Life, Death, and Armageddon

[Marauder Moe]

[This is a bit of a steam-of-conciousness post.  I'm not sure if I have a point or not, so if you're not interested in my rambling hit the BACK button now.]

There's been a lot of talk about death lately, most of it negative.  Depressingly, there's only two ways you can garauntee your PC won't have a crappy death: retire them or don't app them at all and use them for Arm fiction.  Otherwise your PC will die, and most likely death will be quick, unexpected, and boring.

I really think, though, the best way for people to be happy is just focus on your character's life rather than that one short moment that was their death.  While pleas to the playerbase about giving people good deaths are worthwhile, they're not a solution.  "Closure code", or game additions designed to make death less traumatic, is bad because it cheapens death.  Many people would be far more willing to let their PC die if they know they will still be about to spout off some famous last words, set a dramatic pose, see the twisted grin of the shadowy figure holding the knife in their back, or set off Fart of Doom as a revenge curse.  That's not Zalanthas, though.  Zalanthans cling to life for as long as possible, and always go down kicking and screaming.

It's actually rather strange if you think of Arm as a living, breathing world in the dimension of games and fiction.  Sure, it's harsh to live there, but things get even worse when someone's life is touched by a player (ie they become a PC).  Players simply aren't capable of caring about their PCs lives as much as a real person would care about their own (many of us do care a great deal, though).

Anyway, don't fret death.  Move on and inhabit the soul of some other person in Zalanthas.  Do your best to make their lives as fun and exciting as possible before the inevitable doom you have brought upon them.

[/rambling]

[jmordetsky]

I liked LODs idea.

[Krath]

I liked LODs idea.

What was his idea?

[Agent_137]

I liked LODs idea.

What was his idea?

Anyway, don't fret death. Move on and inhabit the soul of some other person in Zalanthas. Do your best to make their lives as fun and exciting as possible before the inevitable doom you have brought upon them.

[LoD]

Zalanthans cling to life for as long as possible, and always go down kicking and screaming.]

The half-giant hits you in the head, wounding you.
Your vision goes black.

>kick
You're sleeping..

>scream
You're sleeping.

Someone hits you in the head, doing horrendous damage.

<Mantis Head>

Zalanthas is a place.  And, yes, it's harsh, brutal, swift and cruel.  However, it's also a text environment that plays like a living novel which we all read and interpret.  We use emotes to express what is happening to our characters, and while the code is necessary to make important decisions for the performance of our PC's, it is not meant to trump the storytelling.  The current code for death in Armageddon does this.

It isn't about being unhappy with the concept that your character will die, but with the lack of tools granted to you to express yourself when that moment has come and gone.

Pick up a fantasy novel sometime where one of the characters is mortally wounded on the battlefield and tell me if you ever find one that reads:

Code Select Expand

Moe raised his forearm defensively before him, Muran's steel blade catching on the curved metal hook jutting from his bracer.  With a tug of his wrist, Moe tore the sword from Muran's hands, plunging his sharp knife into Muran's stomach, feeling the blade punch through the hard leather cuirass and into the soft flesh beneath.  Muran crumples and dies.

Zalanthas is a world in which we tell stories.  Wishing the tools to tell the best one we can isn't the same as bitching about your character dying.

-LoD

[Marauder Moe]

I can't say I agree.  Arm isn't a fantasy novel.  Arm isn't a MUSH.  Its more of a fantasy-world simulator.  Plot and story do not generally take precedence over realism.

[Dakkon Black]

I can't say I agree. Arm isn't a fantasy novel. Arm isn't a MUSH. Its more of a fantasy-world simulator. Plot and story do not generally take precedence over realism.

But realism doesn't take precedence. I like the idea of focusing on their lives, and it's really the only way to enjoy it for the most part. But even if endings are usually harsh and brutal, I don't think it's a bad goal to set to try and create a rich and interesting scene out of it.

This goes double in cases where you or the attacker has clear control. One is knocked out, subdued, exhausted, etc. With all that time or power, why not make it interesting?

[jmordetsky]

I can't say I agree.  Arm isn't a fantasy novel.  Arm isn't a MUSH.  Its more of a fantasy-world simulator.  Plot and story do not generally take precedence over realism.

Um. No, They are but ying to yang and arm is the whole.

[a non e mouse]

This goes double in cases where you or the attacker has clear control. One is knocked out, subdued, exhausted, etc. With all that time or power, why not make it interesting?

I dont think anyone is arguing FOR insta-death situations. All that I (and others) are suggesting is that if instadeath happens, it happens. Vent it out, bitch about how much it sucks, but don't complain that the game is broken. It isn't. All we can do is give the other person the benefit of the doubt. Leave the situation open for good rp to take place.

[generalization]As I see it, the issue here is with players so attached to their characters that they believe their PC is simply too important to die in a sucky way. And the truth is, they aren't. There will be more PCs.[/generalization]

[Barzalene]

I'm probably in the minority, but if my pc is definitely going to die, no question, then I'd prefer it didn't take two real life hours of body parts being cut off first. Which is not to say that you shouldn't emote. At all.

[Vessol]

Death has never really bothered me in Arm, I have gone through many characters. I like deaths that are dramatic, I always try to throw off a few emotes before I see the big mantis head in the sky.

[Mr.B]

Like Barzalene, I'm of the mind that if my PC is going to die.. which it most likely will, like the vast majority of PC's in the history of Armageddon, I'd like it to last and be thoroughly vicious or brutal and preferably at the hands of a PC who was more cunning, devious, resouceful or powerful then I was. I think the really "boring" deaths are those to mindless npcs.

[Bebop]

People will die in surprising, simple ways.

It doesn't mean as players we should not do our part as PCs to take time to RP withone another.

[MarshallStaxx]

As Sir Paul McCartney so eloquently put it...

LIVE AND LET DIE! DUR-DURRRR! DUR-DURRRR!

I think thats all you can say about the matter.