“They had been working with exterior level designer James Chadwick on size tests for a PvP zone called Alterac Valley. This zone would offer a whole new way to play WoW, and the plan was to create enough variety in gameplay that players who didn’t want to directly confront enemies could still contribute to the war effort by farming monsters that would eventually unlock NPCs, which could turn the tide in the forty-vs-forty battle.”
- John Staats ‘The WoW Diary’
AV was designed with pve as much in mind as pvp. It was made for players who didn’t even want to pvp. It was a giant pve-centric battle that players also took part in. That is the original concept. Of course by 1.12 it’s two armies passing one another from opposite sides of the map in a mad zerg to see who can kill the General first. Is that indicative of the original intent? I’d say no. It’s what players get from AV right now, and it’s what they’ll get from Classic AV as well.