Characters should KO, not die [poll added]

[Sub-Human]

I think it'll add a certain feel of realism. Like, I lose that 'roleplaying' idea when I reload every time I die, because I now already have an idea of what to expect... Instead, players should be knocked out, like in the original. What do you pals think?

[RamonSterns]

They could have regenerating lives that tone down with difficulty or optional setting of some sort.

For example, your companions could have X amount of lives before they die and require Y amount of time to regenerate them.

[Sub-Human]

They could have regenerating lives that tone down with difficulty or optional setting of some sort.

Oh, not that. Regenerating lives is one of the mainstream things that many developers feel the need to do when in fact - in my opinion - it absolutely ruins the game.

[Jasede]

It should just be the same as it was. Various degrees of unconsciousness which are as a good as death, no regeneration and permanent death if you fail to heal someone.

[Shaewaros]

I'd prefer NPCs to die instead of just going unconscious and regaining consciousness after the battle. That was one of the aspects that I hated about DA:O - I wanted to be able to use a raise dead spell instead of just waiting a couple of seconds for them to have max health again. Of course most people load the game if one of their companions die, but I've played games like Jagged Alliance and Baldur's Gate with the exact intention that I will not load the game even if someone in my party dies permanently. Suddenly I began using "useless" equipment like a mine detector quite a lot. It adds a whole new layer of depth to the game.

[IDDQD]

oh geesh, part of what makes a great rpg great is that it's possible to have a party person die on you. some live and some die and get replaced. I didn't like how Skyrim made certain npc invincible because they were needed for quests. But that's part of the fun of it. Maybe you kill that store clerk and miss out on a latter quest. Or maybe killing them opens up a new option. Maybe having a party member die allows to get another one to join latter on and they can open up options.

besides, if you really needed you could just restore from a save point.

[alexandergr]

I also prefer various states, depending on who kicked you. Gothic had a nice system where your character and the NPCs were knocked down or dead depending on the encounter. And you could finish off a knocked down character if you wanted.

[Aradael]

The original way death was handled in Wasteland is fine. Unconscious, Serious, Critical, Mortal, Dead. If you can't/don't heal teammates before they die then that's on you.

[RamonSterns]

The original way death was handled in Wasteland is fine. Unconscious, Serious, Critical, Mortal, Dead. If you can't/don't heal teammates before they die then that's on you.

Yeah, this is fine too.

[Lucius]

It should just be the same as it was. Various degrees of unconsciousness which are as a good as death, no regeneration and permanent death if you fail to heal someone.

This

[Tanglebones]

The original way death was handled in Wasteland is fine. Unconscious, Serious, Critical, Mortal, Dead. If you can't/don't heal teammates before they die then that's on you.

Yeah. This was quite well done in the original. It avoided the unfortunate aspects of being instagibbed (and reloading and losing that immersion), but at the same time, progessing toward death felt more serious than, for example, your characters getting knocked out in Dragon Age: Origins does.

I'd like to see unconcious to dead characters take up space in the inventory too... since someone's got to be carrying them if you're gonna move.

[Jack Dandy]

How would characters only getting KOd be more realistic?

[Sub-Human]

Well, I did forget to mention the various states of wounds too. What I'm talking about is, a player (not NPC) gets incacipated when he reaches 0 health, rather than dies. Then the wounds come into place if the PC got hit critically.

[geezer]

Perma-death please. There should be some penalty for dying. You should have to reload from a previous save or start the game over. That's one thing I found ridiculous with the followers in FONV. Veronica could have been stung by a whole swarm of giant cazadores and she just goes unconscious and wakes up a bit later. It removes a lot of the challenge of combat. It is unfortunate that the first Wasteland had this game mechanic, but I do think it is an awful one. If the death = unconscious thing has to be in then I hope there will be a perma-death option as well.

[skuphundaku]

Quite the contrary: characters should be able to die and the player shold be constantly kept on his toes by this fact. Depending on how the characters get attacked, there may be various levels of incapacitation, staring from bleeding that needs to be stopped otherwise it would lead to dying from blood loss, unconsciousness from which they could be brought back after the fight is done, coma from which they could recover much more difficultly with the help of a medic and death. But if the character gets critically hit in the head with a bullet, he should die instantly, no buts, no second chances. The serious injuries should also take time to heal, like in Jagged Alliance 2. Just patching up an injury shouldn't bring back a party member to full health, it should just stop him/her from dying from that injury.

[Gabriel77Dan]

I think characters should be able to die if taken enough damage.
At first they should be knocked down though and be KO'd for the rest of the combat sequence.
After the combat sequence, depending on how much health they have left, they either get up on their own or need medical treatment, if you don't heal said character in time his/her health will run out and he/she will permanently die.

Best carry some healing equipment with you, if you don't, well, then it's your own fault if a party member bleeds to death.

[Tel Prydain]

Pffft. If a cyborg tears a team mate in half, that should be the end of them.

[Hedini]

The original way death was handled in Wasteland is fine. Unconscious, Serious, Critical, Mortal, Dead. If you can't/don't heal teammates before they die then that's on you.

FULL ACK on this one.
I want my characters to be able to die if I make stupid decisions (like not healing them early enough).

Regenerating force fields are for sissies.

[Quarex]

Seriously, Wasteland is one of the only games to ever figure out a good balance between the pervasive modern "party member is just knocked out for a few seconds, no biggie!" and the retro "zero hit points is dead, sorry," and you want to change it?

The original system was great. If Thrasher goes down hard, he is not getting back up unless you have someone skilled enough to fix him. Nobody skilled enough? Better hope an NPC medic is close!

[ffordesoon]

The original way death was handled in Wasteland is fine. Unconscious, Serious, Critical, Mortal, Dead. If you can't/don't heal teammates before they die then that's on you.

Completely agree.