What is the best thing about Armageddon?

[James de Monet]

Voted perma-death.

Everything else on the list loses A LOT of its meaning without it.

I fully agree, and the commanding lead that it has this far makes me wonder if I should have left it off (because would Arm without permadeath still be Arm? Arm without RPI wouldn't, that's why I left if off), but I think there's a distinction to be made there.

I would probably still have played Arm if it wasn't for permadeath. I just wouldn't have played it for as long. And you can get permadeath in other games, like playing hardcore on Diablo. But I don't do that. It doesn't appeal to me, because dying has no bearing on the story. If you die, you just start over from the beginning. If you die in Arm, that's it. Game over, man. Game over!  So for me, it's not the permadeath itself, it's how that feature makes the plot so much more interesting.

[Fujikoma]

I actually started playing Arm because on another MUD one of the members of a group I was running signed in and -RAGED- about the death of his character for a good six hours, without mentioning many IC details. This kind of rage fascinated me, so I asked questions about the game, and after a little while he realized I was actually pretty interested and was like "Shitbag, no! Don't do it! We'll never see you again!", but, the damage was already done. Roll up fresh character, PCs direct character to Byn, BEEP.

[MoosesRock]

I chose accomplishments first.  I like having goals to work towards, but don't really care if they are world changing, so long as they are significant enough to affect the character. Intrigue and scope probably follow accomplishments very closely.

[valeria]

Social and permadeath.  The permadeath keeps the IG clans and groups from becoming as cliquey as easily as can happen in places non permadeath.  And social because I equate it with good RP, which I mostly only get here.  Also the community is great.  And we have a bunch of great roleplayers.

[Refugee]

I wanted to pick about 5 of them, but really, it's the whole package.

[solera]

I was very attracted to what would be called the "art work" in a graphics game ie the room descriptions and feel of the physical world  .

Anything  that gives pain or the possibility of pain seems good ...permadeath, relationships, plot. I'll go for the relationships, which I first discovered in the Byn, and  settings (at a room level)

[senseofeven]

I've always been attracted to how strong my PCs can become or how far I can stretch their combat powers.

I came from very PVP competitive IRE muds and have always been a combatter, defender, raider. Heck even in MMORPG, I've PVPed in warzones :p

In Arm: I didn't need to pay for credits to convert into lessons or to even purchase artifacts for incredulous amount of money for a text game to get an 'edge' on a person/organization/city. Dicerolls have always been exciting. RNG and how good your PC is.

Still! Just one mistake and the world can eat you. That's more exciting than winning duels on them other non-perma death muds and lose experience.

[ShaLeah]

This is flawed.  I voted anyway.

[Zoltan]

Permadeath and realism. Just about everything in this game hinges on permadeath. The "realism" is bound up in the setting, I think. The rules that encourage the players to treat every aspect of the world as a living, breathing thing helps to bolster the RP.

[James de Monet]

This is flawed.  I voted anyway.

Could you be a little more specific?

[Bogre]

Permadeath defines RPI's and Armageddon.

I think my favorite other thing is the scope- you have such a wide and varied world with lots going on. You can stumble onto a hermit who has been playing out of a cave for the past year. There's years of history.

Exploration, PVP/PVE, achievement, harsh setting are my tertiary favorite things.

and of course
MURDER
CORRUPTION
BETRAYAL

[Hicksville Hoochie]

For my first few characters, permadeath was the most annoying thing for me.

But then as I began to actually understand the way things worked, and got more into the rp side of things, it became the main component to everything else. The plots, intrigue, social mingling, etc - it all has a larger impact when you're well aware that you're on borrowed time that can be taken away by anything from an angry templar, to random joe-bob elf wanting to know if he actually -can- make it to the rinth after stabbing you six times in the neck with a poisoned blade. (In his defense, I probably kicked dirt in his face for being a filthy sharp with nicer boots than any sharp should own.)

I'd like to be able to vote for most items on the list, but I had to take permadeath. It's the seasoning on the steak. Acceptable without it, but fantastic with it.

[Desertman]

Without perma-death it is a chat room.

The social bonds mean so much less. The plotting and intrigue all but vanish because the final outcome isn't in fact final and barely even matters anymore.

When every single decision you make has to be weighed against, "Is this too dangerous?", EVERYTHING, every single decision, means something. If those same decisions were weighed against, "How long will it take me to respawn?". The game loses its meaning.

Give me perma-death, or give me....death?

[Clavis]

Without perma-death it is a chat room.

The social bonds mean so much less. The plotting and intrigue all but vanish because the final outcome isn't in fact final and barely even matters anymore.

When every single decision you make has to be weighed against, "Is this too dangerous?", EVERYTHING, every single decision, means something. If those same decisions were weighed against, "How long will it take me to respawn?". The game loses its meaning.

Give me perma-death, or give me....death?

it has a good point. *passes the lotion* it puts the lotion on it's skin.

[Zoan]

I am the best thing about Armageddon.

[KankWhisperer]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6PQ6335puOc

[MeTekillot]

PVP makes me feel powerful. Permadeath makes me feel like I have a lasting effect on an otherwise inconsequential expression of my POWER

[Harmless]

permadeath is awesome when the death has at least some meaning. Here are some examples of deaths I like:


It's cool when you die because...

... you tried to take on a beast that you had never fought before and it overwhelmed you.
... you thought you could outsmart an NPC that ended up being a lot smarter than you expected.
... you were in a group and you were following orders that ended up getting you killed.
... you were betrayed.
... you were punished.
... you were murdered.
... you died for one of the thousands of other possible reasons, most often of which is "being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

even if it's a beast you have fought before, that death has meaning. Classically? Carru / scrab / beetle. You thought you had become strong enough to take it on, but you were wrong. This has important lessons. Were you evaluating your strength correctly? What things should you have been fighting more of before trying the next big challenge? Are there some things you simply can't ever kill with the race/guild/attribute combination you had? Even if the death initially seems stupid, it will inevitably have more meaning, especially as you move on to your next PC and have new experiences to look forward to.

It's NOT cool when you die because of OOC shit like connection issues, typos, or a misunderstanding or an unforgiving other player who refuses to acknowledge your OOC difficulties, whatever they may be. That shit frustrates me. Also, the policy on ressurections is quite strict when it comes to this, and I feel sometimes that's not cool. I won't shit on this thread with that but I am mentioning it.

So, permadeath is cool 90% of the time, but about 10% of the time it is really frustrating.

..Nevertheless, I voted that permadeath and realism were the two reasons this game were so great. In a typical manner for me, I am most excited about something I have mixed feelings about.

[ShaLeah]

The cock fights on the GDB.

[Harmless]

The cock fights on the GDB.

bonobopenisfencing.gif

[mattrious]

This is a great poll, JDM.

I went with permadeath & murder, corruption, and betrayal.

Though, I wish I could of checked a few other boxes. I really love the whole package and what the game brings, it has been around for so long and is still a very unique gaming experience.

[deathkamon]

Permadeath is one of my choices because firstly, it brings fear into those who are extremely over-powered such as nobles/templars about death not just ICly, but realistically because your great lord of some place could die permanently. Secondly, once your character is dead, instead of being reincarnated and still sticking to whatever attitude your old character had, you can create a whole new character and try something new.

The second choice I made was the accomplishment. It always gives you a good feeling whenever you see your dwarf accomplish his focus and then moving on to something greater and bigger then before, or having your mul finally seeking revenge on whoever killed his/her bond mate. It also gives you a realistic feeling of accomplishment, and it makes you want to go further and further to achieve better things for yourself, or to gain access to even more goals due to what you had done.

[BadSkeelz]

Permadeath, for all the reasons listed plus one:

I have a habit of dropping off the face of the earth and leaving people and gaming communities I'm a part of in a lurch. A large part of the appeal of a permadeath mud was "Well, if I feel like it's time to walk away, I can just get my character killed!"


...yeaaaaah.

[RogueGunslinger]

Haha.

Just don't quit the game when your character eventually DOES die. I've heard of people doing that and it totally blows my mind and irritates the fuck out of me.

[QuillDipper]

I look forward to my character's death. The feeling of making a new one is just so... Invigorating.