vanilla, bland, no consequence, hold my hand mummy, the world is a big bad place.

 

I don't mind if some idems are lootable, but nothing is more annoying that getting ganked by a bunch of pkers when you haven't even had a chance to try the sword you just looted. maybe have the bags lootable but not the armor and weapon you are wearing. Or even have a few random idems and a percent of the gold you are carrying lootable. but not everything.

 

Option 2 absolutely.

However I hope there are certain "blessed" items... for example the Founder's Tunic ought to be a blessed item. It would be a shame to lose the nice little founder Tunic or have it wear out like normal items.

That being said I don't like clothes wearing out in general. Newbie clothes shouldn't be loot-able, or lost at death.

... back on topic... I really enjoyed resurrecting people with bandages in UO and then have the opportunity to get your items back or not.

bandages were awesome. Please let there be a healing skill like that in this game.

 

I hate to say it but both options such. They were fun back when UO and SWG only had a few hundred K worth of people. If this game wants to see any real progress on this game or development past a minor release the business will have to go past small niche player bases. Going the Mortal Online route will only do one thing, make a game a few thousand people like that never gets anything new past the day its released. Sorry but that is the world we live in today. MMOs no longer survive on 10K players.

You will need to have weak death penalties.

 

Something to consider... each of the 'local' areas is an instance. When you leave it... it closes. Without some programming voodoo, your stuff left behind gets wiped out because it wouldn't exist in a different instance.

It would work in a single player game, where your instance could be set, but not easily with how the game is shaping up for multiplayer.

So, while I'm a fan of ghosts, and losing your equipment, there needs to be some considerations for that.

That said, however, I'm not on the dev team, so what do I know.

 

That's a good point Freeman. What if that instance is being rendered on another players computer and the power goes out. What happens to your toon and all your stuff. It be like old school UO reverts.

Why not make it a game option. Pick what your comfortable risking. I really like the perma death. You could role play a whole family tree of killed relatives.

 

2 !

 

Why not all options?

*I* may want to play hardcore and take all the risks associated with it, most won't. Or perhaps I tried that, died and now want a more stable play, so I go with option 2. Perhaps I'm new and expect to be killed or want to be coddled in a ******** world, so I go with option 3.

Where is the balance you say? Add the same options to items, independent of the characters.

Some items are always lost on death, or break, or are only recoverable in their component form. Perhaps without proper protection, potions just mixed in your backpack break! Perhaps the leather straps holding the plate armor together break and while the item can be repaired, it does not function in its intended use until it is properly repaired.

Some items may always be lootable and are even unable to be put in banks or other protected storage. If left on the ground and unattended (perhaps you tried to troll the game and fling yourself down a gorge) it would respawn or go back into the global loot table. I'm thinking paragon items/weapons/armor that are unique. Perhaps these could be PVP items too, though I'd be careful about making extra-specific to PVP attributes/skills for items.

Some items may be able to be bound to an account (Kickstarter rewards, for one) and would always be option 3 and never lootable. Perhaps some basic starting gear or an ability/quest line to bind something to you (tied to the virtue system, good or evil)

 

I would be fine if I lost the stuff I'm wearing, but I want an insurance policy, and I'm not sure about special equipment, maybe just make them vanish if I die to anything but town guards or players. If not that, I would make basic equipment more affordable, and give players stuff to do in cities so they can quickly collect funds for replacement gear.

 

Would someone care to enlighten me? What is Pol?

 

It was just answered in chat but I'll post here...

PoI is Point of Interest which is a place in the world map that you can enter and perform activities in.

 

While option 2) looks like to me the best pick, adding the option to lose some money instead of the item would be great. Say, ie, 20% of the value of the items. If the player has not more gold at the bank, then the items are lost. Becoming a ghost should be already a painful enough experience, but if the player is used to it, or is able to resurrect very easy, then the monetary loss will be the best deterrent.