Agreed!
There should always be a certain amount of risk when battling a foe to get stronger/obtain rare gear. Especially when you are charging right into their stronghold. (Duoing/soloing chest mobs = ZzZzZz)

While I do enjoy taking on scores of mobs at one time and defeating them swiftly I feel that it's not intense and fun as it could be if you had to consider what could be lost if you failed the encounter.

Alas: Many MMO players don't want overly strict or complicated risks involved with their experience during play. Weather it be because they don't want it to be difficult or because they don't have a lot of time to progress and a large loss would mean a waste of a play session etc.

I feel that the current gear damage system is decent but it's not hard to obtain gil to repair your items in this game. There needs to be some kind of other risk involved with failing to consider your situation before acting AKA: Dieing.