Death/Respawn penalties

[Flailer]

So, there will always be no-free-lunch for dying - without penalties, death is pointless.

While in Aetheria you're never truly dead, respawning back to the land of the living definitely takes it's toll...

What penalties bring the most fun while providing the best incentive to avoid death?

[diddy33]

I like the debt XP idea. but without losing exp on death, one wouldn't be able to de-level if they made a mistake.

[VagaStorm]

I think

Scaled gold/XP for respawning (the more/more frequently you die, the higher the gold/xp cost

sounds wery apealing. If your dumb enough to keep dying, you should get fried

[Flailer]

I like the debt XP idea. but without losing exp on death, one wouldn't be able to de-level if they made a mistake.

Yeah - we were talking about this. Deleveling should be a privilege you possibly pay for, not a right.

[Flailer]

By the way, the problem with a ghost/underworld system is creating something that doesn't get boring and repetitive each time you die. So, if you vote for that system, feel free to suggest something that wouldn't get old after about 2 times of dying.

[Aarkon Draco]

a PW i tinker around on also uses the XP debt system and it works quite nicely even if you hit a level seconds before you get pwnd you dont loose the level and after you respawn you can level up. altho i would suggest PvP still be free respawn or maybe just some gold loss and 5% chance of a random item ( to the victor goes the spoils after all )

[Tal]

I like the one option not available.. complete equipment and gold inventory loss. Your body lies dead in the spot where you died. If you respawn your spirit goes to the respawn point, and your body stays at the point of physical death. Go fetch or even have your goods stolen by others.

Or remember the "hardcore" settings on Diablo II? Death = character deletion.

[LinuxPup]

Maybe have "hardcore" rules as an opt-in... your name is in red (once you hit level 15 or so) or something so people can tell that you're badass. In fact... why didn't we do that for NS4?

[Zierham]

I voted xp/gold only. I am not a fan of item loss as a penalty for death (except perhaps as item durability, where it is in essence a cash sink). Additionally, a corpse run can be problematic, unless safeguards are in place to make sure corpses are not lost, nor can they be looted by griefers.

I'd be happy with an additional "ghost/underworld" system, but as Flailer mentioned, if it gets repetitive, its just an annoying time sink.

I've always been of a spirit to wander around areas much higher level than myself just to see what's there. In a world such as NS4 (and the vast majority of other MMORPGs) this is encouraged, because a death may cost gold and xp, but never an actual item (and since it doesnt take luck to regain gold/xp, this makes sense to me). If you throw in item loss (or corpse running that can result in item loss/theft) people will simply grind on the easiest monsters they can find, the creatures 7 levels below them which give .01% of the xp to the next level, but which could never possibly kill them.

Often, respawning and having to get back to wherever I was has been the most frustrating thing (and rightfully so!).

I believe that inherent detriment, as well as accompanying gold/xp loss should be enough, if the ghost/underworld system cant be something repetitive and annoying.

Perhaps an optional ghost/underworld system where it saves you the xp loss/gold loss, so there is at least some draw to it, while still allowing others to bypass it for (heavier) penalties if they hate it that much?

Finally, although it isnt part of this poll, per se, my opinion on deleveling is this: Make it exist (either through dying or through a quest or NPC) and make it something players dont want to do if they dont have to, but dont make it so big of a barrier that newer players feel they cant do it. In a multiplayer game, people (often) want to have the best build they can... For people who are trying to build the character they designed, an irreparable mistake is a significant blow.

[MLoki]

For a ghost/underworld penalty you could have the easy way which would include gold/xp loss or the long way which might take you through a small maze/encounter to recover your items but would let you keep your gold/xp if you succeded in a small task perhaps even based on level or skills.

[Bargeld]

Maybe a wimpy random encounter, but while you are nekkid. You get your gear back from the mobs once you kill em.

This could be a nightmare in the case of a server crash.

[Lorkar]

Avlis has a really cool ghost/underworld system that is based on your alignment. Depending on what it is determines what kind of task or maze you have to accomplish.
The only thing that stunk was that if you shifted alignment you could end up in a maddening place like the plane of torment which was chaotic neutral and had random things happen to you from teleportation to confusion to slowed to hasted all while having to deal with critters. Overall it was an interesting experience.

[Aarkon Draco]

my suggestion of a 5% chance of loosing a item only applied to PvP situations much like it was for a bit in city raiding in NS4

[Shadowalker]

My thoughts : Scaled gold/xp and convalecent time. Upon respawning, your toon's stats drop to 1.. your in a coma.. the more recent your brush with death the longer it takes to recover from the coma. Also incure blindness and inability to rest so that they cant spend that time studing the combat log or resloting/reseting spells.

Options for this:
>Greater Restore cast by lvl 40 pure cleric will improve paitents condition, removing blindness, rest/prevention and restoring non physical atributes (wis, int, chr)

>Same cleric n spell, who also has 40 ranks in heal skill will completely restore the toon to normal.

If this works to be too easy a challendge to over come, make the cleric assume all the panalities that are removed from the paitent.

[Zierham]

My thoughts : Scaled gold/xp and convalecent time. Upon respawning, your toon's stats drop to 1.. your in a coma.. the more recent your brush with death the longer it takes to recover from the coma. Also incure blindness and inability to rest so that they cant spend that time studing the combat log or resloting/reseting spells.

Options for this:
>Greater Restore cast by lvl 40 pure cleric will improve paitents condition, removing blindness, rest/prevention and restoring non physical atributes (wis, int, chr)

>Same cleric n spell, who also has 40 ranks in heal skill will completely restore the toon to normal.

If this works to be too easy a challendge to over come, make the cleric assume all the panalities that are removed from the paitent.

I vehemently disagree with this. Although I realize the devs need (or at least want) to implement a more significant penalty system for death, but the above means nothing more than every time anyone dies, they have to afk for 5 minutes or whatever. How does that add to fun?