I'd still like some kind of hardcore mode personally but you're right
@May17th there are certain circumstances (bugs) that can kill your character that has nothing to do with combat, falling, etc.
I've suggested a few times, elsewhere, on a Saving System (fully optional) that simply didn't allow the user to save by any means currently available (quicksave, manually save) and have just one save file available to them. The option the player would choose (much in the same way we choose a difficulty) would simply "auto-save" once every minute, perhaps even less, while out of combat and that's all that would be available to the player to use when they die.
I usually get attacked for this suggestion and I expect nothing less then that this time, but thanks for listening. =)