From a newbie's perspective who has only died twice to date, I've found a few things regarding death that were sorta confusing to me:
1) First, the ghosts of PC folks who have died running around and talking. Now, this doesn't hurt me any, but I truly didn't have a clue what was really happening. The first couple times I saw this, I didn't realize they were PCs. The first time, I thought it was the DMs having some fun.... the ghosts were trying to get me to poke the DM-ran guard. Rather humorous, but I still hadn't a clue. I caught on the second time, when things were said by a ghost that weren't all that ghostly in character. Honestly, I don't think this needs any fix (as long as folks remain IC as a ghost), but use this as an example of how someone new might not understand what is going on.
2) When I died and wanted to return as ghost form, for some reason, it didn't "click" that I had step back into the pillar that I was standing right next to. Yup, that is what the journal says to do...return to the pillar where you came from or something to that effect...but for some reason there is a strong, natural tendancy to begin walking to that middle pillar; I just figured it couldn't be as easy as turning around and walking right back to the pillar behind me. I had to re-read the journal a couple times to figure it out. I know my sister had the same source of confusion. What I might suggest is to get rid of the outlying pillars and just place two pillars in the middle and make it clear that one is for the ghost form and one is for the resurrection. I personally never found the wandering in the fog maze after death to be all that confusing...in fact, I thought it was a nice "death shroud" flavor. And I think I'd prefer the existing maze over a single big room.
3) I wasn't entirely truthful when I stated that I had only died twice. I started a toon on this server a long-time back, and had died rather quickly by going into the crypt at 2nd level with no blessed weapon. I went to the center pillar to respawn and it warns you of the detriments of using that type of "ressurection". Long story short, my first toon here had lost what little gold they had, had lost their weapon and shield, had decreased in stats/abilities, and couldn't rest to fix my stat decrease. Now, I think I would have tried to overcome my loss of gold and equipment, but I found the stat decreases and inability to rest to be confusing. And I wasn't entirely certain if the stat decreases were permanent or not after I went to an NPC cleric, but his services didn't remove the stat decreases...the pillar of light did "say" that the penalty would be harsh, so perhaps some special, costly service would be required to remedy the situation. In the end, I found it easier to give up for the night and I didn't make it back to PotM until recently. I think the inability to rest thing confused me some with my more recent death, but Siviana helped me out. A little more explanation on the consequences of death might be very helpful.
4) Many folks who come to server have experience with various other servers and games where you must select "release" after death to leave your body. I've no issues with how it works here, but the second time I recently died, I was with a party. I didn't know what the heck I should do once I got in the fog maze. Do I wait for a PC cleric? Do they drag my body back? Was the entire party killed? I stood around a long time waiting, since I wasn't entirely certain whether it was appropriate to send a tell to another member of the party since I was dead. I think the journals explain how you can be ressurected via the pillars of light, but it still can be confusing for a newbie to learn how each pillar type is different and when to use them.
5) When in ghost form and someone takes your body to the priest and ressurects you, I was not aware that I had to pick-up my body. I was just standing there watching and apparently everyone else knew what to do, and assumed I knew also. Then, after a bit, I started getting tells like "HURRY! Pick up your body!" Not a big deal since I now know. Perhaps a special "pop-up" message could be added?
Bottom line, I doubt many folks truly have learning issues or are just plain stupid. I do agree that many, myself included, will read the journals quickly when they start, but then need to re-read them when the time comes to better learn exactly how things work and apply to the situation. I think the bigger source of the confusion is that there is alot going on regarding death on PotM which is quite unique and different than many other PWs or other games. And, while I found the act of respawning to be quite easy (just run to the center pillar), I found the consequences of death and the differences between the pillar types to be more confusing. I offer the above as my own example of some of the things which caused me confusion (or frustration with my first toon many months back). However, it is just a list and I don't expect all of the above issues to be addressed; some uncertainty only adds to the suspense and horror that is "Ravenloft". And, with a couple deaths behind me an Siviana's in-game assistance, I have a much better understanding of how things work.