Since a picture speaks a thousand words:
Dissolving particles are a very typical use case, 'energy particles' especially, but it can even be used for smoke and blood effects.
It's easy to tweak for artists and might eliminate having to set several variables by trail and error and it could even be used to look up alpha values.
Interesting! The sad thing is that no one would want to add it while the entire particle system is one severly outdated blob of code and not user friendly to begin with. When someone rewrites the system and the particle system description language, a feature like this could be considered though.
Responsible for: Arch Linux package & torrent distribution, Parpax (map), Chameleon (map texture editor), Sloth (material file generator), gameplay design & programming, artistic direction
