Copy paste from my post in the now closed discussion thread.
This is a bad idea, plain and simple. It has no benefit to those of us that were on the fence about the PvP in the game to begin with and will potentially drive new players away. I have a long history of playing PvP oriented MMO's and FPS's so I, like many of you, am no stranger to death in my game at the hands of others.
As I have gravitated away from PvP games due to just not enjoying that aspect anymore, I was convinced by my buddies to give this game a go due to it not penalizing you upon death. With a bit of apprehension I picked the game up and have a couple days under my belt now.
My enjoyment is substantial, I have been pursued relentlessly in some matches and in others I have been hailed and helped. I have assaulted Galleons trying to make a run to turn in a skeleton forts treasure and taken a chunk of their spoils, and I have lost Voice comms with my crew and showed my displeasure with the Captains decision by grabbing the powder keg placing it on the foredeck and blasting myself to Davy Jones Locker.
The current design of PvP is fantastic. I can see where they might want to tweak mechanics to slow down the death zerg so that a hard fought battle does not feel cheapened by constant near instantaneous respawns. But a death tax is not the right move.
Longer respawn times for multiple rapid succession deaths, boat respawns with little or no resources forcing you to restock before heading out for revenge, these are penalties I can get behind. Losing my hard earned gold only limits my ability to Roleplay my silly pirate with my silly pirate crew and will drive folks that share my mindset away from the game.