Well, so YOU have no problerms with the game difficulty.
And you think because of this it makes sense to make people that die a lot even weaker ?

it makes sense to teach players to be cautious.. if there is no penalty for death, you simply run in, die, and go
"golly gee i died.. that sucks, lets try again"

yeah, the death penalty is kinda steep.. its SUPPOSED to hurt

however
there are trade offs from the devs..
we have a 10min or 20min reprieve from the death penalty so we can try to get our stuff back without loosing more skill (there are games out there that when you respawn you are sick and weak for 10min)
we have literally unlimited time to retrieve our things.(how many games let you do that?)
sit by a fire for a few seconds and get a buff
eat up to three different foods to gain MORE HP (most games you die if you dont eat or drink)
most of the mobs are so dumb you can stand on a rock or behind a log and kill them at your leisure(dodge a range attack every now and then)



i honestly really cant believe how many people are saying this game is that hard.