Introduction
For a long time I've thought that the death penalty is kind of lame as it's not really a huge deal to lose all your XP/SK as you can just go get reclaim and do a daily or an inf mish and DING DING two levels instead of a single one.
So what is being proposed here is a change into the death penalty system. With this early concept of a hopefully better and somewhat more penalizing death penalty system I have tried also to take into consideration the fact that the system should not punish new players too much as new players usually end up dying more often than seasoned ones due to a lack of knowledge and skill. It would also be preferable if new players stayed and played more due to the lack of population.
How it works
The new system would have an advancing death penalty where when the player dies a set amount of times in a row during a set period of time they get an XP gain debuff that lasts for a while. The debuff would also double should the player die again for the set amount of times.
The set amount of deaths could for instance be 2+2 where the player has to die twice to get the first stage of the debuff and twice again for the doubled, second stage. Or the amount deaths could vary depending on the player's title level.
The set amount of time for the death window (the time where if you die again you get the irst stage or the second stage) could for instance be from 30 minutes to an hour. The time for the debuff itself could be from an hour to two as it being too long would not be too nice. These two times could again vary depending on the player's title level.
Also PVP MUST NOT trigger this since this penalty system has nothing to do with PVP.
Here is an example of it in action:
Player Leetkiller69 dings 100
Player Leetkiller69 heads to Crypt of Home since he's above the levels of most of the mobs there.
Player Leetkiller69 kills a bunch of things but ultimately gets overwhelmed by the kizzermoles.
Player Leetkiller69 gets a red "debuff" into his NCU warning him that if he dies again in a short time he will be penalized more than just losing all his previously accumulated XP for the level.
Player Leetkiller69 reads this and in spite of that tries to take on the dungeon again.
Player Leetkiller69 doesn't fare much better against the kizzermoles this time either.
Player Leetkiller69 receives a 10% XP debuff that lasts for a while due to dying twice in a row in a short period of time and also receives another warning that should he die twice again the debuff would double.
Player Leetkiller69 decides that a 10% XP debuff is enough for him and decides to go make his char better via leveling or imps before trying again.
One crucial thing here is that the XP gain debuff does not prevent the player from doing anything. The player can still level as normal though at a slower pace and if the player happaned to be 220, it wouldn't prevent raiding either.
The system also works on any player that isn't 220/30/70 as it would also slow down the accumulation of AXP and research.
This system in an early concept of how the death penalty could be improved in AO and in no way final as it should really be a community accomplishment as changing something so rooted in as the death penalty system needs the veteran community to be in agreement over this since we especially do not want any veterans leaving as one veteran could equal to 2-5 paid accounts or more. Constructive feedback is appreciated.
Here is how it could work depending on the player's title level.
Levels 1-99 (Title levels 1-3)
There shouldn't be any changes made here due to the reasons stated in the introduction.
Levels 100-149 (Title level 4)
Here is where the new system should start at. At this point new players should be familiar with the systems of AO, know the consequences of dying well and also be prepared to die.
The debuff would start at 10% and double to 20% should the player die again for the set amount of times.
Levels 150-189 (Title level 5)
Here the debuff would be the same as Title level 4 except with 20% and 40% XP debuffs
Levels 190-204 (Title level 6)
Same here again but with 25% and 50% debuffs.
Levels 205-220 (Title level 7)
This time with 30% and 60% XP debuffs.