Originally posted by Sunny:

Some things:

1- Mobs smell and hear. They aren't attracted by your low health, they're attracted by the sound of combat, or you being upwind from them. The bigger your fight, the further the sound carries, the more mobs hear it and come running. (ETA: This means if you are in a big fight and getting low on health/stamina, MOVE. Train the mob you're fighting away, make it a running battle, so that the place where the mobs are going for the noise is not where you're currently fighting. as soon as the troll is down, get OUT OF THERE.)

2- When progressing, make two sets of base gear -- weapon at current level, armor in the same general range, then you can do lower level tools or w/e if you need to. Keep it in a box by your bed, use it only for equipment recovery. Trade it for what's on your body as needed, and then first thing, make up another backup set.

3- Deer boss power. Use it to run in to your body; once you get ALL of your gear and the tombstone disappears, you will get a corpse run buff that makes you way hard to kill (which makes it way easier to escape).

4- Patience. When approaching your body, find a spot nearby to watch from. Wait. Time it for the mob being as far away as possible as it pats before you use the deer power and run in.

5- Do not hit the plains without a nearby (NEARBY!) bed and small base. Build outposts. Use portals when exploring; particularly on continents different from your base.

6- Skills aren't important enough to stress out over losing them. They make a difference; they do not make as much of a difference as *player* skill. Player skill trumps character's skill level by a longshot, losing character skills is not as detrimental as it could be.

7- Slow down. Be patient. Prepare. Play cautiously, look before you leap, watch where you're going. You die FAR less often if you don't run around like a blind bull in a china shop that just got stung by a bee.

All of these are excellent, excellent points, far more detailed and eloquent than I could have presented.

They all point to player actions or skill rather than the game environment and for good reason. Many of us have figured out how to proceed into a new, hostile area. Cautiously, patiently with a plan. Those who don't plan, rush in, get clobbered and blame the game. I fear their path in real life is harder than need be as they do not realize that the problem is not out there, but between their ears.

Upon any death it is usually clear why it happened and how to avoid it in the future, if you can think rationally and not rage quit like a two year old.