Empire has been dead for a long time, in normal WZs at least. It's ironic that back in the day it was the opposite. Empire, base-camping and killing on sight peeps on Ilum, while there were only a few guilds worth mentioning on the Republic. (Anyone from Sphinx, hello.) Though that was way back before merges. (Hi 1 FPS on Ilum.)
It's less probably to have fun going "hey guys, come let's do some pvp" and gather random people on the Empire side, while there is always, like always, a full premade team on the Republic. It's fun to go against those teams when it's balanced, but when it's not it's nothing but discouraging. I agree that those guys wants to have fun too and they do when they play with their teams, but I only wish there were more people like those on the Empire.
It's sad but recently the only time I enjoy the game is when I'm on my slinger, with pug groups. After a while this will lose its charm too, maybe already did, and the game I've loved since closed beta will be dead for me as well.