Hardcore mode - die once is gameover

[ineffablebob]

It took me more than a year, but I've finally decided to resurrect the Iron Eagles SG (on Everlasting). This is a group intended for people wanting to play their toons as deathless. Obviously there's no way to enforce this, so it's strictly on the honor system, but I don't see that as a real problem. It was the same way with the original Iron Eagles on Live and it worked fine for us then.

[AxerJ]

I like this idea very much, and Id totally play a hardcore character. 

 

Would inject a lot of vitality into this game!

Edited November 22, 2020 by AxerJ

[Sailboat]

23 hours ago, CursedSorcerer said:

My biggest concern is that it just plain wouldn't be fun, for any game. Sure, some people might enjoy it, but others would complain about frustration!

 

Imagine this: let's say I get a character to level 49 without dying once and suddenly I get killed, and said character is DELETED! How do you think I'd feel? How would YOU feel? 

Well, what most of us in the Iron Eagles wound up doing was simply moving dead hardcore characters intro softcore, where they were played like normal characters that no longer interacted with their hardcore former teammates.  Think of it as an afterlife.

[Sailboat]

18 hours ago, ineffablebob said:

It took me more than a year, but I've finally decided to resurrect the Iron Eagles SG (on Everlasting). This is a group intended for people wanting to play their toons as deathless. Obviously there's no way to enforce this, so it's strictly on the honor system, but I don't see that as a real problem. It was the same way with the original Iron Eagles on Live and it worked fine for us then.

I have toyed with the idea myself, but lacked the time commitment.  I am, however, inspired.  Consider me onboard.

[Player2]

On 2/28/2020 at 1:55 PM, Sailboat said:

We used to do that in the old Iron Eagles hardcore SG.  At the player's option, the character could be kicked out of the SG and played as a regular non-hardcore character after "death" although not with the hardcore teams any more.  Of course it was an honor system -- if you got whacked solo, I guess you could have pretended it didn't happen and no one would be the wiser.  But we were a tough-minded bunch.

I would hope there were exceptions for anyone with a self-rez power.  If one of your powers is not dying, being held to the same standard of death as the mortals seems... a bit much.

[oedipus_tex]

I could for sure see a development team out there that would want to do something like this. Maybe not the Homecoming team, but probably someone. It's not a playstyle I enjoy, but it's a popular enough mechanic that it's been included in a lot of games, from Diablo to Darkest Dungeon to X-COM.

 

Rather than delete the character, sending them to a zone from which they can't escape may be more appropriate. And gives some distant hope of a way to restore them in the future. Perhaps any IOs could still be recoverable from some system.

 

Resurrection powers could be converted into an "escape from the purgatory zone" powers and perhaps limited to one use per character per lifetime.

Edited November 22, 2020 by oedipus_tex

[Sailboat]

On 11/22/2020 at 5:32 PM, oedipus_tex said:

I could for sure see a development team out there that would want to do something like this. Maybe not the Homecoming team, but probably someone. It's not a playstyle I enjoy, but it's a popular enough mechanic that it's been included in a lot of games, from Diablo to Darkest Dungeon to X-COM.

 

Rather than delete the character, sending them to a zone from which they can't escape may be more appropriate. And gives some distant hope of a way to restore them in the future. Perhaps any IOs could still be recoverable from some system.

 

Resurrection powers could be converted into an "escape from the purgatory zone" powers and perhaps limited to one use per character per lifetime.

Simplest change to support Hardcore would be a badge you get the first time you are defeated.  Slightly more complex is a badge everyone gets that you LOSE the first time you are defeated (can you *lose* badges?).  That would let Hardcore characters fly a flag proving they're undefeated.

 

Self-rez powers...hadn't given them much thought.  Certainly if you die a second time before it recharges you should lose hardcore status....I'll leave it to others to decide about the first use.

Edited November 24, 2020 by Sailboat

[ineffablebob]

1 hour ago, Sailboat said:

That would let Hardcore characters fly a flag proving they're undefeated.

All my hero characters get the Undefeated badge in AP right away, and wear it until they have their first death. Which I know is an honor system thing, not what you were talking about, but still amuses me. 🙂

[Solarverse]

On 2/28/2020 at 12:28 PM, Super Atom said:

So just do it?

 

You don't need the game to do it for you. Just make a guy and if you die delete him. Put up in your LFG "Hardcore only" or something and there you go.

It's never just that easy and I think you know it. It lacks the proper advertisement that an in game button upon character creation could provide. Even if he/she were to advertise on these forums or in game, it still would not garner the attention of enough people because psychologically, people are more drawn to something that is "official" rather than self imposed. This is why I never agree to people using, "just self impose it on yourself, problem solved" comments, it's simply unrealistic when it sounds great on paper, but in practice never works out the same way.

[Greycat]

*non serious* Nah. That's not hardcore.

You die, your character's over. Then it deletes your other characters and starts a noninterruptable removal of the game. Your account is deleted, and you can't install the game on that machine again. It slaps your SO, drinks your beer/whiskey/wine, and drives off with your dog in your pickup truck, leaving you just an old beat-up guitar for your troubles.

[Solarverse]

13 minutes ago, Greycat said:

*non serious* Nah. That's not hardcore.

You die, your character's over. Then it deletes your other characters and starts a noninterruptable removal of the game. Your account is deleted, and you can't install the game on that machine again. It slaps your SO, drinks your beer/whiskey/wine, and drives off with your dog in your pickup truck, leaving you just an old beat-up guitar for your troubles.

And leaves a sad country song playing on your stereo to boot as it drives away...right before you PC goes BOOM!

[Super Atom]

im so confused i don't even remember posting that enough to care to defend it. February feels like an actual life time ago man. I'd be cool with specific HC mode systems though, I think i was just off-handedly offering alternatives because it's unlikely HC will ever do that given their limited dev time as is.

[Dragon Crush]

2 minutes ago, Super Atom said:

February feels like an actual life time ago man

From my perspective it feels like every month of the past year has been at least 50 years, and few years before that each month was a decade. I hope time returns to normal sometime soon.

[Purrfekshawn]

More degrees of this stuff:

 

SuperHardcore mode - die once is gameover for all toons.
ExtraSuperHardcore mode - die once uninstalls the game and it can't be installed anymore.
MegaExtraSuperHardcore mode - die once breaks your PC.
OmegaExtraSuperHardcore mode - die once and GM's will hire a hitman that will kill you IRL.