It is interesting that a question like this even comes up.
I don't play hardcore, plain and simple.
My softcore character (I only have one playchar on the current ladder so far) doesn't die. Ever. Except to "connection was interrupted", which I don't count into the official death records.
Softcore and hardcore are the same game.
So... if you want to play hardcore, play softcore first. Properly. A lot of people put the "if I die I press escape and I'm back in town" into their character builds, their playstyle, and sometimes I think it's in their keybindings as well. Which is something you need get out of your thinking before starting. If your build and your playstyle lead to a softcore character that doesn't die... then you can play hardcore, if you really want. I don't, but that's everyone's own decision.
If your character dies, find out why. Bad build? Bad playstyle? "Bad luck" isn't an option --- "luck" is a concept that only works in softcore: rush fullspeed around the next corner with -30 resists, with some luck there'll be no black soul bosspacks. You die in softcore, you figure out how to avoid that, and get that into your firmware (literally... most games are about making a lot of decisions in rapid succession, so you better do the right thing without looking it up in your notes)
You don't get a lot of chances like this in hardcore, since you not only loose the char, you loose the gear to make the char.
Of course, hardcore has another disadvantage: you don't get to see funny conversations like this...
player-a was killed by some-monster
player-a was killed by some-monster
player-b: lol... u noob
player-a was killed by some-monster
player-b was killed by some-monster
player-b: damned lag
player-b left the game
You really want to miss out on that?
