Goblin Squad Member
|
Might be a bit morbit to discuss, but this is the indusrty I work in. Without going into detail, death happens. It will come to us all eventually. If possible, I think it would be an important event to include if legally allowed.
When players die in game, they are eventually ressurected and return to the game. When players either stop playing or close their accounts, they just stopp logging all of a sudden, and only occasionally post on the forums again to tell their fellow players why they stopped playing and maybe what happened.
If a player dies in real life, like what happened to a player in EVE, I think it would be appropriate to honor that players's characters in game with a funeral service (if legally allowed in the Terms of Acceptance). It is a sad reality, but would give player characters a chance to pause and reflect, and would allow a memorial cemetary or graveyard in game. It would also give that player's guildmates or fellow settlers the opportunity to throw a fitting funeral wake and contribute to an appropriately extravagant or memorable tombstone. It would also provide an amazing level or realism to the ingame cemetary. Players could gather at events and look at the tombstones and tell the stories of adventure and heroism about that time they went with so-and-so to slay the dragon, fight the battle, win a drinking game or whatever the decedent's famous deed was.
Let us plan to remember our fellow adventurers!
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Might be a bit morbit to discuss, but this is the indusrty I work in.
You work for Tony?
I think the idea of having some kind of cosmetic memorial that can be placed by players is a good one, although since you won't actually be able to walk around inside settlements for a long time after launch, I'm not sure where you would put them. Anywhere? Who would get to place new stuff in it? What happens if the hex gets taken over by someone who forbids all trespassing? Do these things matter to you, or is it merely the act of placing it somewhere - anywhere - in the first place that's important?
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
I don't mean to be rude, but is there a question or suggestion here? We as players are allowed to create any kind of event we like within the ToS and EULA, so yes, there will no doubt be funerals for RL deaths. What more is there to discuss?
I guess the issue is, how will you know? The information has to be released from the staff member(s) maintaining the active account roster. And then will have to be notified of an account holders death. And then the company will need to somehow notify the player base certain characters in game have died.
It will otherwise never be known that these players are gone, never to return. Could be major game changing events when characters in strategic positions stop functioning in the game world. They should be honored by both friends and enemies with an appropriate funeral service and proper period of mourning before the next war breaks out.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Actually, when I die I'd like one of my kids to be able to inherit my characters.
No idea whether GW would be open to that. We would have to have some way to register heirs.
Just include in your will information concerning who gets the account and all the applicable Email and account passwords...
GW doesn't have to be involved.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
I highly doubt the ToS would ever oppose things like funerals. GW has made it clear they don't intend to have any intention of making any rules of say no talking of OOC events etc... and even if they did, I wouldn't imagine them not making exceptions. Just judging by how much the development team is keeping it's ears to the community, I would imagine the dev's being first in line to participate in a funeral of a player.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Serenity Now wow funeral is all I can think of when I see this thread.
Serenity Now were the cowboys who crashed the funeral, not the Indians holding it.
In-game relationships that become significant will tend to migrate out of game. If a player has been around long enough, they probably will have shared a Facebook profile with friends, and that's become a way of letting online friends know when someone dies unexpectedly. What players decide to do from there will be up to them.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
On an open PVP server?
Better have them in a safe zone...
;
Admitted in games like WoW, where community ties are minimal and things revolve to mindless ganking, I do remember hearing of an incident with a raid attacking a funeral there.
On the other hand, in Eve, Vilerat's death lead to a huge game-wide events, if I recall pretty huge things were constructed, with no sabotage attempts. I would say it depends on how the community forms, but if groups as a whole have general levels of respect, I don't honestly see much of a probability of a problem.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
I guess the issue is, how will you know? The information has to be released from the staff member(s) maintaining the active account roster. And then will have to be notified of an account holders death. And then the company will need to somehow notify the player base certain characters in game have died.
Ah I misunderstood your original post. I thought that you were referring to the deaths of people you knew in RL who played the game, and were talking about player-organized services/memorials.
I am absolutely against GW giving out this kind of information about their (former) player to other players on their own initiative, as a matter of principle. Besides, how would GW know? All they would (should) know is that one day the credit card stops accepting charges, or simply the player never logs in again.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Serenity Now wow funeral is all I can think of when I see this thread.
You do have to put huge emphasis on how WoW raised it's community though. Mindless meaningless PVP was the emphasis of WoW, and respect and communication between sides was minimized by design. Horde and alliance flat out could never work together, or even speak together in game. There is no benefit to fighting honorably or fairly in WoW PVP servers, because it cannot come back around by definition. The language barriers and such basically train the 2 sides to see eachother as NPCs. Even then, WoW is one instance of an event in which such happened, there was obviously no news coverage of the thousands of funerals that went by without incident weren't newsworthy on larger
Hundreds of in game funerals have taken place, in games with PVP always on. There's always one example of people taking something good, and throwing it into chaos. In real life a very small percentage of funerals have had shootings, insensitive protestors etc... as well. That does not make funerals as a whole a bad idea.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Whether or not a cemetary will be available will have to be up to the devs. Depending on how much freedom the players have they may be able to create their own.
In a world where it is possible for corpses to become someone's animated minions, I'd expect many bodies to be disposed of via cremation.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Ah I misunderstood your original post. I thought that you were referring to the deaths of people you knew in RL who played the game, and were talking about player-organized services/memorials.
What I really meant was if real life people who play the game, die in real life, their character would no longer be playable. The news of their death would have to be released to other players through some channel preapproved by Goblinworks and player. This release of info would have to be part of the Terms of Service agreed to by the players upon enrolling. That way if Goblinworks were notified of the death of a RL player they may, upon receipt of whatever evidence they required, notify some parties in game so an in-game remembrance may be conducted.
Or not, it this were to cause too much heartburn or too many legal problems.
Goblinworks Executive Founder
|
Serenity Now wow funeral is all I can think of when I see this thread.Serenity Now were the cowboys who crashed the funeral, not the Indians holding it.
Indeed, you are correct. I did not mean to imply otherwise, but was typing while driving (atrocious, I know) and was trying to be brief.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Ah I misunderstood your original post. I thought that you were referring to the deaths of people you knew in RL who played the game, and were talking about player-organized services/memorials.
What I really meant was if real life people who play the game, die in real life, their character would no longer be playable. The news of their death would have to be released to other players through some channel preapproved by Goblinworks and player. This release of info would have to be part of the Terms of Service agreed to by the players upon enrolling. That way if Goblinworks were notified of the death of a RL player they may, upon receipt of whatever evidence they required, notify some parties in game so an in-game remembrance may be conducted.
Or not, it this were to cause too much heartburn or too many legal problems.
If the player specifically requests it ahead of time through some kind of opt-in agreement (equivalent to an "organ donor card"), then I think that's fine - although that doesn't solve the problem of how GW actually finds out.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
@tuoweit
typicall things like this are handled through whoever is the executor of the estate. They would simply provide proof (death certificate). This is often done to the various companies in order to stop billing and such.
So the the estate would provide GW with a death certificate so that GW cancels the account and stops billing the dead person.
On an open PVP server?
Better have them in a safe zone...;
Admitted in games like WoW, where community ties are minimal and things revolve to mindless ganking, I do remember hearing of an incident with a raid attacking a funeral there.
On the other hand, in Eve, Vilerat's death lead to a huge game-wide events, if I recall pretty huge things were constructed, with no sabotage attempts. I would say it depends on how the community forms, but if groups as a whole have general levels of respect, I don't honestly see much of a probability of a problem.
I think the suggestion by the OP is a valid one. If it is possible to incorporate an "electronic legacy" via monument and tooltip for a player that was invested personally, what would it take to obtain that in the permanent cities of the game?
I do remember a great deal of grieving over Vilerat's untimely death in Libya. My personal enthusiasm for EvE has waned substantially since then.
|
Goblin Squad Member
|
Indeed, you are correct. I did not mean to imply otherwise, but was typing while driving (atrocious, I know) and was trying to be brief.Serenity Now wow funeral is all I can think of when I see this thread.Serenity Now were the cowboys who crashed the funeral, not the Indians holding it.
If you were texting while driving you are clearly trying to be the first test case for this topic.
