Well you got what you wanted. No legendary dmg. A less riskier wasteland. Basically adventure mode with slap dmg and 20% exp for farming. PVP is actually less dangerous in survival mode than adventure mode now. I had no problems playing the game in survival mode from level 1. (Besides the expected danger and killing!) And I often ran into and fought a lot of lower levels doing the same so no it's not just a deathmatch. That's just because the bigger fights are the only thing visible on the map.
Are you really surprised that people fight at whitesprings? It's probably the highest traffic area in the game. You could have just sneaked through it to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.
And before I leave I'll link the patch notes for the introduction of survival mode. I think it's pretty clear that the intention was a mode for PVP. Play the game how you want but expecting people to stop PVP in survival mode because you don't agree with it is just lame.