TOPIC: No Death Door Potion?!?!?!?

Yeah - it's NO FUN being the room 7 DM and seeing most of the parties come in with 8 people still alive!<br />I want to see you people start EARNING your XP!<br /><br /><br /> :angel4:

As a room 6 DM I was surprised by how few people had died before my room.<br />

I'd imagine the high survival rates helped Jeff make the decision to cut back on healing & resurrection tokens.  I remember how cool those first couple years were, with high mortality rates.  One year only two of us made it to the final room, and we really felt proud of that accomplishment! 

There is no need to use a Death's Door potion.  If you can't roleplay yourself back from the dead then you just aren't trying hard enough!

<br />As a room 6 DM I was surprised by how few people had died before my room.<br /><br />

<br /><br />Yeah, I actually had a TPK in room 6 last year.  I would say 40% of the people who came into room 6 had at least one person dead.  2008 was an easy year.

I think a one year hiatus is OK.  Thin out the supply.  But to move back to a UR, I don't think so.  I'd like to get away from the whole concept of expendable URs.  With the PYP program, (from what I read here on the forums) sales have really increased.  I'm one of those, but I strongly resist buying something that is going away.  <br /><br />I know that the TD veterans think we newer players have it easy, but at the same time demographics are changing.  It's too easy to turn people off by making decisions that kill the fun.  <br /><br />My first year playing (2006) I was killed and resurrected with a death's door.  I was very appreciative of it, and have provided my teams with them since.  One other player (that year) wasn't as lucky and I could see on their face that they were not as engaged in the experience as they were (when they were alive).  I don't believe they played since.  This is what we need to guard against.

I don't believe they played since.  This is what we need to guard against.<br />

<br /><br />Umm, why?<br /><br />Did this person buy tokens? If not, they were just replaceable dead weight anyway. There's way more demand for tickets than there are available tickets. If this person you know didn't even buy tokens to try to survive back when a pot of DD was available, then he doesn't seem like a real loss to the revenue stream. What's more worrying is those who would buy tokens and without the pot of DD get gronked  in room 2 or something.

Like I have said in the past, it is a delicate balance on which a DM's game hangs.  Make it too hard...and it sucks...make it too easy...and the players get bored.  DM's have a tough job -- and players always seem to want things easier.  It is one of the crazy parts of the whole D&D game dynamic.<br /><br />I guess I have let TD get easier over the years because of the increased prices.  It is tough to be hardcore when someone that plunks down $38 for a ticket.  So we have adopted the ghost rule and made the rooms a wee bit easier.  To counter-balance that I think we need to cut back on the "resurrection" magic to keep TD fun.<br /><br />I recently played a TD-type game with a Sci-Fi theme, and it was really like a walk-through theater.  I don't want TD to become that.<br /><br /> 

<br />...If not, they were just replaceable dead weight anyway. <br />

<br /><br />Yes, but if they have the ears of other people who may be interested in playing TD who would be prone to purchasing tokens, they're not so much dead weight.<br /><br />I know, because I had a friend who was very much opposed to TD because of a similar experience, and they almost persuaded me not to play at all.  Which would have left TD without the $1750+ (yes, I know that's not nearly as much as some people spend on tokens around here) in revenue that I alone brought to the table.  In turn I've persuaded some of the other people in my social circle to spend at least that much on tokens as well.<br /><br />So... yeah, not as replacable as you may think.

I think Jeff has it right - the balance is delicate and easily upended. You have to maintain the fear of death to keep the challenge. If everyone knows they can just pop a death's door, there is some loss of the challenge. On the other hand, if people feel like death is inevitable or even likely, you WILL lose players and some of those players may be budding big spenders. JimC is right too, and although the ghost idea is a good one, people disconnect to some degree when their character is dead, and that's not good either. I saw that in 2007, where 3 people died from the medusa and we had to decide which one to resurrect. The other two were cool about it but of course were disappointed. Rightfully so. I think the bottom line is that this balance may never be perfect, and the fear and possibility of death must be maintained, but players should also feel like they have a good chance of survival if they are smart, careful and just a little bit lucky. Maintaining this is easier said than done perhaps. It might also be worth noting that this issue will be accentuated in differences between beginners and experienced people by power creep.

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<br />...If not, they were just replaceable dead weight anyway. <br />

<br />So... yeah, not as replacable as you may think.<br />

<br /><br />No, just as replaceable since the person who gets their ticket might be a millionaire who then buys 500,000 worth of tokens a year. <br /><br />What it comes down to is that if they don't even get to play in the event, likely token purchases are minimal. So if we have someone who doesn't purchase yet gets tickets every year, it wouldn't be a bad thing to cycle new people in, your anecdote notwithstanding.