I thought that was interesting as well. It seems like a fair comparison, and permanent death for a mass-market game in 1996 would have been a big non-starter.

I thought that was interesting as well. It seems like a fair comparison, and permanent death for a mass-market game in 1996 would have been a big non-starter. Coincidentally, I played Diablo II with a self-imposed permanent death rule several years ago. I made it to the... Desert, I think it was? and then got killed and never really got back into the game. It just wasn't designed for that.