So they've changed it from a chance to lose an item to necessarily spending a certain amount of money to recover your abilities. A fair trade I suppose. But....
My new level 20 elven wizard died yesterday to a dark, dark red mob (oops). But, I can find no indication that any of his abilities have been diminished. So...is the penalty working? Is the penalty eliminated by a % rez? Is there only a chance of a penalty? Do you have to be a certain level?