I have only perma-deathed one character.
I had a cute little Blood Elf warlock back in Warcraft. She was young, easily hurt, and had a desire for power... and this led her to making some very bad life choices. She ended up very badly fel-tainted, and spent a very long time teetering on the edge of becoming a fel-elf (those who remember Burning Crusade lore/content, these ran in two types: various Wretched, or elves that actually became demon-like). Her trying to stay herself was the core of her later storyline, and she had several brushes with falling to the demonic tainting in her body. When my desire to play the character further began to wane, I set it up to give her a slow decline into death, to give myself time to decide if I wanted to save her or not. In the end, she died; suicide by soul-sharding herself, in hopes that she wouldn't revive as a demon. I feel it was appropriate for the character, it was logical that she'd never get a 'happy ending', and I've never once regretted it.
None of any of the other characters I've played, I've felt a perma-death was appropriate. Put on long-term hiatus due to grievous wounds, retirement (I am currently a huge fan of Babies Ever After endings), and MIA situations, sure I've used all those. I've even done a sort of 'pass the torch' situations, where it's a sibling or child that steps in to take over for the character that's been retired.
I had a cute little Blood Elf warlock back in Warcraft. She was young, easily hurt, and had a desire for power... and this led her to making some very bad life choices. She ended up very badly fel-tainted, and spent a very long time teetering on the edge of becoming a fel-elf (those who remember Burning Crusade lore/content, these ran in two types: various Wretched, or elves that actually became demon-like). Her trying to stay herself was the core of her later storyline, and she had several brushes with falling to the demonic tainting in her body. When my desire to play the character further began to wane, I set it up to give her a slow decline into death, to give myself time to decide if I wanted to save her or not. In the end, she died; suicide by soul-sharding herself, in hopes that she wouldn't revive as a demon. I feel it was appropriate for the character, it was logical that she'd never get a 'happy ending', and I've never once regretted it.
None of any of the other characters I've played, I've felt a perma-death was appropriate. Put on long-term hiatus due to grievous wounds, retirement (I am currently a huge fan of Babies Ever After endings), and MIA situations, sure I've used all those. I've even done a sort of 'pass the torch' situations, where it's a sibling or child that steps in to take over for the character that's been retired.
