I absolutely agree with you and Naomi. I feel that for meaningful roleplay (and, generally, for a more intense and thought-provoking experience) death has to matter.
Mind you, I do take more risks with a character than I would if it were, say, me, because we're telling a story and it can be hard to do that if every time danger reared its ugly head, I went home and shut the curtains. But I still try to be true and consistent with the character.
As an aside, I have occasionally played a character for whom death is a particular issue - for example, some years back I played a fixer (in Cyberpunk) who was dying, and took pills for the pain. This affected her nature, priorities, how she interacted with other people, etc - and without her ever telling the other characters. It was none of their business. I still value her very highly.
no subject
Mind you, I do take more risks with a character than I would if it were, say, me, because we're telling a story and it can be hard to do that if every time danger reared its ugly head, I went home and shut the curtains. But I still try to be true and consistent with the character.
As an aside, I have occasionally played a character for whom death is a particular issue - for example, some years back I played a fixer (in Cyberpunk) who was dying, and took pills for the pain. This affected her nature, priorities, how she interacted with other people, etc - and without her ever telling the other characters. It was none of their business. I still value her very highly.