I should clarify that I didn't mean for my comments to say that it's unfair veterans have an advantage over newbies. I meant that DU could eventually become so daunting that newbies feel very little hope, which I've seen in well-established MMO's. But the system you described there seems to help alleviate that possible issue.
I feel that I've also very poorly explained my intention of this post. I threw out an idea, a faulty one, that doesn't discourage newbies from playing when they're constantly getting pummelled. With Kenshi, you welcome the pummelling, the humiliating defeats and the enslaving because it improves your characters stats in the long run. That was the principle, to benefit from defeat. To welcome it. Other than the benefit being learning from mistakes.
Realistically, there probably isn't a mechanic that improves your stats the harder you're defeated without being exploited. MMO's just have to rely on there being a wide variety of things to do to cater for as many people as possible and the community to encourage new players to continue playing when things are bleak. As well as the current system whereby there are many different ways to fight and assist in a combat situation.