aye it is, though personally I'm glad they seem to be waking up to the fact that you can never please the hardcore no-lifers.
I remember in daoc i thought how unachievable rr10 was, but there were people that went to 6months+ 12 hours-a-day rvr to do it. I also remember how ludicrous i thought the (original now changed) SWG grind to become a jedi was (you had to grind through almost every class on one character to recognise your 'secret' combination, and then you were only a jedi apprentice with another huge grind ahead of you) but some took a year playing 12-hours-a-day to do it
Essentially i don't think you can ever please those people. They will always achieve massive grinds to get the best stuff, and then complain about lack of content (especially if more casual players start to catch up and their equipment is no longer so special). However, they are a minority of players, which is the true absurdity if you ask me
(and don't even get me started on the issue that they pay the same money as i do!)
What i most hated about wow pvp though was that you basically reached a limit you could never go past (essentially based on the time you had available to play). Getting a shot at getting nice kit over a longer period is more than welcome if you ask me. Though a note of caution, I believe the ranking system still kinda exists with the arenas, that seem to have their own specific rewards? I dont really fully understand it all yet