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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Jack7" data-source="post: 4670695" data-attributes="member: 54707">This is my take on it Jeff.There are so many things going on in-game that make it not like real life at all that it is to me hardly surprising that someone would risk death over material possessions.The very fact that there is even a possibility of resurrection (there is no such thing in my settings, but that still doesn't make character death like real death, only slightly approximately closer to real death) means that people value death less as a strategic consequence of their choices, than a tactical one.Now in game as in real life I am a very big believer in being well equipped. And for making sure you have the very best equipment possible for whatever you mission or assignment. You just don't risk your life or anyone else's life on being unprepared.But then again in real life death has consequences that are absolute and irreparable.It is a strategic end, not just for yourself but for others.For instance if I were in a real situation in which my life were threatened and my buddy and I were engaged in a near-lethal combat, and I die through a stupid decision, I also realize that my buddies' odds of survival have just been cut in half by my being prematurely terminated. This makes you razor sharp in one way, and extremely cautious in another. That's not necessarily true in a game world, especially one which goes out of it's way to lessen the value and consequences of what death really means. An end of all things, at least in this world. So it makes you dull and lazy in one way when it comes to death, and reckless in another.So, psychologically speaking, in a game (and no [know] matter how deeply invested in the milieu and story of the game the players still know it is but a game), and especially in a game that devalues the importance of death as being final (I mean hell, you can always just roll up another guy, right? Even if you lose your "best man" you can still theoretically make a better man. Who gets to do that in real life in such a way? Just start over cause you make bad decisions or decide your stuff is more important than breathing?) would that not color how you approach death?Just like in real life, with death being final, and knowing what that means, it colors your attitude on what is really worth risking your life and the life of your companions over, and how you are willing to act as a consequence. (also in real life few go around saying, "if you give me all of your stuff and give me your word never to return then I will spare your life" - that's TV and drama school stuff - nothing wrong with that in-game because part of the point of role play is drama, but then again death is a dramatic moment in a game, not a concluding one. And that's a tip off to people, even if only unconsciously, because in real life no-one who expected to live themselves would give you such a choice, they would just kill you. Telling people you are gonna kill them is for people who mistake TV for real life and who participate in drama actions, real killing you don't telegraph, by the time they first learn of it, if you know what you're doing, they're already dead. No explanation needed, or given. It's self-explanatory.) In a game I might could justify to myself risking my life to retain my "stuff." I might could even in game terms justify risking my life and the life of my buddies over something so stupid and petty (you can always get new stuff and a much better plan and come back and ambush your enemy and kill them, after all anything that can ambush can be ambushed, and anything that can kill can be killed with the right strategy) as material possessions. Because deep down I know it is a game and no matter how well acted or how deep my suspension of (dis)belief, I know that there will be no real tears and no real funeral. No one's real blood has been shed, no friend has gone from this world never to be seen in this world again. Death has no finality in that sense and to a large extent people always react to their environment in the way in which it actually works. And when you have an environment in which you don't really bury real people, death always has far less of an impact than in this one. In which there will be no easy resurrections, no returns from the gap, and no new characters to pick up where the last one went cold.In this world however I would never, ever risk my life or the lives of my buddies, or family, or friends, or anyone else over equipment, or even entirely unique possessions. Because what can be lost or taken can always be later recovered. Everything that is, except for a pulse.</blockquote>

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