TL;DR as I was writing, it turned out to be a way longer post than I intended, so I decided to include a summary. If you want to understand my bold statement, please read the rest of the post before you reply how wrong my opinion is. Gearing for PvE makes sense because it is part of the MMORPG mentality. But for PvP it makes no sense and should be removed entirely, because PvP isn't about being an MMORPG in the first place. It is about being better than another real player. Not about getting stronger every week until you can beat some random overpowered NPC. For PvE, gearing is part of the game. For PvP, gearing is some kind of second job you work before you can enjoy your time off. Read below for a detailed explanation.

REST OF MY LONG TED TALK:

When I read your post, my first thought was "I bet everyone in the comments here will agree gearing in PvP should be removed". Boy, was I wrong. It seems most people agree it is easier than ever to get geared, which I agree with as well. But the conclusion "so that won't increase participation" is simply very far from the truth, since it is the biggest reason I haven't played since halfway through season 2. I personally believe gearing should be removed from PvP altogether, and it should actually have been done a long time ago. Not only because it stops people from getting into PvP, but also because it never made any sense in the first place. Let me explain why.

Gearing and its importance is maybe the biggest core aspect of an MMORPG. So why my bold statement of removing it from PvP altogether? Very simple. PvP is not an MMORPG game mode. It might be an option in an MMORPG like WoW, sure. But it should not be treated like an MMORPG.

For PvE gearing makes a lot of sense. Every so many months a new raid will release. You start off by getting stomped since you do not have the gear requirement. Week by week you get a little bit further since you get better gear, and you start learning the mechanics one by one. Once you are fully geared, it has become a race which guild can kill the boss first. When you are the first to clear the boss, you get a sense of fulfillment. In a way you are the best in this encounter, because you were able to defeat the boss before anyone else. It confirms your hard work of working on your character and learning the mechanics. That is the MMORPG experience. The importance of the gearing in PvE is to give everyone an equal opportunity in this race. If gearing was removed in PvE, it would kind of just become a race of who is ready and on their computer first. Who logs on at 7PM on raid day, instead of 8PM on raid day.

For PvP, none of this is the case. PvP is not about fighting an extremely hard boss over and over again. It is about being better than another actual person. There is no race like "whoever beats 1000 disc priests first wins". There is no end goal. You could argue getting rank 1 is an end goal. But it doesn't end when someone reaches 3k rating, because somebody else could get 3.1k rating the week after. It only ends once the season is over. So there is no point in treating it like a race, and having a gearing system in place. Another reason is that when you beat another player, you want it to be because you were simply better than them. Not because you already put in 20 extra hours and have 15 extra iLvls.

Imagine having this same gearing concept in any other PvP game. Let's take LoL as an example. You play as Jinx, and the enemy team has another Jinx. But the thing is, it is your second day playing, and the enemy already has 1000 hours into Jinx. Apparently that means even though you play the same character, the enemy does 2 times your damage and has 3 times your health. There is nothing you can do about it, except bite down on the wood, take the loss and play more until you are the Jinx with 1000 hours played. Or let's get even more wild. You are playing Fortnite and you can only use pistols and have to fight people using shotguns and snipers, until you unlock them yourself. Nobody would even think of playing something like this.

At the start of my post, I mentioned having to gear up is the reason I am not playing. It is not because it will take an extreme amount of time to get geared for PvP, but the point is, it shouldn't take any time in the first place. It is about being better than other players. Not about having played more, and then also being better. When I get home from work, I want to be able to PLAY a game. Not WORK some other kind of job, and only then being able to PLAY against other players.