jorb wrote:We have considered making it so that you are returned to your Hearth fire on knockout. This could make combat more accessible and forgiving, could allow for less paranoid player interaction, could allow for casual strolls outside your walls without complete fear of death, could remove alt farms to supply a steady stream of fresh cannon fodder, could make n00b ganking less of a thing, and could perhaps allround make the game less autistic and more fun. On the other hand the biting edge of cold hard pixel death could be dulled. Do note that you would still die as per usual if you actually managed to reach zero HHP.
If this does go through it should be disabled for people who are attacking a village/claim. Otherwise you get risk free raiding. Maybe you fall unconscious as normal if you're red handed or on a claim that you're actively trespassing on or besieging.
I'm not so sure it should apply to PvE knockouts, but definitely PvP ones. I also agree with most everyone saying equipment should drop. I don't think it will make n00b ganking happen less, it will probably promote more PvP to be honest, but it will be in a healthy way. Either way though this is probably the best immediate fix you can offer to retain new players, which is something that's very needed.