When do you leave your user behind?
Every so often, a gamer will say "Hey, my character died. Why should I get a free pass to restart?" In the world of video games, death penalties have lessened as games get longer, more complex, and the systems themselves more capable. Where originally games were simple, could be beaten in one sitting, and the systems couldn't save any data (after all, it worked for arcades), we were then treated to cartridges with battery backups or password-based save systems. These progressed to memory cards you could plug in and swap between systems. Intervals for saving have also grown shorter and shorter – initially, you had to complete a level. Then, it was at 2 or 3 checkpoints in a level. Now, it's whenever you want, plus an autosave system whenever you accomplish something. You don't even NEED lives - you just restart from the last place to run headlong into the alien hordes again.
Then again - a modern game may take a few days of heavy playtime to defeat, or in the case of an MMO like World of Warcraft or Everquest, you NEVER defeat the game, and death always lurks around the corner. Should you looks days, weeks, or YEARS of work because of an unluckly break?
But even for short games, we have our hands held so that we can see everything, do everything, and there's no risk of us not seeing the end, eventually.
