FFA PvP was a bad idea from the get go. It sounds "cool" to the hardcore folk but its just not cool, ever.
A team based PVP server fields competition and rivalries. VZTZ style isn't a BAD idea, but its still not great. The fact that people can change alliances so easy sounds good, but will only yield bad results and it will be a similar ending to Red99 FFA. Those who rise to the top first will have people funnel into them.
On SZ, with diety PVP, you had three teams. When a guild rose to the top on one faction, the other two are there to stop them. Trains are allowed, which helps smaller guilds and players play an impact on stopping big guilds progressions. This forces big guilds to come up with new strats whether it be ogre walling, setting up certain classes to stop trains, etc. With team based pvp there is a sense of "this is my team for better or for worse" because of the rivalries you build. You were locked into the team you chose after your first character, you couldnt have an evil and neutral on the same account.
When you create FFA pvp you alienate so many people and you wonder why its not a raging success. You need casuals mixed into your hardcore in order to create a healthy server. You can't have no sense of safety and expect the server to thrive. Teams provide this. All you do is create a server of raging faggets when its FFA...which obviously is what the results yielded.
If you want a PVP EQ server to succeed, I guarantee you teams needs to happen. Now is a VZTZ style the solution? I don't know, but I still think it has too many issues to re-create the problem FFA already had. A 3 way deity pvp makes more sense to me. There are countless old school zekkers waiting to come back. I know I would. No game has fufilled the same greatness as old school EQ zek pvp, specifically, sullon zek. There are a lot of old Zek folk trying to fill that void with other games and none have succeeded.
Whatever you guys do, listening to your "hardcore" base isn't going to solve anything.
I suggest the EMU devs watch the following about how the rule sets of games define the community out come.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=cRlYM9F50EQ