FYI, I've hit 20, have removed all plat gear (I only had a level 16 firebrand and level 12 gem, anyway) and am still doing great in PvP. That brings up another issue, though: is spending money required to succeed in PvP, not necessarily for gear, but for respecs? If I'm playing against somebody who hasn't paid to respec, chances are I'm going to succeed where they will fail... That actually makes me question point #3 more than gear purchases.