Well well well. Where to begin
First of all, unlike most of you, I have defeated many higher end game NMs. I've beaten AV, PW, and many others among those "impossible" NMs before the level caps were raised and after the fixing of exploitation issues several years ago. Oh and let's not forget about Pantokrator, Shinryu, Rani and Raja. The supposed new "challenges". What a freakin' joke. I mean, none of them actually require a brew to beat, and I've taken all of them down without one. You need to question your play style and the people you play coordinate with if you can't do so otherwise.
Exp was never the issue, and that was never brought up in this topic, I'm not sure why you did. If you couldn't level a job then, you automatically fail in my book. I leveled 12 to 75 long before Abyssea was ever thought of. Now have 13, maybe soon to finish WHM, because ToAU/WotG jobs are stupid and almost completely useless, especially nowadays. Sorry Blu fans, I will make you fall to your knees in Ballista.
The reason I say PvP requires more skill is because when competing against actual people who know wtf they are doing, you are no longer on a single set strategy like you are against most HNMs. PvP requires quick adaptation to constantly changing situations which you might not always be ready for. If you can adapt to your situation, you can overcome it. You can't read up Wiki on how another person might react to your actions. If it were me, I would make sure your HP hits 0.
Anything else?