[Ibonic]

Yes, I think that your experience should go down when you die, but your level should stay the same. Maybe it would be neat if it were something similar to this:

level 2: 2000 experience from level 1
when you get to level 2, the experience would go to 0, and then you'd need 2000 again (which is 4000 total)
level 3: 4000 experience from level 2
etc.

if you die, the experience could go negative, but you'd still have your same level -- so basically, you'd have to wait a lot longer to get the new level, but you won't have to feel as if you've lost everything