Permanent death in online roleplaying games is a hotly debated subject these days, especially in light of new PvP games like Shadowbane. There are many players who feel that the thrill of such an eventuality for beloved characters would be a welcomed boon for the genre. Current games such as Ultima Online, and Everquest by contrast only impose moderate penalties upon death, and the character is always resurrected, free to roam again. The argument against these systems simply points out that death should have consequences, and that ultimately it is more rewarding to have a character who has survived great odds, rather than one whom is essentially immortal.

The problem, as any competent game designer knows, is that instituting a permanent death system in a realistic manner is a harsh exercise in futility. How frustrating would it be under such a system, if say you are close to defeating the god Cazic Thule in a plane's run, thereby elevating your renown and character to legendary status. When suddenly, like a hideous demon from beyond, your girlfriend's cat runs across the power outlet. Months of work and effort would be lost, not to mention the life of a dear pet.

So, the idea was basically dropped (a few MUD exceptions aside) a long time ago amongst developers, and the status quo has remained; with smaller penalties for death remaining the norm. However, designing games is one thing, playing them another altogether. Very quickly in the history of ORPGs, we start to see players reviving the old concept of permanent death, a concept I call the Death Match.

The Death Match, not to be confused with the Doom/Quake nomenclature, has its origins at the very start of online roleplaying games. The idea to begin with was simple, forget what the game mechanics tell you is possible, why not simply make the affair a matter of honor. Two or more fighters would challenge each other, and the fight should end in the permanent death and destruction of the losing team or player. Ideally, the losing party would voluntarily never play the character in question again, thus honoring the contract. Of course, as one can suspect, there were many instances of cheating and noncompliance... So much in fact, that it largely relegated the concept to obscurity.

Fast forward to Neverwinter Nights on AOL, an online game which was largely based on the old SSI goldbox code. Since the game featured a very balanced and tactical PvP engine, over time, a community was formed around this PvP competition. As in any game, there were always some individuals who had basically 'won' the game, and knew virtually every nuance of the engine. These players, having grown weary of the same old monotony of combat, begged the designers to implement permanent death. As a compromise, a special room or area was made for such PvP combat. The rules of which were simple:

1) Upon regular character death in this room, the character would be teleported to a tiny area which allowed no escape. Thereby in principle, ending that characters affairs in the game world. The victor on the other hand, would be allowed to exit back into the normal world.
2) A warning was issued before entering, describing the nature of the room.
3) An agreement requiring consent of both players, had to be entered before the fight began.