I've always felt the power to bring them back is there, sure...I've rez'd characters more than once, and in a variety of ways. Here's my experience...
Blademaster Edwin (Back in the day...) dies. Thirty seconds later, he is brought back, running around.
--Boring. He died. He came back. It meant nothing. He didn't give it a second thought, it didn't advance his character. Why even bother?
Do'Zalian is killed. He is brought back to life by a sadistic priest, who twists his mind, drives him insane(r), and leaves him twisted, violent chaotic evil.
--Interesting...but a bit excessive. It was the same system, but it left a mark on him. When he says to his buddies "I died tuesday.", his next comment isn't "Pass the chips?" He's got a story to go with it! And probally a knife to the back...But onwards!
Aethrulian is killed. He remains dead.
--He was a point on a score card for some big baddy. I lost a character I liked...It was kind of depressing. I still kinda wish I could bring him back, because I liked his concept. Why should I lose something I like? But maybe...if that was the case..I shouldn't have offered to let him die in the first place. My bad.
Aesynil dies. Oh noes
His soul is held, and he moves on into life. He's fundamentally, radically changed, and avoids his past life out of love for his new one.
--A whole lot of fun. He died...It shattered his world, and changed how he saw everything. He tasted true death (He had a lot of fakes...), and it left him shaken. Did I still snert the system and snag my character out of the grave? You better believe. Is he at all the same after feeling death take him? Not at all.
See...I don't think..Anybody really argues your right to ressurect your characters, folks. To each their own, and we all know we want to hold onto what's ours. But death...It should mean something. It's one of the biggest, driving fears to the human mind, the one thing we all sucumb to. To your average adventurer growing up, it's frightening, unsetling, not knowing if you can be brought back if it takes you, wondering what you'll see on the other side. And consider the afterlife. You die, you touch the next world..if you so believe...You have somebody who sent you to a cold, dark place, running around in the world. You have family who wonders if this will be the time the Gods don't let you come back. It's big. It's scary. And even after your twentieth death, you'll still be a changed person each time...or so I see it.
Nobody wants you to retire your character to the grave. I think we all just want death to be treated as the domain of the Grim Reaper, the feared, not the revolving door on the local Seven Eleven (Thank Heaven for 7/11..coincidence? I think not).
