This is my opinion. With that, I write this with Blizzard being my primary audience. If Blizzard even reads these forums, I would be surprised. With that, feel free to add to my opinion, disagree, or what have you.
The current state of the game in PVP is not fun.
I played sub rogue at launch. It was absurd and it is still absurd now. Before you crucify me for main-ing a rogue, hear me out. I would be the first to admit sub rogue needed to be nerfed and currently something still needs to be changed. On a tangent, I have been playing assassination all week in PVE and PVP content as my form of penance. Assassination is still garbage, my masochist act is paying off. Mind you rogue is a pure DPS spec, it is still lowest of the low DPS wise in PVE content, and simply does not put out enough pressure in the current state of PVP. I am paying for my sins.
Overall, Shadowlands is a solid expansion… except PVP.
Ever since arena was released in TBC, Battlegrounds and PVP in general has always been put on the back burner. Blizzard is directing people to participate in rated PVP to get the dope PVP gear. At least there are options. It used to be arena was the only way and you had to have the rating to get the weapons, shoulders, etc.
There is a strong argument in regards to the item level disparity on PVP gear from dedicated PVP’ers. However, PVE has always been the source of ridiculous gear. All the way back to enhance shammys in Vanilla with Hand of Rag, to rogues with Warglaives, locks with Skull of Guldan, and druids with Crystal Spine of Karabor in TBC. Remember WOTLK TSG with Shadowmourne? It is just a fact, Blizzard has always puts the God like items in PVE content. Yeah, strict PVP players get the short end of the stick every expansion. That is not the point though.
Again to reiterate, PVP is not fun. Even when you are the one with 200+ item level destroying someone similarly geared in a cheap shot. Really, that is not fun to render someone completely helpless and proceed to global their toon without out any reprimand. There is no chess involved. Hell, RNG is not even a factor. At least in TBC one could honestly say a warrior got lucky with a Skillhearld proc into two back to back mace specialization stuns. RNG was truly the factor in some situations back in the day.
Today, it comes down to three factors. 1. The class/spec you are playing. 2. Cooldowns, specifically what cooldown is or is not available 3. Your gear is adequate.
The argument, “Gear will solve the burst meta” is hot steaming malarkey. Gear will increase the length of engagements and encounters to a point, but there has always been a class that can take you from 100% to 0% really quickly. There is no reason why that would all of a sudden change. At least in previous expansions there was something you could do about the incoming kill and if you could not, sometimes you genuinely could say you were outplayed. Which was actually a positive aspect of the game. There was nuance to the game.
Now, if you get caught in almost any stun, horrify, silence, or disarm, you are dead.
Remember how Blizzard stated they wanted Shadowlands to have emphasis on class identity, not specialization. Those are your words Blizzard, not ours. What a failure on that aspect so far. In PVP and PVE. In all fairness, Blizzard still has a chance to resolve the situation.
Nerfing rogues in PVP specific situations was a smart move. Not only because rogues needed to be rectified but also because PVE should not suffer because of PVP. The question is, where do you go Blizzard?
PVP is an important aspect of the game. There is no other MMORPG that has PVP like World of Warcraft does. PVP gives the community something to do while we are waiting for the raid to reset. PVP has always been neglected and PVP should not be. In regards to PVP, Blizzard has put themselves in a pickle.
Blizzard, where do you go? Do you insipidly hope gear resolves the problem? Do you nerf monks next? Do you buff Demonology warlocks? Do you finally be honest with community and admit PVP is not a concern in your business model? Where do you go Blizzard?