I nearly posted yesterday, GG, and the base opinion is the same, but I left it, as I am not so to speak 'a true pvp-er' as it seems to have been understood before, I am now at a loss to say who is, or isn't, a PvPer anymore, reading some of the above posts (mainly the one that is 'leaving out goldhits', as if that is a minor thing)
As all changes affect a lot of people though, I'll add my two cents.
I liked to play this game in as many aspects as I could, apart from arena (too much hassle) and inventing (on anything other than individual items, not enough AH), which included some PvPing (goldhits or retaliation) or BHunting (straight or not-so-friendly).
So, I've tried out the new ladder system, to see the working of it. Sad to say, this has just killed my occasional fun.
Motives get attributed, any clear is rated 'farming' as I'm high level, or can be taken as helping someone else to get up higher by taking competitors down. People get bitchy, (counter)bounty anyone if there is a slight chance they or their friends might profit from it, or just because they've been (counter)bountied themselves continuously.
Add to that the near-impossibility at my level of even getting on the ladder (which in itself could be a stimulating goal) without pouring in a load of fsp and setting up a full system (payment??) of 'allies' who won't bounty back - or are not 'allowed' to do so due to guildpolicy - and you end up with a lot of aggravation for nothing at all.
Only thing that has NOT happened, has been any straight goldhits.
Luckily, some ppl have recently been trying to hit, with advance warning so we both can set up a kit we think might work, buff up, and see how one of us can get lucky (that or find out how maths has failed

) There's not too many people in range who don't worry about the xp-loss connected to it though.
This, as opposed to thievery on people in hunting gear (still a valid occupation of course, just not very skillfull), is what I would call the only 'real' pvp and it was also what could be got from the BB on on-line targets, before these changes (though it can still be done now, if you want to put up with the added aggravation of pm's with excuses/threats why you should stop, or people going to way further lengths to try and slow your clearing just to get some rating back, as opposed to just dance a bit ).
All in all, I don't think this has done the FS community any good at all, save for some levelers who got freaked out by the occasional goldhits that were the norm before, though I think those players benefited way more once they realised how little that really affected them, and started to do a little bit of it themselves.
sorry, bit more than 2 cts