Take a page from League of Legends for PVP
Im not talking about the toxic chat, but the play modes and how it allows groups of friends to queue together.
As far as balance, its all in the matchmaking. Don't put a team of five individuals vs a premade group. Balance them out even if queue takes a bit longer.
Quite frankly PVP would be a lot funner and have more staying power with changes that allowed friends to play together.
Why is it that this MMO insists on solo experiences? People don't want MMOs so they can play alone.... Some of us do have friends SE.....