Death In Games

The Klastrup article deals with the reality of death in video games. Without death in video games i honestly do not see how games would present the idea of a challenge, or even be very interesting. in the article Klastrup looks at the death in games through the game world of warcraft, this game is different in the fact that it presents the audience with options once the player has died. Personally i have never played the game World Of Warcraft, and after reading this article i don not think that i would be interested in playing it. I like playing a game that presents with me two options only, the feeling of accomplishment or the feeling of failure and want to work harder to beat the level. I think that WOW blurs the line because its not cut dry once you die.

Klastrup says in the text "If the players do not feel that they are overcoming obstacles then the game does not feel rewarding enough." Personally i agree with this statement. I do not see death as annoyance either. I believe that it is a vital part of the video game experience. It forces players to better themselves and strive to be a better player. If we took the act of dying out of games then most players would not be very good at there games because they would not have any motivation to get better to beat a certain level or stage. The act of death can also be seen as very rewarding, just imagine playing call of duty online without deaths. there would be no competition, no one would honestly be interested in playing.

Ultimately the act of dying in a video game is more than just death. It boils down to judging whether a player is good enough to continue to the next portion of the game, and also it prepares yo for harder events that will occur later in the game. If these punishments were not implicated in the game then a player would never go any further because as the game progresses on it only gets harder.

Question: Could you imagine playing video games without death punishments? Would games be as interesting?