Permadeath mini-documentary (+Armageddon short feature, need little help)

[Larpushka]

I'm working on a documentary about permadeath for my youtube channel, particularly on the subject of permadeath in RP servers. I would love if I could have it in a video someone from the Armageddon community explaining what permadeath means for them; particularly in relation to playing in the Armageddon's RP MUD. Whether you're a player, staff or admin, doesn't matter; whoever's willing. This is just to add another layer of knowledge and perspective for what I'm making. All it takes is recording yourself, preferably with video but not necessary, even just voice will do if that's what you prefer; I will use whatever I can get. No need to be verbose, most likely I'll end up using your best soundbite, so keep it short.

Your soundbites will probably follow me saying something along the lines of "when I asked players why do they play on a permadeath gameworld, this is what they had to say..."

That docu is meant to be very pro permadeath so Armageddon should get a spotlight, being such a pillar of it throughout the decades.

If you wanna vet me you can watch my Larpushka youtube channel to see the kinda stuff I create for the hardcore RP community; check out in particular my latest videos. I won't link, but simply search my nick on youtube. I'm not new to this  Usually I do stuff completely by myself, I really want to try to involve other people/communities.

[mansa]

Pick me!

How do I submit this?

[Riev]

Pick me!

How do I submit this?

Don't pick mansa he's boring and robotic.

But also don't pick me, my voice is terrible.

[triste]

Pick me!

How do I submit this?

Don't pick mansa he's boring and robotic.

But also don't pick me, my voice is terrible.

Mansa's boring but it would definitely be better than me talking about permadeath. "And because you have issues in real life, when your character permanently dies, you cry for a solid day and don't take a shower for a week."

I wish I were joking but that happened once. Usually I only cry for like 10 minutes and am fine after.

[Dirtt]

I'm blunt, funny, and have a new York accent. I'm also young, if that helps or dissuades you.

[Riev]

Legit though:

"when I asked players why do they play on a permadeath gameworld, this is what they had to say..."

Every time you enter a direction. Everytime you make even the simple decision to PLAY, you are taking a risk that the time you have spent thinking and playing your character could disappear. The excitement and adrenaline of risky roleplay or combat is exhilarating.

[Is Friday]

Sure, I'll do it. I have equipment for my channel/other gig.

[mansa]

I'll probably write a script before I record/film it.  Something like ...

"There is a finality inside permadeath games, which directs plot and story of the characters involved.  Since every character can die based on decisions made by the players, the politics and story continues to evolve and change, and never becomes stuck with certain unkillable player characters hoarding all the influence of where the world story should go next.  If you were to play the same game a year or two apart, the major characters that are influencing stories are different, giving a different experience in time!"

Hmm.  I might want to add / edit that a bit more.


Maybe include a story about a character who died, and how it made other characters around them different going forward...  maybe something about how you can't go back to the past..

[Larpushka]

I really appreciate your enthusiasm I love the fact you guys responded like that, shows how passionate this community is.

Good point about not actually saying where you can send the video, that was amateurish of me. You can send it to larpushka4 (at) gmail.com (if file too big just use wetransfer)

Oh and I didn't plan to "pick" anyone, go ahead and record. There's no limit on the amount of soundbites, if you send me something I'll include it.

And please list how to credit you (nickname or real name)... also, what is your role in Armgaddon and how long have you been playing. That should do it

 

[Kyviantre]

"Because while you may die...it is one heck of a useful tool to get rid of your enemies when they don't take kindly to blackmail and extortion."

I don't have anything useful for recording though...but that is the reason for me

[Dar]

It's easy to be heroic when you are immortal. So easy in fact, that heroism loses its weight as a concept.

Easy to make decisions when you know that none of those decisions have permanent consequences.

It's easy to be stupid, knowing that there is no real price for your mistakes and with a bit of time, effort, grinding you'll recover whatever you lost.

Without permadeath actions and events lack weight. When somebody jumps to your aid when you are in trouble and dies protecting you, you feel thankful and you express your thanks to them at a tavern afterwards. Then for the most part ... Forget about it.

With permadeath, actions have weight.

When someone sacrifices their life for you, you feel ... Stunned. You go out there and find out who their loved ones are and you sit with them, reminiscing about the ones you lost. A connection that could span years of real time and touch and change your very soul.

Do you remember your emotions when you watched Red Wedding? No game without permadeath can 'ever' create that. In Armageddon, it's a trial of passage.

When you steal and you are caught, you genuinely understand that you are in trouble. Be you heroic, arrogant, stupid it will all have consequences. Permanent consequences.

You develop a friendship, or romance? The days when you just spend time together will change to you sitting on a chair, staring into nothingness, the loss of your loved one beating the shit out of you. But it also makes the time you spent together so much more fragrant and real.

Every action has consequences. Every defeat is more bitter, but every victory is worth a hundred victories in another game. Every story more impactful and real. It tugs on you and spins your head.

A difference between permadeath mud and a non permadeath is the difference of Black Mirror and Sesame Street.

[Larpushka]

That's very good! I guess people can't be arsed to do a video/vocal recording, so I could at least read out certain stuff you wrote, so feel free to express your opinion on the issue here.

[Dar]

I thought Mansa was doing it. English is a second language for me, so I'm probably not the best candidate. Give it time.

[Lizzie]

That's very good! I guess people can't be arsed to do a video/vocal recording, so I could at least read out certain stuff you wrote, so feel free to express your opinion on the issue here.

It's awkward doing a video recording about a text game. Remember there are no graphics in Armageddon. We don't see people. We read their descriptions.

For me, permadeath has many functions.  It means no one can become all-powerful, because there will always be someone, or something, that can kill you. And once you're dead, you start over doing something else.

Without permadeath, you can continue taking really stupid risks, playing in a way that isn't believable for an actual person in an actual world in the game's genre. If your character dies, who cares? He'll be alive again in a couple of minutes and just have to recoup a few pieces of equipment and spam-kill a few mobs to make up the exp points he lost. Over and over again, ad nauseum, indefinitely.

With permadeath, the risks you take are actual risks. The risk is losing your character, because your character is actually alive, a mortal person living in the world created for the purpose. It can be taken away in a second by anyone or anything with better skill or just better luck. It could be over in a second if you choose to climb down the cliff that is described as being incredibly perilous.  It makes the game more believable, and makes death have more personal impact on you as a player.

[triste]

_{just so no one is tempted to quote me about crying}



Memes aside, ALL roleplaying games used to be hardcore and have permadeath essentially. Even early MMORPGs were more unforgiving around death than modern MMORPGs. I blame games like World of Warcraft for dumbing the genre down and filling it with sparkles. Gotta get that money from tiny children who don't even know what roleplaying is! Sometimes I wonder if permadeath fell out of favor with people just because they were too weak to handle it, much like the laughable premise of the infamous Chick comic tract Dark Dungeons, combined with decisions around profitability.

[Dar]

I still remember a character of mine. He was leading a crime org and had one of his assassins get captured. They tortured  him to find out who sent him and instead he chose death over revealing me.  And that dude was over a RL year old character. He was in my head telling me how beneficial I was to the to the Rinthi as he was being executed.   In actuality, I was a selfish sociopathic asshole. But that sacrifice changed my character around so hard.  None of that is possible in a non permadeath mud.

[Alesan]

You know, you can discuss the perks of permadeath games without essentially saying all non-permadeath roleplaying games are crappy kiddie baby games for babies that can't handle real roleplaying. It's a little needlessly disparaging.

[triste]

You know, you can discuss the perks of permadeath games without essentially saying all non-permadeath roleplaying games are crappy kiddie baby games for babies that can't handle real roleplaying. It's a little needlessly disparaging.

Alright, I am sorry, I am just more disappointed the market/industry has heavily selected for one type of game more than the other.

[Dar]

You know, you can discuss the perks of permadeath games without essentially saying all non-permadeath roleplaying games are crappy kiddie baby games for babies that can't handle real roleplaying. It's a little needlessly disparaging.

Well. There are negatives too.

Like for example, people do not want to die! Which means in a non permanent mud people can delve deep into the story immediately! While in a permanent death mud, people need to skill up, or undergo mentorship, or procure clout prior to doing things that may cause them to die.   So there are times of quietness. Where people keep low and do not involve themselves in order to survive.


A good example that comes from memory was when a Borsail Noble wanted to eradicate the Mantis Clutch.

His plan was to hire T'zai Byn mercenaries to provoke the Mantis into an all out assault then have walls of fire raise that blocked the Mantis and the Byns escape and pepper the whole place with arrows killing the Mantis ... And the Byn.


It would have been an Epic scene? The reality was that Borsails sikrit plan was found out by Byn Sargeants within an hour. One Sargeant outright refused and I was trying to convince the other Sargeant to milk the noble for deposit and then just ..  fail in provoking an assault from mantis.

In other words, nothing happened because Byn was not suicidal.  Would've made for a good story though.

[Larpushka]

@triste thank for the that comic image, I will use it   

I'm working on the text script, I will see how I manage to weave in some comments here. Since I'm still editing my last video ("collaborative storytelling in permadeath settings" - very related ) I suspect it would take me about 3 weeks to finish that permadeath video.  So... it's still not too late if you want to write what inspires you about playing in a true permadeath server. Thank you @everyone who wrote so far

EDIT: If anyone could 'screen record', without talking, for X minutes their gameplay experience in armageddon that would help a lot

[SpyGuy]

It's all been said before but:

Your actions have real consequences.  Often we talk about that in relation to PK, you can permanently take an enemy off the board.  But if your PCs friend dies then it's the same thing, they're gone. You need to consider that when you put yourself and others at risk and Armageddon can be a very dangerous game.  Any significantly long-lived PC has outlasted enemies and outlived friends, it's the perfect material for character development.  It's not surprising why many long lived PCs in Arm develop a thousand-yard stare.

The same thing happens though when you consider any dangerous action even in solo play.  Going for a ride out to hunt and have some form of hack n' slash fun could potentially lose you a character you've spent months playing.  One mistake, even something as simple as a mistyped directional command in the wrong room, can end it all.  This keeps me on the edge of my seat when playing the wilderness aspect of the game and of course the adrenaline -really- gets pumping when you know you're in danger and could lose it all.  So there's the way it affects how RP goes but also how you play the coded aspects of the game.

A lot of this relies on a certain amount of OOC trust in the community and we're lucky to have a good one.  Secrets die with the PC.  Information can't be shared OOC or between your PCs.  In some ways it's limiting but this also helps preserve the mystery that a lot of the game world holds.

And when you're the one who just got killed you get the chance to start over.  See a new part of the game world.  Meet new people. Perhaps most importantly role-play a completely different character and get the satisfaction of developing their personality, quirks and flaws.

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

If anyone could 'screen record', without talking, for X minutes their gameplay experience in armageddon that would help a lot

Certainly looking forward to the video, but this can't happen unless Staff cobbles together something for you. It's part of the divide we try to maintain between IC/OOC.

[Dar]

Which they should.

I dont know how exciting it's going to be to watch text roll, but if it can be made so then it should be done.

[The7DeadlyVenomz]

I do not disagree with Dar.

[Larpushka]

Screen recording is just for gameplay visual reference while I do the voiceover; I would consult with staff if it's okay before I publish any game footage.. thanks for the feedback. I'll try to maybe ask on Discord once I get to more advance stages of the video.