Reiraku

Well, aside from ET being terribly overpowered from a DPA standpoint, you also had Barrage being overall less effective than Brawl and Total Focus having a VERY effective stun mag. Both of those were adjusted as well as ET being rebalanced.

You're also making the mistake of assuming the devs change powers based on popular demand, when they've quite clearly shown that isn't the case.

The above is incorrect. It wasn't just because of PvP, or even primarily because of PvP, but rather because the set itself was lopsided due to a terribly balanced ET. Another example of this would be Psychic Shockwave.

See Above.

According to the "campfire" thread posted by Ex Libris around the release of i11, 10% PvP'd at least once a week, however the number was on a downward trend.

You do realize there's a lot more issues with a flagging system than just categorizing who is up for PvP and who isn't, right? Aside from target griefing, friendly buff issues, and the fact that there's no reason for an in-zone flag system to exist in the first place, as the very action of entering a zone is the elective to flag yourself for PvP.

Also, you're assigning intent where there really isn't any. It's not like PvP'ers are actively out to ruin your day. It's not a hidden agenda to make you mad because you stepped into "their house." All it's ever been (again, in the majority of cases) is the desire to compete against an opponent with the ability to think beyond the AI. If you fight back against me, win lose or draw, all the better. If not, then down you go and I move on to the next target.

And yes, there's a number of reasons why I wouldn't pause when attacking someone in a PvP zone. The possibility that they're better is there, I might have just gotten lucky and caught them in a lag spike before they could phase and run, or they could be calling for help from their team. Rather than having my target fill out a survey before I resume an attack, I'd rather just finish what I've started and move on. If you're there for PvP, better luck next time. If you're there for Shivans/Nukes, better luck next time.

No malice, no drama, just PvP.

This is a terrible generalization and only reflects a small minority of PvP participants. The majority just want a thinking opponent, regardless if the "lunch" comes free or not. It's not like one goes actively seeking an opponent who doesn't fight back, but rather just another fight.

The equivalent would be like saying PvE'ers liked the old AE exploits because it was like a free 50. Maybe a few vocal ones did, but they were far from the majority.

The fat set always gets made last.

Don't worry about +HP bonuses. Between accolades and HPT, you'll be capped. Focus on +Dam, +Rech, and +Acc. I prefer the route of 3 Acc/Dam HO's and 3 Dam Procs in AS, but it's open to your preference.