permadeath

Etymology

perma- + death

noun

1. (video games, slang) Permanent death, where the player cannot continue but is obliged to restart the game from the beginning.
   And yes, especially 'special' mobs coming back is a bit of a stretch. But then the players coming back is a stretch too, no? (yes, I know, many have implemented some form of permadeath). 1996-04-21, Jay Sax, “Re: Best features of a mud.”, in rec.games.mud.diku (Usenet), message-ID <ayudanteDq7xJB.9LG@netcom.com>
   If you are doing your job right designing a game, the newbie experience should be almost good enough that people don't care about permadeath any more then they would picking up a new novel. 2001-02-04, Rick Cortese, “Re: Permadeath Debate Today”, in rec.games.computer.ultima.series (Usenet), message-ID <t7s713pgas0b26@corp.supernews.com>
   I don't consider permadeath a reasonable solution for most virtual worlds. 2004-06-15, Lee Sheldon, Character Development and Storytelling for Games, page 401
   Permadeath is simply a way to encourage the playing of more than one game so they can try everything. 2007-01-12T13:03:25, Ray Dillinger, “Re: Roguelike developer diary”, in rec.games.roguelike.development (Usenet), message-ID <45a7f875$0$68978$742ec2ed@news.sonic.net>