An alternative to Hardcore: the Death Jar ! /u/Alarming_Concept_542 Minecraft on reddit

My girlfriend and I like playing together, but we run into a problem: I (the much more experienced player) would prefer to play hardcore. The value of a long-lasting world is so much higher to me knowing the caution that goes into hardcore play. But my girlfriend, she will die much more frequently than me. I’m happy to just play with the rules that if I die, we reset the world, but not if she dies. However, she has complained that while I’m comfortable deleting a world and starting anew regardless of our time sunk into it, she doesn’t actually want her progress (builds, mainly) to disappear just because I’ve died. I still want a big punishment for dying.

Our compromise: the Death Jar. Like a swear jar, I have to put money into it every time I die. The catch? The amount I put in doubles after each death, starting with $5. First death was $5, second is $10, third is $20. This system is a lot of fun, gives us a way to save up for date nights pretty often, and is an amazing balance between no punishment for dying and hardcore. Something I like is that it’s more punishing the more you die, meaning you’re punished worse for how much more egregiously you’ve strayed from hardcore’s 1-death limit. My gf also puts in money when she dies, but hers is just a linear $1 increase each time. (She’s died 9 times, so she’s put in $45 total and will have to put in $10 next time she dies.)

This system could be fun with other punishments too; exercise comes to mind—turn a night on your server with friends into tomorrow’s workout requirements.

My girlfriend and I like playing together, but we run into a problem: I (the much more experienced player) would prefer to play hardcore. The value of a long-lasting world is so much higher to me knowing the caution that goes into hardcore play. But my girlfriend, she will die much more frequently than me. I’m happy to just play with the rules that if I die, we reset the world, but not if she dies. However, she has complained that while I’m comfortable deleting a world and starting anew regardless of our time sunk into it, she doesn’t actually want her progress (builds, mainly) to disappear just because I’ve died. I still want a big punishment for dying.

Our compromise: the Death Jar. Like a swear jar, I have to put money into it every time I die. The catch? The amount I put in doubles after each death, starting with $5. First death was $5, second is $10, third is $20. This system is a lot of fun, gives us a way to save up for date nights pretty often, and is an amazing balance between no punishment for dying and hardcore. Something I like is that it’s more punishing the more you die, meaning you’re punished worse for how much more egregiously you’ve strayed from hardcore’s 1-death limit. My gf also puts in money when she dies, but hers is just a linear $1 increase each time. (She’s died 9 times, so she’s put in $45 total and will have to put in $10 next time she dies.)

This system could be fun with other punishments too; exercise comes to mind—turn a night on your server with friends into tomorrow’s workout requirements.