I think you're exaggerating a little.

"Risk" isn't the same as "hard and frustrating" (though that's exactly what CF is, relative to many other games).

Risk and danger are attributes that appeal to a lot of game players. Within the subset of MUDs, I think that "feature" helps separate CF from MUDs where strategy and decisions have no meaning. Whether you put a lot of importance in that doesn't change the fact that it is a sound point to market on, especially since the kind of person who is likely going to respond to something like that is probably the type of person who won't only find CF appealing, but be more likely to have follow through as a player.

Does it need to be the first point in the list? *shrug* Who knows/cares. I really don't think it's going to instantly turn people off from CF if they were really curious in the first place, and if it does, there are literally a hundred things even more likely to drive them away once they actually connect.