In theory, PvP is exactly that.. Player vs Player. However, game mechanics marginalize the player skill aspect to the point where it's really more about pvp gear and expertise. Assuming two players of similar skill meet... the expertise bonus dmg/dmg reduction is simply too much for any amount of skill to overcome. This mentality is really just a snowball of all those sub valor 60's trying to get their BM gear so they can compete with the BM farmers who had the time earlier on to get their valor with ilum quests before it was fixed and WZ's where they had plenty of time to farm sub-50's. Thus players will do whatever is easiest/quickest to that end. Edit: I would add.. this isn't just an 'Ilum' issue. Even, if they got rid of Ilum, they'd just do it on Tatooine or any of the other dozen planets with close medic spawns between the factions.

So put another way... you really want it to not be PvP and more like PvP/E... In other words, you want your gear to mean the difference between you winning a fight or losing. That is the exact opposite of what PVP is about. Keyword being "player" vs "player". If teams win or lose in sports, it's because they were the better team or more skilled... not because their car had twice the horsepower... or because they had 13 men on the field to your 11. Expertise as a concept is fine... reward someone for time spent... but it should never become 'the reason' someone wins. Currently, the advantage vs a low expertise player is too much for any amount of skill to overcome. Cap it at 2% and you might say 'skill' defines the majority of your victories, and edges out vs an equally skilled player who hasn't put in the same amount of time as you.

Ignoring for a moment the mechanics of class balance, expertise, healing... Open World PVP generally sucks because the following will ALWAYS happen. 1. One side pushes other side to safe zone with turrets/un-killable guards etc. 2. Losing side will NOT move from safe spot until overwhelming numbers appear. (~ 2:1 odds minimum, 3 and 4 to 1 not uncommon) 3. (Optional) Previously camped Zerg rush pushes out from safe zone, obliterating camping team and proceeds to step 1. Note: - Game engines can't handle this many people in an area, rendering 80% of talents useless, and removing any chance of 'skill' making up for uneven numbers of people. Conclusion: Trying to fix Open world PVP without addressing population imbalance is pointless... (and yes i say that as an empire player) Open world PVP can rarely be fun... and is almost never fun for BOTH sides at the same time. I think the most intelligent comment(s) so far have been from those people saying to make PVP an intrinsic reward of beating people in fair combat, not a grind for better gear, expertise, and valor ranks. Unfortunately, that typically means instanced content (where there is still tremendous incentive to farm medals rather than play the map).

On our server, it seems that most people are rolling the assassin... I realize things might even out at higher levels... but they rip people apart at these lower levels. Add to that, we're facing huttball more often than the others due to faction ratios... and assassins are king of huttball. On top of great DPS. Stealth, Sprint, and AOE knockback (into hazards and off ramps). Not a QQ post, but I can't wait till the other classes catch up/even out.

Think of it from the other side. Maybe they are voting for that healer in their group who was healing them... or throwing their vote to that tank who put guard on them? Why shouldn't they get a little sweetener? Or maybe they were throwing their vote to that guy who guarded a point against a possible ninja cap... or threw a timely stun to prevent that huttball cap, or made that awesome pass allowing your team to score? A TON of stuff happens other than just damage/healing numbers.