It’s a bit of a shame that they didn’t write the old GW1 respawn mechanics into human lore. It would have made the human race take a level in awesome if their fallen champions could literally kick open the gates of hell and return to take vengeance. In the end Grenth always collects, but if a human dies valorous and faithful then another god vouches for them and they get let back into the world of the living.
As for the PvP, I always thought getting impaled by a flag means your dead, but since your already in the mists your soul is already where it wants to be so you just rematerialise at the entrance. An endless cycle of death and glory similar to the ghosts blessed by Balthazar in the Brisban wild lands.