From 3c5b01207cbafa335751b74ee519965dc5335db2 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Kayne Ruse Date: Thu, 20 Jun 2013 21:13:39 +1000 Subject: [PATCH] Added an article --- Articles/On-Permadeath-Pain-And-Loss.md | 55 +++++++++++++++++++++++++ 1 file changed, 55 insertions(+) create mode 100644 Articles/On-Permadeath-Pain-And-Loss.md diff --git a/Articles/On-Permadeath-Pain-And-Loss.md b/Articles/On-Permadeath-Pain-And-Loss.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..5f942ae --- /dev/null +++ b/Articles/On-Permadeath-Pain-And-Loss.md @@ -0,0 +1,55 @@ +My game Tortuga will have permadeath; it’s actually one of the first design +decisions I made. How to implement it, however, is another decision all +together. + +A while ago, before the implementation of hardcore mode, I was playing on a +Minecraft server that boasted something close to permadeath: your account would +be banned for 15 days, so long that it’s almost unavoidable that you’d lose all +of your hidden items. This was a brutal server; the further you went from +spawn, the more dangerous it became, not less. If the natural hazards didn’t +kill you, another player would. + +I loved it. + +Although I haven’t been back to that server since I died for the last time, the +experience will stay with me forever. I’d played and died on that server a few +times, each time I had to wait for my ban to clear. I never really lost much, +since I never survived for very long. Even today, in a single player world, I’m +likely to die on the first night. + +After playing for a while, I began to understand the mentality needed to +survive there. Always fear other people, never take risks, and never hoard +valuable items if they could be better spent keeping you alive. One day, the +last day I played, I found a hole in the ground that someone was obviously +using as a “hidden” base. I tried to get in, always careful not to trigger any +traps. However, while I was trying to get in, the owner came home. + +I was suddenly attacked from behind, I barely had enough sense to dig down, +since they were wearing enchanted diamond armour. I had no chance against them. +I thought I was safe, digging 10, 20, 30 meters down, but no, they poured lava +down the hole and plugged it up. I was a gonner, and I knew it. I was futilely +digging and thrashing around in what was now my tomb, about to lose my life. +I’d survived for so long, only to lose it all by not keeping a lookout. + +When the game over screen flashed up, I screamed. I screamed, and screamed, and +screamed. For 5 minutes, my mind was blank, nothing but hatred and pain and +loss. I’m sure you’ve seen the video of the angry German kid who died in WoW, +but have you ever actually experienced that pain? Have you ever worked so hard, +and lost it all? + +For days afterwards, that loss was all I could think about. Even now, that +experience stays with me. What about that game, that server, invoked so much +pain that I almost lost consciousness from screaming? Me of all people, who +thought he was invincible? + +I’ve played games that have moved me, terrified me, made me fall in love and +fight for the people that I care about. But never have I played a game that has +made me feel pain and loss like that. I died that day. Me. + +Pain and loss are part of life, but not games. Permadeath seems like the +obvious choice for creating a sense of loss for the player, but there are so +few games with permadeath, and even fewer multiplayer games. Pain and loss can +be conveyed in other ways, I’m sure anybody who’s played Final Fantasy 7 knows +that, and some games are especially well suited to delivering that message. +However, for a player to feel like they are the one who’s died, that is a +challenge.