I bought Jade Empire the other day. I stopped playing it after about half an hour, I was dying in nearly every fight. I was dying because I didn't even realize that I was losing the fight. I guess if I had been looking at my life bar I would've realized how close to death I was or how little health I had remaining after the previous battle.
I didn't think I was losing the fight because, frankly, it didn't look like I was losing the fight. The bad guys were getting in a jab every now and then, but I was blasting them 20 feet through the air with a single punch. I was kicking their asses (right up to the point where I fell over dead).
Then it hit me, I've outgrown the life bar, I'm beyond it. Even looking at the stupid thing is beneath me.
If you stub your toe does your life bar reduce? How many stubbed toes, exactly, will kill you? It's ridiculous isn't it? And yet, that mechanic graces nearly every game that gets made. Why? I fear the answer is laziness.