Without death, would "life" be the same?

In Lisbeth Klastrup's chapter "What makes World of Warcraft a World? A Note on Death and Dying," the author explores the function of death in the World of Warcraft as they apply to the narratives experienced by its players. The author concludes that death in videogames is much like death in real life in that it can "galvanize or corrode social systems and ... stimulate or neutralize the social participation of their members" (p.163). In other words, death is viewed by the gamers as a vital part of the game as it acts as a motivation, in a sense, to play the game properly. At the same time, it can also be viewed as a nuisance by the same gamers depending on the context of the death or even what the gamer expects out of the play experience (as related by the text to group play and solo play).

Despite the potential for dissatisfaction in the gaming community, game developers have learned that the inclusion of a death penalty for "not watching out for one's character of for playing imprudently" is necessary in order to properly educate the gamers as to how to play while maintaining some level of social control (p.145). The challenge comes as these developers attempt to find the proper balance between making the death penalty harsh enough to exert some influence and sense of challenge into the play experience meanwhile avoiding scaring away those same gamers early on in the play experience (p.146). In other words, without penalizing players for playing too aggressively or for pursuing goals far beyond their capabilities, the game developers feel that these players would not experience the game as intended. Moreover, they would not be able to immerse themselves in the singular narrative that is meant to be shared by all players of the game. Thusly, game developers, or at least those of Blizzard, have put an enormous amount of detail into constructing death, making it an intrinsic part of the gameworld experience that the players must account for in experiencing the game to its fullest (p.162).

Ultimately, death as designed in the World of Warcraft acts not only as a deterrent- for "noobish" behavior or for acting outside of the "norm"- but as a crucial part of the narrative experience as constructed by its players. It is this death penalty that forces players to interact with one another in order to insure against having to deal with such "inconveniences" upon going on a raid in hopes of being on the receiving end of artifact level item drops. It is this death penalty that forces players to experience the game's primary narrative somewhat similarly to the masses as intended by the developers. It is also this same death penalty that many players commonly exploit or call upon themselves in order to experience the game more thoroughly whether as required by the game's objectives- refer to page 156 ("the precious blue weapon")- or by the individual's personal understanding of the game- as was the case for the new member of the Alliance on page 158.

How do you think death in your favorite games, or even a game's penalties for acting "imprudently" have shaped your gaming experiences? Do the consequences of failure commonly dictate how you enjoy games?