I believe it is a PVP rule, designed to make PVP easier....which, makes people more inclined to PVP. It is, in RP, a good strategy, and, one would think, that such a strategy, that could make a PVP exhausting, would make PVP less common in favor of some RP...but, then, if a PVP death means one cannot RP, well, I'm not sure.
The PVP is tied closely to the RP, but I do not think the Cruise rules support RP in any manner.
Edit: as for the PVP server, just because there isn't one, doesn't mean the RP shouldn't be there. Thats what the community, as a whole, wants, is an RP game (or so I believe).