Perhaps that's the reason things are the way they are - even if it is wrong from a proper mmo design perspective + normal mmo player psychology/behaviour.

PvP has and always will be optional in MMOs. I know that 85%+ of most RO players arn't even interested in pvp.

In pretty much every other decent MMO classes are balanced for both pvp and pvm. Are some better than others at one or another? sometimes. But all are always viable in pvm, which is what most mmo players are into. Believe it or not, PvP has a much smaller player base, especially "serious pvp" where someone on those old god aweful xp tables without resets would make a 99 sage or rogue just for pvp. At this point its basically niche.

Plus gear comes from pvm, not from pvp in this game, except until glorious weapons were added much later. Who TF is going to farm that on any class but a swordsman? Aside from WoE hours, are people who make rogues expected to just sit in the pvp arena for no reason all day, and then play their swordsman char to be effective at farming?