ArenaNet’s recent claim that death should be fun brings up a point about punishment in video games in general. Why do video games punish players for failing at the game? Would it not always be more fun to not be punished?

There is a long tradition of frustrating consequences for failure in video games, starting with the earliest adventure games, and continuing through the latest and greatest MMOs, but this tradition is not a constant. In every genre, we can see a downward trend in the use of punishment. Think of the games you played 20 or thirty years ago (or even 10 years ago, though the change is not as dramatic).

UPSLynx via gaming.icrontic.com »