I suggest that a players should no longer be saved from losing their XP after death. The reason for this is simple. Obtaining XP in 1.3 is much easier than in 1.2.5. I've just noticed this in my own world. You get XP just from cooking stuff in the furnace or mining good ore. I think the XP for each level was made easier as well. Keeping XP after death would now be overkill, because everyone would be enchanting everything with high level enchantments way too easily.