Xsyon and PVP do not mix, Xsyon himself doesnt want pvp in the game, never really did. Having any type of time and focus on this aspect is a waste of breath and time. No matter how many people want it, it will not see the light of day. Even if some work was done on it, it would be much like you saw on the original (now called war) where combat was 1/2 assed and for almost no reason.

I think pvp content is one of the easiest to code for indy devs which is why you see it in sandbox games, plus it's mostly considered "sandbox" to have full loot and free choice (including open world PVP).

But like you said, there needs to be reasons and at least some system for it. How long were we told "Tribes will have the option to turn off safety" but without a reason to turn it off why would anyone do it? It's just a silly token nod to the PVP crowd. Even then you still do not see the option in game.