The real problem with PvP

[Bazinga!]

I'm making this thread because there are so many threads about the imbalance in PvP but in my opinion, most of them are missing the point. And it is not like I haven't made one of these before. In my frustration, even I have failed to see the actual problem. I recently looked at OPest's thread about nerfing dodge, which is a good idea if done appropriately. But the total elimination of dodge as he mentioned is something that will cause a lot of problems the way I look at it.

If you think about the PvP arenas, they aren't called 'Team Deathmatch' for no reason. They are meant for 3 v 3 FFAs. If you look back, there were relatively less (and I'm not saying there weren't any) posts about PvP imbalance before the 76 cap. Rather than talking about how one class was unfair, people talked about the best way to counteract that class. It was only after the 76 cap that there was an increase in the number of posts regarding PvP imbalance. So what was different before and after the 76 cap?

Before the 76 cap, the game got regular updates and expansions. There were enough people to make at least 4 full PvP games at level cap. When one player left, another one came in almost immediately. There were enough players to have a full fledged FFA match.

The 76 cap was the last expansion for the next 2.5 years. STS started drifting away from PL and so did players, naturally. PvP became more dependent on the go system and more stupid rules like 'no running' and 'no using trees' came into the picture. I mean come on, I'm sure STS put trees there for the sole purpose of hiding.

When you exclude movement, hiding and team play, it all boils down to comparing stats. And in the 76 cap, bears had more than 100 hit, the most armour and the most dodge out of all classes and therefore they dominated (or rather the STR class in general dominated). But the fact is that bears are supposed to be the tank in a 3 v 3 match and mages and birds could run around and hide if they wanted, not run straight into the battle.

All in all, the main problem is the domination of the GO system, as a result of a declining player base.

If there is one thing I wish STS could have done to sort PvP imbalance out, it is to introduce different types of sets. For example, when STS created MAGOR / ARZAC / WARAT, they did it so that the new items became better than the current sets, not because they could be used in a strategically different manner.
This type of item creation can be seen at every level starting from 61. And forget about item creation; after 66 there was literally only one set to wear for each class. Variety in gear can be found in lower levels like 15 but still not to the extent that it should be varied. Unfortunately I'm not a fan of playing with only four skills, other wise I would have been playing AL right now, not writing this post .

Conclusion:
After reading through all the posts and thoughts on this topic again, I realise that the problem of statistical imbalances cannot be completely avoided, although I would still say that it can be significantly reduced by having team FFAs, which is the way it is supposed to be, instead of turn by turn individual battles.

I've bolded out the changes I made. I hope this answers some of the arguments made.