The article is in German, but here’s a section machine-translated into English
We look at what players want and what we’ve changed recently. If we added new types of caves and forests to the game last year, it will be about other things for now, such as the combat system. In this way, we want to ensure that there is something for everyone in “Minecraft”. We also try to add things that solve a problem in the game.
Sometimes I wonder if they shouldn’t just take a page out of the design for Minecraft Dungeons. Not that they should directly import the gameplay or the mechanics, but even just having more gear variety, more sorts of effects that things can provide, more weapon types, etc.
Having some mechanic to respawn with your stuff when you die would also be nice. It’s hard for combat to be a “thing” when the consequence for doing badly is losing everything and starting from scratch. Some people prefer that, but it doesn’t really encourage risk taking, so for most people the easier approach to combat becomes “don’t”.
Does the KeepInventory gamerule not suit your needs here?