Originally posted by Seytra
Death is something that should be avoided, and most definitely is not somthing to shrug off.

I think this should be one of the top 5 principles when designing a good RPG, in order to encourage RP and discourage power-gaming. Too many games give in to arguments of \"annoyance\" or \"inconvenience\" and they make death absolutely trivial. I loved Everquest, but I despised the death rules. With a large enough raid force you could kill anything by \"Zerging\". (For those who don\'t know, this is a cyclical process whereby a legion of clerics resurrect the dead raid members who then run head-long into the fight again. You could easily die 30 times over the course of fight. Where\'s the realism there?)

I concur with many of the ideas mentioned thus far:
1. Random spawn points in the DR
2. Reduced stats upon spawning in DR
3. Exiting the DR should be difficult and/or time consuming

I would also add the following idea:
Because any game has a learning curve, I feel there needs to be some compromise on the realism in regards to newbie death. In principle, I think the death penalties should be reduced for the newbies because some newbies will die a *lot* while they try to figure out the mechanics of the game.  I would suggest that newbies spawn in a static location right near the exit portal. As you gain more and more experience, your DR spawn points are placed further and further from an exit portal.