The lack of PvP would stop me from coming back, and it's sad that taking out PvP completely is actually a common suggestion when it's completely optional.
I haven't seen anybody here saying take out PVP completely. What I meant by "unavoidable pvp" (and I think the others agree but I can't speak for them) is when you're
forced into it. When it's a necessary step in order to advance past a certain point, or to gain certain benefits/items/contacts that you need just to handle even-level situations.
CoH did it perfectly right... they made PVP opt-in only. Meaning if you chose to participate you had to go to distinct and separated areas, which were clearly labeled with big signs saying what you were getting into. Nothing outside those zones
required you to go there, and nothing you got in them was necessary just to get ahead in the game. Useful and potent, sure, but you could handle the entire game without it. That's what I'm saying; keep it optional.
If CoH itself comes back as it was, obviously that won't be an issue. But if it comes back with changes, or if a replacement does things differently, then making PVP non-optional is a change that will keep a lot of us away. Because to non-PVPers, many PVPers can make for intensely distasteful encounters. (And I know not all PVPers are like that, but the bad ones are
so bad that it's usually preferable to just avoid them all.)