I’m a bit of a masochist regarding stories and I like it when the author has no mercy. However, it has to make sense for the plot and it has to be well-written or it will backfire and break the immersion. So you’d have to ask yourself: where does this story go? Rather than how much the players can take. There will always be players for a good game, even if it’s rough.
1 Like
Depending on the story, but the death of any key characters always has to have some point and impact, and never should be “oh you messed up on your choice and now he dies”. It should serve as a important plot device that also “reward” player so that it’s not all despair, in the form of stat boost, plot advancement, epic moments , or more character development before they die. One way to soften the blow is to have the character willingly choose death after explaining his motivation with the main character.
1 Like
Frankly, it all depend on context.
A character death for me, must either be the culmination of the character ark (see Mordin in ME3) or actually important to the plot (the death of character X means something very important is lost, like a leader, or a key character for the story).
If is a romance option, I’d personally hate it if the death happen when there is no way to have another relationship. As a player, I’d feel punished to have choose said romance, no matter how well written. So if it had to be inavoidable, should happen quite early in the game, or not be a romance at all.
The best thing for me is having it avoidable, anyway. More replay value.
6 Likes
I love tragedy but I hate when it feels out of my hands; based on forum complaints about railroading, that’s a very common feeling.
I think that it’s cheap and tiresome if you force a failure. Make it feel like it’s my fault, but make it feel like I still have some level of control or power. A good example of this is Paradox factor, because in it you’re causing your own tragedies but there’s always the idea that something can be done to solve it, up until the player themself recognizes the inevitability. On the other hand, Ive been incredibly frustrated with some WIPs because it feels like they’re forcing you to mess up even when it doesn’t make sense (one WIP constantly only gave options based on your lowest stats).
I think as long as it feels like you have some sort of power or choice and that the game isn’t like “FEEL THE EMOTIONS I WANT YOU TO FEEL, DAMMIT 
” then it’s tolerable.
1 Like
The tone and context of the game should be reflective of the type of bad things that could happen in there.
If you have an RO or BFF die just to have them die and have “shock” and “edge” factor, then no, I don’t think most people would like that. The death of said character, whether a romance option or not, should have meaning of some kind.
Also, as some have mentioned before, since these are IF games, deaths should probably not be mandatory and somehow avoidable unless that death is the catalyst to start things. i.e. They killed my mother/father/grandma/favorite pet/etc., so now I’m going to start my hero journey and get revenge.
Here’s another thing worth considering with character deaths… just remember that, once you kill off a character, that cuts off their storyline. Any conflicts with them? Resolved! (Though a death might spawn new conflicts, or leave other conflicts unresolved, sure.) So just make sure to ask yourself whether you still have more you want to get out of a character before ending them.
And, sure, sometimes you’ll find that you’ve already gotten all the character development, drama, relationships, bonding, conflict, plot driving, etc. that you want, and you don’t need a character anymore—or that you’re going to get more out of the story by killing someone. The thing about asking the question is that sometime it’ll be yes, and sometimes no.
…Well, and in interactive fiction, a lot of times it can be a maybe, and you’ll have the best of both worlds, getting to write a branch with a death scene and a branch where you get more development out of a character 
it’s just a bit of extra effort, that’s all.
5 Likes
Choice of games does imply heavy choice of despair as well. So I’m going to put him through a nirvana of negativity, all for the greater good.
I find character deaths random, or otherwise to be an interesting dynamic to a story. Also if the death is unavoidable, seems to be more authentic. I mean there are some things that cannot be avoided. Even if you have knowledge about it subtly strewn in before it happens.
Though, I can see how that could be a mood killer for some. I think the “Red wedding” is a great example of a death that enraged me, and nearly made me give up on a story. I persevered through after that, but mainly to see those involved hopefully die!
As others have said though, it depends on the tone of the story. It would likely be out of place in a lighthearted adventure, or the like.
If on the other hand, the story puts characters in mortal danger frequently. There should be a death, or it can come across kinda lame imo.
The anime Bleach, which I really like. I also find kinda lame for that very reason. Main characters are constantly messed up to the point they should be dead, but they live. Where as the bad guys more often then not, die from considerably less trauma suffered.
It depends on the genre the author is shooting for.
If they are shooting for thriller, conventional wisdom is that the protagonist MUST be constantly put in danger, and each threat must get more serious. The stakes must keep going up! Hell, the protagonist should be pretty much abused, threatened, chased, attacked, etc., for most of the story. Or it’s not a thriller.
If they are shooting for horror, then take the abuse from thriller and ramp the intensity up like 10 times. If the protagonist and/or reader are not nervous, terrified, nauseated, repulsed, etc., I’m not sure how the author did their job. And it’s not a horror story.
Readers should know what kind of story they’re getting into, and the author should do their best to satisfy the readers’ expectations.
And I don’t think of “interactive fiction” as synonymous with “protagonist/reader controls everything that happens in the story.” I mean, a story can be designed that way, but it certainly isn’t mandatory.
5 Likes
I think it’s perfectly fine to make as much misery as you can if that’s your inclination. I would just say, make a certain set of choices for the MC’s to be able to succeed to preventing or circumventing said misery. Make it something we can fail at, or succeed at. An example of one I’m not a fan of (and maybe it’s just my lack of finding the right path) is in G.O.I. I try to romance Caz’s sister the whole game, but I can’t do it off my own merits, I have to basically do what she wants (or any love interest wants for that matter) in order to get that relationship. Makes my choices feel like they aren’t mine. Do what you want as a writer, but maybe put a tiny light at the end of the tunnel, like a .001% chance we can make all end well with our stats and choices.
1 Like
I mean it depends on what the “bad thing” is BUT I can take a few bad things as long as the ending is not bad.
I never enjoyed bad endings.