But when the first persistent online world game along, all of these solutions had to be thrown out the window, and an entirely new approach to gaming death had to be thought out. It's still being thought on. Ask another gamer, and the answer will most likely be entirely different. Death, in virtual life just as in real life, is a touchy subject. But perhaps the most controversial aspect of it is whether or not death should be permanent .
Most games have some sort of built in resurrection function.
When a player's character dies, he either restarts somewhere in the gaming world, becomes a ghost, can be resurrected by a fellow player, or some other method. Most gamers are quick to point out the cons to this approach. As anyone who has ever played an online game can tell you, not every player out there is a good samaritan. Many, given half a chance, would be more than happy to kill you for no other reason than because they can. Yes, these are problems that may creep up, but a good design team ideally would be able to cope with these issues and insert measures to work around these issues.