I've just read that reviving players in PvP would cost soul gems to cast: http://www.elderscrollsonline.com/en/news/post/2013/10/07/ask-us-anything-variety-pack-8 I think this is a good mechanic because this means that reviving will come at a cost. This ends big boring battles where people just keep resurrecting their allies to join the fray, a problematic issue I found in Guild Wars 2 WvW. By putting a cost to reviving, it means armies would be forced to really strategize to win. Again, I'm having high hopes with the massive battle mechanics of ESO but it's still something we have to wait and see. What do you think, does requiring soul gems for revives helpful or is it just an annoyance?
Yes, this is an excellent mechanic. People can't just randomly die in PvP and expect something. It will make people think before going into PvP realms.
I much prefer when death has more penalty in MMOs because it adds to the thrill when you're playing, and you have to be more careful. I remember before the MMO genre got popular, in games where death was so awful!! Like in Lineage 2, where you lost like 1 month of farming when you got PVP killed. This made people very careful and supportive of each other.
I like the thought of death having a greater impact on the player. In MMOs I've played where you lose almost everything when you die, it causes you to be very cautious and approach situations as you would in real life instead of going all Leroy Jenkins on a situation. Depending how rare soul gems are, I think this is a good mechanic. Perhaps as a death penalty, you could lose all the soul gems that you are carrying on your person?
I think even fewer people will play healers. Given how many people expected mages to cast portals for them in WoW, without a tip or even paying for the reagent (in the old days when gold was valuable), I don't think many people will "pay back" the cost.
It's an interesting idea and we will have to see how it plays out. I like that they are trying to make sure people think about their actions a little and not just throw themselves into battle as a meatshield knowing they will respawn relatively easily.
