Plundering is still a part of the game because it's a strategy game, which makes war an essential element, and defeat in war has to have consequences. GvG is nice, as is GE. However, they can't replace PvP, which is more easily accessible, more immediate, and makes the individual player a sovereign entity in the game's conflicts and politics. Giving the player this individual control and power is absolutely essential to strategy gaming.
The fact is, PvP in particular, and the war aspect in general, is underdeveloped; the incentives are too weak, the battle mechanics are too primitive, and the integration with overall gameplay is poor. They really should build a new combat system from scratch, and connect PvP to more sophisticated political and economic elements..
It's a common misconception that those two are mutually exclusive. The fact that you have a right to express yourself doesn't alter the content of your expression. If it's whining, then it's whining. It's your right and whining. Both, at the same time. It may seem like magic, but it really isn't.
Some even believe that, if they're "exercising a constitutional right", they're beyond criticism. Nothing could be further from the truth. Precisely because expression is a constitutional right, people are completely free to utterly thrash your opinions and how you express them. They can even be unreasonable and unfair about it. In fact, they can be outright malicious, nasty, and cruel about it. It's their right. In most free societies, some laws will slightly limit what they can say about you, but nothing limits what they can say about your opinions and expressions.
In other words, if you don't want to be accused of whining, you should be careful about your whining.
