This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
It Is Impossible To Lose launched as DeathIsASlapOnTheWristDiscussion: From YKTTW
Working Title: It Is Impossible To Lose: From YKTTW
F Cannon:The Golden Sun, Dragon Quest, and especially Earthbound examples don't fit the trope at all. Having to start at the last town is too inconvenient to be a slap on the wrist; having to do so with additional penalties is straight up Continuing is Painful.
Ununnilium: I disagree that World Of Warcraft counts. The drawback was certainly annoying enough when I played. It's not as bad as some MMORPGs, but...
Coolnut: It depends. I also think it's annoying, but even with the penalty, weapons and armor still hold use until they drop to 0%. (About 8-10 environment deaths depending on game.) It's a borderline case - which is why I added a "this can be subverted" caveat.
Though in battlegrounds, death is at most a 30-second penalty, and in many cases, if you die, you are revived pretty quickly depending on the resurrection timer.
Jordan: Very different game format, but I was thinking about the Super Smash Bros. games- if you are highly damaged it is a good strategy to deliberate die and then come back with no damage against other players.
Nifboy: The proper response to that is to make self-destructs worth -2 points (assuming you're playing Time). Regarding Wo W, though, the walk back can take upwards of 15 minutes, or you can take a flat ten minutes of doing 1/4 normal damage), which is a fairly substantial forced downtime (especially when you die AGAIN).
