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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mishihari Lord" data-source="post: 7649675" data-attributes="member: 128">Great article, very insightfulFor me, the possibility of loss, especially my PC dying, is critical to my enjoyment to the game.  From a roleplaying point of view, my suspension of disbelief goes *poink* as soon as I realize that I'm in supposedly deadly combat but I can't die.  From a game point of view, combat without the possibility of death is like a FPS on god-mode, fun for about 5 minutes then really boring.  I can't say that I've ever liked having my PC die, but knowing that there's a risk is critical to my enjoyment.And I've found that to feel that risk, the loss has to happen occasionally.  If it doesn't I might know it's possible on an intellectual level, but still not really believe it on an emotional level.A standard counterargument is that we don't have any problem watching a James Bond movie and knowing Bond won't die.  My standard counter-counterargument is that RPGs aren't books or movies.  I play to experience fantasy worlds like those in literature first hand, but that doesn't mean I want plot immunity.The only loss I can think of that would make a PC not fun for me would be a permanent involuntary personality change, and even some of those are alright.  Frex, the roleplaying challenge from a helm of alignment change is kind of fun.  As long as the DM is competent, he can make adventures fun for characters who are impaired.  I've been in groups where we had lots of fun  with "you lost all your gear" scenarios, both as a DM and a player.  And even a permanent involuntary personality change is no worse than the PC dying, since I can always retire or kill the PC if I don't enjoy him anymore.</blockquote>

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