by Byron Mudry on Mar 20, 2006
Tis Only a Flesh Wound!
Gimpy receives loot: Copper Ore
Gimpy receives loot: Copper Ore
Gimpy receives loot: Copper Ore
Gimpy suffers 3200 damage from Silentkiller's Ambush
Gimpy suffers 860 damage from Silentkiller's Sinister Strike
Gimpy Dies
Silentkiller spits on Gimpy
Silentkiller Dances
Sound familiar? Death is a part of almost every MMORPG on the market currently, it's an issue that affects us all, every time we log onto our respective games. Death has really changed over the course of the years, every new game adding something new, a change for better or for worse it seems. With World of Warcraft, Blizzard has thrown at us their own way to penalize us through in game death, however, how far has it really gone since the days of Everquest? Have the gamers been getting it easy these past few years? Not having to worry about severe consequences upon death is a really big factor in most games, and this article is going to give you a brief look on the death penalty with the most popular MMORPG's currently on the market, and how they have really changed over the years.
World of Warcraft
In World of Warcraft, the first ten levels are very simple for leveling, easy, fast pace, and quick to learn quests, that allow you to get a feel for the game. It is very difficult to see a player die in these early levels, save running into a bad bunch of Murlocs, and if they do, the begin to realize, it is something that they have a lot of control over. There is little penalty, there is little thought, and no worry at all. Is it the same for when you level, and at the endgame? We shall see. Dying in itself in WOW is usually after a fight where you push your character to his or her limits, to see what kind of metal they have and soon find that you were wrong. While soloing or grouping for the first 59 levels, especially for healers, dying is very rare. Blizzard has given you ample ways to save yourself while in combat, or to escape from situations that you cannot win. Be it running with your tail between your legs from monsters, you have the ability to use a mount, speed potions, or a hearthstone to make a quick zip to safety. The monsters have a set aggro range and when you run them far enough from their patrol lanes, they will reset back and leave you alone. Healing with spells, with band aids, with potions or by eating food, WOW players really have it easy, a few seconds of rest after a battle and you are as good as new, as though you never even got into a fight. This creates a high pace atmosphere for Raid Dungeons and regular play. The same thing goes with your mana needed to cast, or your energy. In the game, you can be completely self reliant to keep yourself in top shape, with food, potions, and more. The only deaths that are certain are inside instances or end game content when people's fates are tied together and usually if things go wrong, not only you die, but 39 others as well.
Death in WOW, what to expect? Your body hits the ground and makes your last sound before all freezes and your given an option, to release your spirit. Your armour takes a 10% durability loss, which is very small in itself for the first 59 levels and the amount and cost for repairs is minimal. If you are not resurrected by another player, your spirit goes to the spirit healer at a graveyard and you enter a ghost state. Here, you can run back (usually about a 2 minute walk) and claim your body, coming back to life with low health and mana, easily regained, or you can resurrect yourself at the spirit healer. This choice is a 25% penalty to your armour's durability and a 10 minute debuff on all your stats being reduced by 75%. If this is the path you choose, you are helpless for these 10 minutes and are of little use to anyone.
This doesn't sound so bad? Where do they get you with a hidden penalty? Well, in end game situations, the same things apply with death as to everyone else. Better equipment, such as epic equipment costs much, much more to repair than common or rare equipment. A normal/average raider can rack up a repair bill in 1 night to the sum of 9-30 gold and if you are raiding 6 nights a week... it really adds up over time. You have to spend a lot of money repairing your gear after instances, especially if your guild is learning new dungeons and do not have the areas under "farm status". Does this really seem fair at all? So much effort for repairs, only to continue on as normal?well lets compare WOW deaths to the other big games out there.
Dark City of EverCraft Wars: Death has been deemed a very negative thing, and by the makers, is avoided as much as possible. Losing and dying are unknown to these players and when you "die" you actually just start to sleep, and when you wake up, you are as good as new.
Star Wars Galaxies: There is a bit of leeway at the beginning of the game, but after your beginner deaths, you must pay to use a cloning service to keep your DNA and gain your character back. A service charge to keep your items safe must also be paid and the penalty itself has changed many times over the course of the game, eventually having most of the penalties taken away.
City of Heroes: You are awakened at the nearest hospital and instead of loosing your precious experience, you don't gain as much when killing for a period in the future, and half goes to return your debt.
Anarchy Online: All experience gained since the last time you used a cell scanner (i.e. saved your game) is lost. You slowly repaid the experience debt while leveling, so you couldn't’t actually lose a level.
Dark Ages of Camelot: When you die in DAoC, you come back at a “bind stone” and you lose some experience. The experience loss is cut in half the first time you die each level, and can be cut in half again, by returning to where you died and "praying" at your gravestone. You also lose hit points, so you have to pay an NPC priest or healer a manageable amount to replace your hit points.
Asheron’s Call: When you die in this game, very bad things happen. You start to walk a lot slower, you lose a lot of your stats and an item disappears from you, and yes, even the most phat of your lewts can go missing.
Ultima Online: Once you die in Ultima, you will became a ghost and stay a ghost until you found a wandering healer or someone to resurrect you. This can take a very long time and while this occurred, people could loot your body and hack your corpse up.
Everquest: Once you come back to life nude, sometimes hours away from your body, losing a vast portion of experience. Your job, to get your body back. 7 days of not being able to retrieve your body will get your character disappearing forever. /cry
As you can see, WOW gamers have it pretty easy in their penalty on death. When you can watch your party wipe 4 times in an hour, just smile and think how much worse off it can be! So you spend a little more time farming for repair money, it sure beats getting knocked back from level 60 to 55, or watching your Staff of Dominance disappear. We have it easy in WOW, and gamers are beginning to demand much more reasonable death penalties for MMORPG's in the future.
Have comments or suggestions? Thought of something that has been missed? Found an error? We would love to hear from you! Please email me at memnok@tentonhammer.com