Open World PvP Where has it gone?

One thing I don’t often see on pvp servers is a lot of open world pvp. Yes there are BG’s always going on, but it seems like there has been a lack of open world pvp on Azeroth. I know everyone is out for the achievements and therefore most of their time is spent in the Battle Grounds. I do have a few alts on pvp servers but I wonder where all the action is beyond the battle ground? I remember the days a couple of years ago when City Hubs were littered with skeletons and even the smaller quest hubs were as well. One of my fondest pvp memories happened about 3 years ago when I chanced upon a full scale invasion into Darnassus. There had to be a good 60 Horde that bum rushed The Darnassus entrance area and man was it wicked! Initially they made huge gains but then all of a sudden the Alliance fought back with a vengeance. It was a back and forth battle for a good 30 minutes with neither side really making headway other than good old fashioned fighting. Another instance back in mid 07 happened when I belonged to an RP PvP guild that did a full scale invasion of the Barrens with the objective of taking over completely the Crossroads.  Again, another stalemate but an epic battle. All levels were welcomed into the fray as long as they were willing to fight. In the end, the Horde tracked us down back into Ashenvale and ambushed us in murderous fashion. The whole invasion got stymied right then and there.

Thing is, I wonder what happened to such huge undertakings? Are there any guilds out there that still practice war in all it’s pvp glory? Or has Azeroth in General become much like our world today, mostly politically correct with the occasional brush fire?

Something I enjoyed about Age of Conan is battles large and small would irrupt all over the place. Cities were avoided because too many guards that you couldn’t defeat ( a total fail on FunCom by the way). But I remember when WoW used to see some pretty hefty pvp action without the battle grounds.  Has WoW gone over simply to PVE orientated action only? I hear rumors that there will be guild XP for pvp kills in the 4.1 patch, is this a truth or only wishful thinking?

For the record, war is a messy business.  In the real world it’s something that has lasting effects even on the survivors. I won’t go into my total feelings here, but I do understand the devastation real war causes. In a game though, it surprises me that there aren’t more large scale fights amongst the pvp crowd.