Permadeath is always a fun if rarely used design concept to discuss, which is why I want to put forth a thought exercise to the Massively OP crowd this morning that revolves around it.
While permadeath tends to appeal to the niche of the niche and is widely hated elsewhere, it’s certainly an interesting mechanic. Imagine that you had to work it into an MMO: one you’re playing, one you’re making up, or another game entirely. How would you include it in such a way that it would add to the game instead of subtract from it? How would such a system be made to appeal to gamers without repelling them?
In other words, you’re both the designer and marketer in charge of making permadeath attractive for an MMO. Can you do it? What would you do to make it work?
Every morning, the Massively Overpowered writers team up with mascot Mo to ask MMORPG players pointed questions about the massively multiplayer online roleplaying genre. Grab a mug of your preferred beverage and take a stab at answering the question posed in today’s Daily Grind!
