Reading comments from the Roleplay Central Blog by MistressSarah, I read a comment by Masterdarwin88 saying, "No one wants to die, even though certain things like dying can enhance the RP."
One problem, people have no idea how their death can enhance "Their" RP experience. The idea of starting out as a different character with a new personality seems like it would be fun, but with special items your old character possibly had or even the skills he had once possessed, starting over and "Losing your items" can seem like a drag. Dieing can enhance the World RP as a whole, but how does it benefit the dead player?
That's where you come in. How do you think someone could enjoy dieing in a game that is Enhanced by RP? (The games I'm aiming this toward isn't Roleplaying where it could almost be a completely text based game. But a game where Roleplaying can make the experience more rich and enjoyable)
Be creative, what could Roleplaying games do to make the death "acceptable" without someone getting upset, but not completely desirable in every since. (Then my concern would be the mass suicides xD) Perhaps it could be random and they can obtain the Money value of all their past lives treasures to begin as a wealthy character, or they have the option of choosing a random character generator which can start the player off as a Ship Captain with his own vessel, or perhaps even an automatic stats flip that would donate your strength to your speed and you defense to your strength or whatever.
(Hope that got your minds thinking)
ID:151343
 Jun 17 2011, 2:24 pm
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SuperAntx wrote:
I think permanent player dead is a pretty stupid idea outside of games like Torchlight or Diablo. In an rp I would never allow a compile time NPC to be allowed to kill someone, just knock them unconscious. I see what you mean though, that's why dieing can be such a drag, but if no one dies in an rp, how could it be an RP? Dead characters come to life to hunt their killers, this isn't Resident Evil RP where someone could just turn into a zombie and be happy about it. So SuprAntx, how would you replace permanent deaths? | |
I wouldn't replace it with anything, I simply wouldn't have that sort of death mechanic.
If a player was really that bored with his character he should just delete it and make a new one. | |
I say you shouldn't be able to "respawn" as anything more than you were before. There should always be a penalty to death, but nothing too harsh. Here's an example: If a player dies as a Captain in the Army, And he wishes is next character to also be in the Army. He should start out two or three ranks lower, say a Second Lieutenant, but still be able to maintain most of his previous privileges. There should be many "Ranks" within professions to allow for people to return to a position of similar stature. This allows players to not get bogged down by restarting, but still have them avoid death because of the consequences.
Another thing to prevent Meta-gaming to ruin RP is to force players to re-enter RP anonymously. This should mean not posting the key's of players who're logged onto the server at the time. This also helps people not become harassed by other players for whatever reason. RP should also be regulated so people don't just whisper to others, "Psst, It's me bobby!", to prevent more Meta-gaming and keep players active on the Roleplay and not who's behind the characters in it. | |
Danbriggs wrote:
I say you shouldn't be able to "respawn" as anything more than you were before. There should always be a penalty to death, but nothing too harsh. Here's an example: If a player dies as a Captain in the Army, And he wishes his next character to also be in the Army. He should start out two or three ranks lower, say a Second Lieutenant, but still be able to maintain most of his previous privileges. There should be many "Ranks" within professions to allow for people to return to a position of similar stature. This allows players to not get bogged down by restarting, but still have them avoid death because of the consequences. Thanks for the post, I like that idea. It would require a little work like you said with adding many Ranks in different professions, but it's still a good idea. Another thing to prevent Meta-gaming to ruin RP is to force players to re-enter RP anonymously. This should mean not posting the key's of players who're logged onto the server at the time. This also helps people not become harassed by other players for whatever reason. I agree with that, I was thinking basically storing every name ever created so that people can't enter the game with the name of their previous character. RP should also be regulated so people don't just whisper to others, "Psst, It's me bobby!", to prevent more Meta-gaming and keep players active on the Roleplay and not who's behind the characters in it. I was thinking about just separating the chat boxes so people can talk In character in the main chat, then open a window when they want to speak out of character or to the world. Anyone out there have any ideas on making Deaths less harsh or even enjoyable on a Role Playing game? | |
I'm working(off & on) on a game where when you die if you are under lv100 you respawn back at your house with lower stats or if you are at lv100 the game tell you are too old & start you at lv0 again
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I was thinking that when you die, you respawn as your characters son or daughter, inheriting items and skills/powers.
This would be a permanent death and would make it easier for the player to get back to the spot they were. It also allows for experimentation with the player if they want to try new stuff. | |
Superfetch wrote:
I was thinking that when you die, you respawn as your characters son or daughter, inheriting items and skills/powers. That would be neat, an age system would possibly have to be implemented, plus they'd have to have been married for something like that to have decent chance of happen. That would also give them goals. (Grow up and get married xD)Great idea Superfetch. Just a thought, would it be better if people married npcs? I think it'd be awkward for both parents/lovers to die, then be reborn as siblings. I know it's rp and all, but the thought is still awkward. xD I like the ideas I'm reading. Anyone else wish to add on an idea or have a new one? | |
I think you are making a big assumption- that death is somehow necessary in an RPG. It isn't. It all depends on the design- what do you want the game to be?
Roguelikes are harsh hack n' slashes with no real role playing and focus purely on acquisition and stat development. But when you die, that's it! It's part of the game style- there is an objective way to win (get the Amulet of Yendor and escape) and an objective way to lose. It can be very frustrating, though. Role playing games tend to have more of a character aspect and are a bit more open ended. generally there is no way to "win" per se. However, having death certainly means there is a way to lose. Since players tend to invest large amounts of time in their character, death is a harsh punishment and discourages risk taking. Many games have learned to lessen this by having death be more of an inconvenience. Personally, I do not think any kind of permanent penalty is appropriate for death in most multi player RPGs. The inconvenience of dying, having to get your stuff back, etc. is more than enough (and might be too much if the items cannot be recovered due to hostiles still around, etc.!). Loss of some temporary experience may be okay, but certainly not reduction of earned levels- this is overly punitive. Likewise, temporary stat penalties will discourage play and should be avoided. Something like having the player pass out if KOed for too long and awaken at the nearest camp/village/base, with half health and stamina is probably sufficient. Perhaps a little item wear if the player doesn't have blessed/insured/etc. items, but nothing too harsh as you want players having fun, not ragequitting over unnecessary punishments for playing your game. | |
Jmurph wrote:
I think you are making a big assumption- that death is somehow necessary in an RPG. It isn't. It all depends on the design- what do you want the game to be? This is true, Death isn't necessary, although it does happen. People die from accidents by the millions every year. Roguelikes are harsh hack n' slashes with no real role playing and focus purely on acquisition and stat development. But when you die, that's it! It's part of the game style- there is an objective way to win (get the Amulet of Yendor and escape) and an objective way to lose. It can be very frustrating, though. True Roleplaying Games aren't really about completing one main Goal. They're about living your life through your character's eyes and sharing the Happiness and the Hardships. You know you're a true Roleplayer when you can actually feel a connection between you and the character you've worked so hard to build. Role playing games tend to have more of a character aspect and are a bit more open ended. generally there is no way to "win" per se. However, having death certainly means there is a way to lose. Since players tend to invest large amounts of time in their character, death is a harsh punishment and discourages risk taking. Many games have learned to lessen this by having death be more of an inconvenience. Personally, I do not think any kind of permanent penalty is appropriate for death in most multi player RPGs. The inconvenience of dying, having to get your stuff back, etc. is more than enough (and might be too much if the items cannot be recovered due to hostiles still around, etc.!). Loss of some temporary experience may be okay, but certainly not reduction of earned levels- this is overly punitive. Likewise, temporary stat penalties will discourage play and should be avoided. I agree that death shouldn't be handed out like candy to everyone. That would ruin gameplay. RP Death should be very uncommon in your players, and actually be very difficult to do. Unless the player wanted to suicide (Which should always be added to an RP just in case someone really wants to end it.), life shouldn't be a fight for survival for them. Something like having the player pass out if KOed for too long and awaken at the nearest camp/village/base, with half health and stamina is probably sufficient. Perhaps a little item wear if the player doesn't have blessed/insured/etc. items, but nothing too harsh as you want players having fun, not ragequitting over unnecessary punishments for playing your game. I agree fully. As I stated before, life shouldn't be a constant fight for survival. It should be mellowed out and lax. Although accidents do happen, Most if not all of them should only end in injury to the player and 99% of them shouldn't be life threatening. But have the possibility. If there are cars in your game, running into a brick wall at 50 miles per hour will probably kill you. Or at very least maim you. Death should be present in the game and every once in a while, should show itself and prove to the players that Death is possible, but not probable. And even when a player dies that once in a blue-moon time, they shouldn't lose everything. Take my previous idea about Simply starting out a little lower rank in a position or something. If you do this and build a believable world with many options and ways to live your life, I promise you'll have the most successful RPG on the Site. Pro Tip: People flock to anime like moths to a flame. It may sound like a cliche` idea, but Anime RPG's work, I don't care who tries to say otherwise. | |
It would be very annoying having to come up with a new character every time you're killed by a giant rat. It also puts a burden on everyone else having to deal with all these one-off characters who don't last very long. It also leads to big [complications] where one avid player gets some other avid player killed and the dead one throws a fit over it. It's just another one of those ideas which sounds neat on paper but doesn't actually add anything of value to the gameplay and more often than not ends up makes things worse.