But then they can't get the PvP backpack and most of them will never get the legendary fractal backpiece

The focus of the game has shifted

Ironically I think you have it the wrong way round when it comes to PvP, before the game launched in interviews they were talking about "e-sports", when the game launched you had mini automated tournies were the best players won gems, if you weren't good enough then tough, there were titles that players actually had to earn through skill (master of the arena, etc), if you didn't finsh top 100 then tough you couldn't get that title, you had to play a lot of PvP to get to rank 80 and so on.

If anything the focus of PvP has moved towards being more casual, the result they killed PvP, because that is not what most PvP players want.

People mention WoW, one of the reasons that WoW has been successful over the years is it caters too many different groups of players in the game, something that most MMOs fail miserably to do, including GW2, and it is that neglect that has lead to the game hemorrhaging players from various parts and the state it is in now.