As the Realm is more than a game to many people, but an alternate community which becomes very real in their lives, it is important that the area of death and memorials be included. It is, of course, fraught with danger. People could create characters, play them a while then announce their "RL deaths" in order to be included in a memorial. So this will have to be carefully watched (but the idea must not be ruled out because someone might abuse it). Last year I was running a home page for an IRC channel and someone came on IRC to announce that a much-loved member of the channel had died in a car accident. There was a huge outpooring of grief and I made up a tribute page.... Which was greatly appreciated by the person who was actually away on holidays and unaware of the hoax. (I am not saying THIS sad episode is a hoax, I am sure it is tragically genuine, I am merely pointing out that such things could be possible and we need to look out for them and be prepared.) On another note, I like the idea of a memorial board but have a couple of other suggestions as well. In some parts of Australia we have memorial groves where trees, usually Oaks, carry a plaque with the name of soldiers killed in wars. Such groves are nice, quiet places to rest and reflect. Parks also have memorial seats, fountains etc.
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