Why do people let themselves lose followers and pets in games?

[StaceyPowers]

So often, I see people on forums mentioning that so-and-so (one of their followers) died, or that they lost their horse and needed to replace it, etc. in various games.

My question is … how and why does this even happen in a lot of games?

In Skyrim for example, I cannot see any reason you would ever need to lose a follower. I save so frequently in that game because of its rampant glitches and bugs that I usually only lose a few minutes of progress if a follower dies and I need to reload a prior save.

And in RDR, people say they go through horses like crazy, but likewise, I never seem to have to go back very far to get a dead horse back.

Is it just that other people forget to save for hours on end? Or is it that they are attempting to raise the stakes/make the game feel more realistic by letting follower deaths be permanent?

[Executor Akamia]

Other than plotline deaths, most follower deaths are entirely preventable from what I can see, and in many cases aren't permanent in any capacity.

I do prefer when it's permanent, though. It's not so much that I "let" them die, though, so much that I was unable to save them in that moment. I got Cass killed in Fallout: New Vegas because I was in Hardcore mode and was under-equipped to finish her questline. I turned Hardcore mode on because it raises the realism a smidge, including allowing most, if not all, of the game's companions to die permanently.

See, it's not that I'm a heartless bastard who sends his companions on suicide missions, it's that, if the death is permanent, it makes me care about their well-being that much more. If the Arbiter gets taken out in Halo 3, it's no big deal to me; he'll get right back up a little later. If any of my allies in Fallout: New Vegas die, I actually feel that.

Immortal allies kind of brings out a certain level of complacency that doesn't happen when your allies can't walk away from attacks that should rightfully atomize them.

[killamch89]

My followers tend to be used as guinea pigs in Skyrim so I do tend to lose them at times🤣. For Instance, there are a couple of Dragons raising hell in Whiterun Plains - my game is, of course, modded so Dragons in my version of Skyrim are ridiculously hard to kill. I tend to bait the Dragon with an attack and while my Follower is out there fighting the Dragon I make a run for it especially in the early game.