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Without exp, without levels, what penalty exists for death? If the focus of the game is on roleplay, levels and "points" of any kind for advancement are irrelevent and non-existent. The only kinds of games that penalize for death, without rendering the character permanently gone, do so by penalizing points. In a game where there are no points, there is no way to penalize for dying.
Not to mention, if death is commonplace, I'd say there's a pretty significant flaw in the game design. Death should be a BIG DEAL, ICly. Not OOCly as regards points and levels and other mechanics that have nothing to do with roleplay. I don't like "do-overs" because it devalues life. If you can easily get a rezz, there's no need to worry about dying, because it isn't really dying. It's just moving to a different part of the game for a few minutes, and returning with "less" than you started with. But - with the exact same character, knowing all the exact same people, roleplaying in the exact same way, for as long as you continue playing that game.
Boring. Boring boring boring.
I like knowing that in my next gaming session, my character might cease to exist. It makes playing it exciting, scary, gets the adrenaline pumping. I also like knowing, that if my character -does- die, I can create a new character, with a new personality, new looks, a new race, new goals, knowing no one ICly, starting not entirely from scratch (because now I know where you can find the hidden doodad that my previous character discovered), but at least being in a position where I can roleplay the newness of it all.
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