If any of you watched Caprica, there was a virtual world in the game called New Cap City and in it the rule was that if you died in the game world, you were permanently banned. While MMO’s have yet to go that far, the new Salem MMO gets pretty close with its permadeath scenario. If you get killed, you do not get resurrected, but have to begin all over again. This draconian method may sit well with experienced players who know how to avoid getting killed, but not so much for the newbies, who everyone knows are easy bait in the MMO’s for some rude fun by the experienced.
Ever since MMO’s were invented, there was always those that got the upper hand at the start and then play by hassling and fragging other players weaker than themselves. While battles will certainly be a big part of the Old Republic, they want to give newbies a fair shot, a chance to take a risk, as winning over someone more experienced can be a satisfying experience. Going back to start is not.
Star Wars: The Old Republic hopes to find a common ground between permadeath and being punished for dying. And while they have not said what their policy will be exactly as of yet, speculation by the gaming community is that their position will mirror their understanding that their audience will be casual as well as hardcore gamers, given the subject matter. So taking a player out if they run into a Sith on a bad day with no recourse will get old and won’t garnish the positive feedback they are hoping to get.
It is our hope that they consider the rules behind death as much as the death itself. Its fine to have a harsh death scenario if the battles are fair and not everyone can just jump everyone else at any second. From what it seems like from some of the previews that the MMO may be a bit more structures in how it deals with fighting and death and how it relates to the embedded story, so from that maybe they are planning an entirely new model that we haven’t seen before. Games should be challenging, but not overly crazed to the point of impossible.
With EA’s investors freaking out over the cost and worrying about the success of the massive undertaking, there is sure to be a compromise that will maximize fun and challenges. For if people just move and die in five minutes, hit by some one in the game as soon as they appear, new players will quit and subscription revenue will plummet. It’s just good business, in this case, to find that middle ground.
