i agree with most of it
but the whole insant kill punish the player for his mistakes thing ... in combat yes the way he describes it is the way it should be but its my sincere believe that players should get instant killed/game over as soon as they have fucked up something unrecoverable i have played games that just keep running after you have fucked up a riddle or script and the level became unbeatable shadow of the beast 3 comes to mind here. also i never gain want to drop down an abyss and than surivie with 1 pixel of health at the bottom only to be stuck there forever.
so this rule must hold true at all times in actually all games: the player CAN STILL MAKE IT or his "game over" is assured in a split second.