I'm just curious how Bungie will handle character deaths within Destiny. There are several different avenues that I can ponder, but it all depends on several unconfirmed factors. Is there something more to our characters than just being alive? Are they actually aware and their souls somehow collected and re-manifested into existence via the Traveler? Do we control one character in a pool of several other customizable characters to where if one dies they are gone, then replaced by a new blank slate? Are we able to be revived or recovered? Do we lose our gear upon death? What kind of penalty will death incur? How "permanent" are our characters really?
Please, share your thoughts and ideas.
(Not in any particular order)
[b]Timed or Instant Respawn[/b]
For something as large as Bungie is professing this game world to be, it wouldn't really make sense to have the typical FPS respawn in a random location for every facet of this game. I could see it in the competitive modes, but I always hoped that games would move past this. For myself, it breaks immersion having a carbon copied clone thrown back into battle without explanation of how you came into existence once more. Basically, I'm tired of the same typical FPS respawns throwing you into the middle of a no-win situation and the ridiculousness of it in terms of lore. Will I understand if they use them in some capacity, sure. I am just hoping that it is not the answer to every death, some player choice would be welcome... Something similar to Invasion in Halo: Reach at the minimum.
[b]Soul Collection/Re-manifestation [/b]
I could see something along these lines, similar to how Borderlands has gadgets that recompose dead players for a fee. At least it makes sense as to how your character is back alive once more, all the while taunting you for it. It would make sense to post these devices at key checkpoints, ship landing zones, near centralized locations, or even just exclusively at the lone human city beneath the mighty gaze of the Traveler.
[b]Permanent Death?[/b]
I imagine this method being plausible in certain high-stakes modes if there was a ramped loot/reward system in use. Picture playing the game on Easy and being able to bowl over enemies and complete dungeons without too much conscious thought or effort. The reward for doing so obviously wouldn't be the same as if you had played through on Normal, Heroic, Legendary, or even Mythic. Let's just say there is an option available to you that would increase your chances of finding better loot, but the caveat is that your character can permanently die if not revived in time by other passersby. This brings into question the possibility of character item migration as well. Can we trade items? Can we recover items from our own dead characters?
[b]Character Pool/Permanent Death[/b]
Yet another curious approach would be to allow players multiple "characters" to customize how they choose with all the gear they find throughout games, however a permanent death may be needed. Sharing amongst characters would be essential for this to work. Let's say my character "PipBoy" has a few other alter-ego characters in the pool with lesser gear, but "PipBoy" is my primary raid character. If for some reason he permanently died (respawn cap?) then I would have to distribute whatever was recovered of his gear to my other characters. To be fair, that character's experience gain would need to be divided among the pool or surviving characters so that my character death was not a complete time-investment loss. This way, my character is dead but remnants of his gear remains and his experiences in Destiny are learned instead of forgotten. I believe that is called leaving behind a legacy.
[b]Revival[/b]
This remains to be seen, but I would favor character revival. Maybe I am only too used to the way that Borderlands plays out, but I feel it adds to team play and builds friendship. Who knows, if it is implemented maybe a small reward is automatically given from the revivee to the reviver at the end of the quest? People love incentives like that, but it might also be opening up a mechanic for abuse.
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I think there should be a penalty for death, either by losing finances or gear. I used to think Perma-death was a good idea, but once I experienced it first hand I found it dull and annoying. Yes, there is the pressure and nervousness that makes the game more realistic, but then it hit me: I play video games to have fun and enjoy myself, not to emulate real life. It's good to give players incentive to think strategically, but it should never force them into a style of playing, and that's what Perma-death does.