I think something Players perhaps don't understand sometimes, too, is...When another person finds out you are trying to have them killed, or 'mentioned' to someone else that you would be 'happy to see them dead', well...That other person might be more industrious, know more people, and otherwise more easily take care of you first.
Murder, Corruption, Betrayal -- The last two in particular lead to almost more death than straight Murder. I wouldn't be happy playing this game if that weren't the case. And closure is a fickle friend at best...Sometimes the journey is the most important part, and the 'complete story' on ArmageddonMUD doesn't always count for much.
To me -- It isn't a bad PC death that is going to push a player away from the game. Sure, it might push some away, if not for a while, then I suppose forever. I know a couple where that is the case, they moved on and then just never had the time to think about the game again. Who knows, they may come back in 5-10 years when they have a kid and have downtime (!).
What I see turning players off the most was toxic player/staff relationships, and simply outgrowing the game. The game only offers so much, and it isn't going to be exactly what every Player wants it to be. There will be shortcomings for one person that are strengths to another person. With that inability to mold it into the shape you want it to be...Yeah. After a certain amount of years, a certain amount of guff taken from Staff, a certain amount of this and that...People simply move on, find other hobbies to enjoy, get married, have kids, and have a life without ArmageddonMUD. I think that's perfectly fine.
The Valenkudos is a great way to hook people back in that simply drifted away -- Maybe they're looking for a game and simply forgot about ArmageddonMUD and how much fun it could be. Those kinds of players I think do well here. But the ones that moved on for semi-legitimate reasons? They may never return, and that's okay.