I think this is an excelent suggestion and should be implemented as it has become a graphical option standard in many games, the option even exists in some of my oldest video games, and I've played a LOT of games.
First off, I wont say the reasons for not having this idea are bad, because they all have a possibility of happening and ruining gameplay, but I think many of you are missing the main point of this suggestion. The number of bodies displayed on your screen at once are chosen by YOU.
If you have so many bodies lying around that you can't pick items up. . .
If corpses are piling up and creating an ugly mess because they dont collide with each other. . .
If they block your view when you try and go prone. . .
If they slow your machine down to a labored chug. . .
Or if you just plain dont want bodies laying around longer than they do now. . .
Then YOU need to turn the option DOWN or OFF. It's your personal choice.
But those of us who want a few more bodies, or just want them to last a little longer, we can turn the option up a little, or we can turn it up a lot, it's our choice. And it's no different than when we set our textures to medium or high, or set our shadows to blob or full.
What it comes down to is, this is not some black or white decision, its not one way or the other and one side just has to put up with it, and it is definately NOT about having it set to one standard for everyone. You can choose any shade of grey to suit your personal tastes, weather it be ten bodies or fifty. This suggestion is all about adding another choice for us all to make, and having an option to have more bodies isn't forcing anyone to do anything, its only adding a choice.
I dont see any problem with adding a choice, because if you dont want it, or if you think it will slow you down or hamper your game, you can turn it off as easily as flipping a lightswitch.
Some of us want folage on, some want it off. Some of us desire textures to be set to high, others set it to low, some change their contrast so they can see better, others leave it at the default. Some of us will set the corpses to high and others to low.
Also, having some extra bodies can be a good thing for gameplay as well. Not only does it add to the visual aspect of the game, but seeing a dead body can tell you some important stuff about whats going on around you.
Lets say you go around a corner and see a bunch of bodies lying there, what does that scene tell you. . .
What it should tell you is, "Hey, theres a bunch of dead guys here, maybe I should go another way." OR "There must be an enemy in this next room, I should throw a grenade inside."
Currently you can only get this information if you see the person get killed or if someone tells you, but if the bodies were allowed to last longer, they can provide this information to anyone who walks up to the area. (As long as the person in question has his option turned up high enough to have the bodies exist by the time he gets there.)
If your aginst the idea of having more bodies, thats perfectly fine, but you dont have to fell like this option shouldn't be included, you can just turn it off because it's an option.
And on a side note: if you want to go prone in a pile of dead bodies. . . I think you might need to rethink your strategy. . .