So, I read this thread a while ago but haven't gotten to responding to it, so here we go.

I really have to wonder how many people at any point are going to retire one of their characters, especially if they haven't max'ed their level and been at the maximum level long enough for it to grow stale.

I'd also wonder if this would really serve the wants of that many players. I mean, of the people willing to retire a toon, how many specifically want it to continue the game as a zombie? Even if you expand the theme, so I can say my main 'retired' as a hero and rarely made a comeback, that prospect would be killed if they made the decision irreversible.

If you can't return a toon, can you retire more later? If you do, you're putting a potentially unlimited number of NPC's for the game to keep track of. If you don't, then that hero is what, simply gone forever? (Of course, you could also make it so your retired character can be brought back, possibly through doing some storyline or an in game fee, which would 'free' the spot up for another character to be retired. That way people aren’t shuffling the dead so to speak to get an unlimited number of server slots.)

But if it's irreversible, I really doubt many people would use the service at all. Especially since there is always the possibility of new end game content being released a year later in the game's life that they might want the character around for.

Not to mention if there is any need for (or want of) this, it would probably not be until several months after game launches, oif ever.

(And even among those who do retire, how many of them would specifically want their hero killed and brought back as a zombie?)

I'm still pretty sure these belong under ideas and suggestions and not player events.

J