It would be interesting to try, but I wouldn't want it to be mandatory. Keep it optional even if you opt for hardcoe mode and I'd have no problems with it.

I agree... But then again i have played mmo with perma death \o/.

Anyway it should be implemented (the option that is).

Only if it was optional of course. I would probably play it after i have already beaten the game a couple times before.

My concern would be if it were tied together with other "hardcoe mode" options that I really do want to experience in Skyrim.

Something like

Difficulty : Very easy / Easy / Normal / Hard / hardcoe
Permadeath [ ] (you can press here to enable it for any difficulty you can also remove it once in game but you should not be able to enable it again in that case)

Atleast thats my opinion.

This. If you don't want to play your character anymore, don't play him anymore.

If they do implement a hardcoe mode, then each feature should be an optional toggle. Thus, someone could play with all the medical stuff, gold has weight, whatever, but not turn on the need to eat or drink.

Indeed. Ultimately people are picky, and they will want to experience different aspects of a hardcoe mode. Having a variety of options players could turn on or off to tailor a particular experience would probably be best.

Options are the solution to everything these days, and why not, as they give both sides of the argument a chance to play the game how they want. I always say this in topics like these, but I'll say it again: I just think if Bethesda took all our 'Optional' suggestions, then we'd have this ridiculously long list, with arguments to options such as No Fast Travel, No Blood/Gore, No Spiders, hardcoe Mode and now PermaDeath cluttering it (these are some of the most discussed ones that have been brought forward, and believe me there's more). This is why I'm always skeptical to just settle for it as an option.
I like the idea of having consequences (loss of skills, items, etc.) to death, but certainly not permanent death. It'd be great to have that feel of intensity and having to actually think carefully and plan attacks or break-ins cautiously, without what would no doubt be the devastating loss of a save file. There are also too many flaws in the game that could cause you to die unfairly as other have said (such as bugs, stealing a fork accidentally, etc.).

Well that's really the risk with any game isn't it? Sometimes it can be unfair, but that doesn't mean an option such as permadeath should be cut because of what "could" happen. Ultimately, it's more about how the player is enjoying the game at the time, more so than actually dying that makes it worth it. The feeling of being that engaged with the game cannot be replicated with an infinite amount of saves.

They could do it like they did in Dead Space 2 where you can only save 3 times throughout the hardest difficulty, and when you beat it you get an awesome weapon of some sort!

That is an option. It would fix the issue of people having a problem of losing hundreds of hours of game play.

I think you guys have to take into account they are trying to remove game-breaking choices (or game ending, in this case) at the beginning of the game, so i highly doubt they'll give you this option, and why does it have to be an option? if you want to play like this then just delete all your saves and restart the game when your character dies. simples.

I say using a respawn type system...like in another town. You lose all your items though. Starting the whole thing over seems too drastic.

hmmm, a dragon could fly overhead while your fighting some bandits and do you all in cause you didnt see him till it was to late. Interesting idea, you would have to be pretty hardcoe to survive I would say.

Lolz, ^this^.

Some people these days just don't get it....

I voted yes but I have a slight modification to this idea. In Halo: Reach, you have an Iron "Skull" which you can turn on which will make it so that if you die you have to restart the entire mission instead of respawning at the last checkpoint. Skyrim could do something similar, but instead of restarting just one quest if you die, how about you go back say two hours of gameplay? And it could be explained in-game by say, a Daedra or Aedra saving you at the last moment. Oh, and you only get a limited number of saves. If you run out of "Divine" interventions, you are permanently dead.

Sounds interesting...

That just takes the one redeeming quality of permadeath (the realism), shoots it in the backyard, and leaves nothing but frustration.

Frustration, now an orphan, is taken in by his cruel aunt and uncle Tedious and Annoying and is forced to wash the floors with a toothbrush.

At the least, it would make for a memorable encounter, even if the player did not survive. Unscripted dragons would definitely lead to interesting and unpredictable situations, especially if the player only had one life.

This is how I play Morrowind and Oblivion (and other RPGs), so... yes.

I find it helps gameplay be even more challenging, immersive, and enjoyable. For my tastes - not trying to say it's for everyone. :no:

If you never save your game, its permadeath....so everyone has that option

Happy now? :cookie:

comparing the first witcher and oblivion......the witcher had far more content than oblivion did. ive done more than a couple of complete run throughs and you can complete vanilla oblivion in less than 20 hours easy. thats including the main quest, guild questlines and a whole bunch of side quests as well including the daedric shrine quests. you have to use mods to make the game take longer.

since areas in skyrim are off limits to low level characters vanilla skyrim shouldnt have that issue but the witcher 2 will probably be even bigger than the first one and the first one is huge.

So how are the perma-death folks going to feel when they've carefully made their way through 200 hours of a game, and then die as the result of a bug?

Does the perma-death ethic extend to NPCs, and specifically NPCs that die because of glitches? It seems to me that you shouldn't be able to reload a save from before an NPC dies if you're playing this way. I know it's not directly related, but it's a logical step.

Not trying to be a naysayer, and I could see how the challenge would be appealing, but I can't even imagine doing a glitch-free playthrough of a TES game. Only a few bugs ever result in death, but it only takes one.

Wow. Thread got huge.

I dont really understand drawing parallels with real-life and video-games or permadeath being immersion breaking. I cant shoot a fireball in real life or turn up to work in a robe (well....less said about that the better). I think adding this kind of depth would only do good for the evolution of CRPG's, adding the necessity to sleep, to eat, effects of actions and real consequences. Perhaps there could be a way to make it less brutal, say in case of the dreaded glitches that everyone mentions; for example you pass out and health slowly regenerates up to 10-12 HP, enemies think you dead and have gone some distance giving you time to run away.

I dont get why some people need to finish every fight and kill every hostile encounter. You can run away, its not shameful. Everyone plays the way they want though, I respect it.