Having Perma-death as an option

@Jaskell - Welcome to the Forums

The way I read the OP it was to have Perma Death as an 'option' in the game.

 

Same here but some of what I'm reading seems to be around removing it altogether, rather than being an option.

 

No permadeath, no SoD - it really is that simple

 

B-b-but millenials!

 

I voted no. Permadeath is just to much of what makes sod unique. Now I wouldn't mind having an option to controll the damage zombies give in order to help increase your chances of staying alive.

 

If I had it my way, one bite meant death.

 

Well it would certainly make for a 'Harder' game

 

Now I could get behind an option like that. Skill and tactics would be invaluable in that case. The only real issue would be how many AI controlled characters would go to the boneyard due to running around a vehicle just to get in? There would be no more dude help, help please.

Thinking further, we would actually stop caring about characters and that drop in feature would become more of a hassle.

But it would be interesting.

 

I agree a 100%

 

The idea was not to take permadeath out completely, just be able to turn it off. I don't see anything wrong with this, as you could play it either way. People that don't like perma death could just turn it off. It wouldn't alienate any of the current fanbase because they would just play with it on (&most people would). Best of both worlds...

I kind of like the permadeath when you're actually using a character. What bugged me was starting up the game and finding that 2 or 3 of my characters would be dead, gravely injured, or gravely ill... every time I start up the game. It's a bummer when you try to level up all your characters and lose them randomly because you quit playing the game for awhile.

 

These things happen in YOSE because of the offline progression which has been eliminated in SOD2, so it will not be an issue moving forward.

 

I'm not voting. Why? because the answer is obvious. Of course it will open up the game to new players. A lot of gamers prefer to have respawns so YES it will open up the game to new players. But... Even though the majority of the votes would most likely lean towards "YES" doesn't mean that it would be good for the franchise. Permadeath is what makes SoD different, and I along with many people here wouldn't have it any other way. Voting Yes could create s false impression on the devs if it appears this is what we all want because we voted yes. It would open up the game to more players but it wouldn't be State Of Decay anymore, at least not the State Of Decay we all came to love.

 

Although technically, it'd cause no harm to the game to have the option to turn Permadeath off, I'd still like it to not be an option.
Even though I am gutting the game of a customizable element here (like the terrible consumer I am), I feel as if SoD should have Permadeath always on for it to remain to be a serious item in the Zombie Apocolypse genre.

State of Decay is not really that 'casual' game you are supposed to take lightly, it is very much a fantasy simulation of a Zombie Apocalypse, and tries its best to get that intention across through brutal visuals and mechanics (although, dialogue can be incredibly out-of-place at times.)
I don't think Undead Labs was trying to make an Arcade Game, and I think removing this very hardcore feature (or giving the option to do so) would lead to players not getting the full experience of what the Developers were trying to get across.

 

Me personally I think it could cause harm to SoD2 in terms of multiplayer. For example if I had my permadeath off and you had yours on, I could potentially join your game and troll you with little to no consequences on my end. I could intentionally draw in hordes and/or put us in dangerous situations just to grief you. Your deaths would be permanent while I would simply respawn. I would never do it though, but I know for a fact there are players in the multiplayer space who go out of their way to troll others.

 

Games with no consequences quickly lose their luster for me. SoD having death isn't such an impedement as to ruin the game, and characters level fast enough you can replace them with what feels like a very proper amount of effort. No death means there is no threat, which makes things boring. Half the fun of this game is just finding yourself in dumb situations that can get you killed, like the people who split up to find the killer, except in this case its usually because you ate all your twinkies and forgot to go get more.

 

Changing the SINGLE core aspect that makes us give it our fullest every time.

To a "meh" "he died. Let me load a save." No.... no no nopity nope nope no.

They will come here and will become part of the ULFF (undead labs forum family)

 

But... that is why it is "play with friends" not play with strangers.

 

I must admit that the idea of permadeath was not new to me when I started playing this game, so my tolerance for it (as others) had already been established by other experiences, so I may not represent the ideal "fresh player" in this conversation.

That said, if State of Decay did not have permadeath, it would be a different game entirely. What moral dilemma comes from saving somebody in the field if they can only reach an injured state? Why should I drop bags on the ground to jump into a zombie moshpit on my best friend?

I don't see any of that immersion happening if I can simply come back after screwing up.

 

I understand the reasoning in wanting to make it optional. I mean it won't affect the people who play with it on. I just feel like it could have an adverse effect on new players. If they got adjusted to playing without permadeath, why ever turn it on when you don't have to? You can't progress at something when you don't challenge yourself. If you played on the same difficulty in a certain game for years, you'd never get any better at it. Permadeath adds the challenge of consequence. It influences you to do things differently than you would have done otherwise. It opens up a whole new strategy and element to the game. I feel if you take that out, you not only ruin an awesome experience, but you don't force players to challenge themselves, which ultimately is worse in the long run. Rarely are people great at a game when they first play it. That's part of the whole experience, doing bad, making mistakes, getting better. That's the reward.

 

I still vote to keep it State Of Decay. Taking SoD in the no-permadeath direction feels like a Dead Rising game to me.