Virtual PVP games with permadeath (or even progress permaloss) are relatively rare.
There’s currently no virtual PVP game that allows destruction of the game world, e.g. restarting and wiping a server triggered by an in-game event.
Some real-world PVP games (e.g. racing or MMA fighting) have their risks, but injury or death are relatively rare because these games are regulated. The percentage of the population willing to compete in such games is tiny. There must be unregulated PVP games with permadeath, but I’m struggling to imagine them taking place anywhere outside a Colombian prison—and I don’t think the participation there is fully voluntary.
A CEV implementer can set limits to human conflict. For example, status games, Red vs Blue, bickering and insults are OK, but hurting / killing each other or degrading / destroying the environment are not allowed or impossible. Or, players could simply set the limits of acceptable loss in real-world PVP—or even limit themselves to PVE-only. No doubt there would be ‘hardcore PVP characters’ of various extent, but I think they would be in a minority.
There must be unregulated PVP games with permadeath
They are usually called “war”.
Otherwise I vaguely remember something about Russians selling tickets for a “cruise” during the peak of Somalian piracy. The cruise was on a ship full of small arms (up to bazookas and HMGs, I think) with some special-ops instructors and it cruised off the Horn of Africa with the hope of generating a run-in with the pirates.
Doh. Yes. How could I miss that? War is team PVP with permadeath, but I think we can call it a ‘game’ only when participation is voluntary, where players join as mercenaries, professional soldiers or militia, not as unwilling conscripts.
Don’t forget that “war” is wider than an armed conflict between governments. We can speak of a gang war, for example, which is also PvP with permadeath.
Some assorted thoughts:
Virtual PVP games with permadeath (or even progress permaloss) are relatively rare.
There’s currently no virtual PVP game that allows destruction of the game world, e.g. restarting and wiping a server triggered by an in-game event.
Some real-world PVP games (e.g. racing or MMA fighting) have their risks, but injury or death are relatively rare because these games are regulated. The percentage of the population willing to compete in such games is tiny. There must be unregulated PVP games with permadeath, but I’m struggling to imagine them taking place anywhere outside a Colombian prison—and I don’t think the participation there is fully voluntary.
A CEV implementer can set limits to human conflict. For example, status games, Red vs Blue, bickering and insults are OK, but hurting / killing each other or degrading / destroying the environment are not allowed or impossible. Or, players could simply set the limits of acceptable loss in real-world PVP—or even limit themselves to PVE-only. No doubt there would be ‘hardcore PVP characters’ of various extent, but I think they would be in a minority.
They are usually called “war”.
Otherwise I vaguely remember something about Russians selling tickets for a “cruise” during the peak of Somalian piracy. The cruise was on a ship full of small arms (up to bazookas and HMGs, I think) with some special-ops instructors and it cruised off the Horn of Africa with the hope of generating a run-in with the pirates.
Doh. Yes. How could I miss that? War is team PVP with permadeath, but I think we can call it a ‘game’ only when participation is voluntary, where players join as mercenaries, professional soldiers or militia, not as unwilling conscripts.
Don’t forget that “war” is wider than an armed conflict between governments. We can speak of a gang war, for example, which is also PvP with permadeath.
Yes. Another example that comes to mind is conflict between rival groups of hardcore football / soccer ultras.
This reminds me quite a bit of The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect