So I noticed often one problem that comes up with LitRPG is you either get hardcore games where the MC cannot die for the plot and as a result wins basicaly every fight. You also normal games where the MC can lose with not penalty and usualy stories like this arrange it so they die right while completeing something important so they gain stuff for deaths. An idea to fix this would be to have a PvE with no penaltys but a PvP whith huge penaltys for loss or the other way around
In the one I'm writing at the moment, I made the MC a healer and a buffer, as well as in the future giving him the ability to reincarnate for what are actually good reasons. Instead, it's his party that dies if he fucks up. No one expects the MC to die, especially not in the first book, but that doesn't mean you can't create emotional attachment to other characters and then murder them brutally when the MC makes a mistake.
That's actually a really good idea and I like that idea. I can get why the MC "can't die" in the sense of they have "endless lives" in the game or whatever (as most MMOs do). The idea of their actions having that effect and costing the lives of those not effectively immortal is actually a really good way to 'fix' that issue and add chances of loss and growth.
Add time dilation and a mandatory lockout period after a death. Like say, when you die you’re locked out for 6 real life hours, and if the game runs at 4x “clock speed” that’s a full day of game time. For hardcore players, losing a full “day” of game time while everyone else is free to continue on (including the antagonists!) is pretty harsh.
I think an important thing to note here is that if your character dies a low number of times in every book or you want them to fear death deaths shouldent just be an annoyance they should be something that negatively impacts the plot the loss of 8 hours on its own doesn't do that unless those 8 hours are effectively used which I dont see many LitRPG authors doing so while I dont think thats a bad idea I think it needs to be verry carefully done as it might just become another excuse to make the character progress which as it is a death it should not be PS. little bit of a rant I wrote about why i dont like the 8 hours thing The issue with that is simple when you do something like that theres no tangible inherent loss lets say the MC dies so what sure they technically lost time but its a book best case scenario you get a few chapters about them being IRL worst case a you get a few sentances describeing the wait and then some annoying exposition on what important events the MC missed yet despite needing to be there for every other thing in the book these events somehow dont need his UNIQE take on things.
Or you can skip the 8 hours and get straight to consequences. Return to something unexpected. The hero was going to stop the mega uber ultimate bad guy, instead, he returns to a sky on fire, etc.
If death is just a speed bump, which is what it is in most MMO games, then what is needed is to put other things at risk. Blow a quest that isn't repeatable, lose an NPC or treasure that isn't replaceable. Loss of levels and items is always good. We're kind of conditioned to think of death as the ultimate penalty for failure, which in the Real it generally is, however, in an MMO it's really needed to get a bit more creative to come up with consequences to ratchet up the story tension. There needs to be stakes and consequences for failure that affect the story, but also, really needs to be something that an average person will accept as consequences. Some of that is showing it to the average person what the stakes are, then convince them as to why it matters.