If you've been reading the mods' replies you'll see that they have been thinking. They have been replying using logic to defeat the arguments presented by the pro-forced pvp crowd.
It's weird how many of the arguments come down to a sense of entitlement. "With no PVP how will I stop others from gathering *my* nodes." Like, they aren't your nodes just because they exist in game and so do you.
Having PVP on means whoever has the best gear and class counter will get the node. Having PVP off means whoever gets to the node first will get the resources.
Same for other farming spots. If too many people crowd an area and it becomes less efficient to farm, go somewhere else that has fewer people and let those who are fine with low efficiency waste their time.
I feel like a lot of world PVP will still happen if even a few people flag themselves all the time. Someone will catch them low on health, flag themselves, and try to take them out in an opportunistic fashion. A passerby will flag to help out. Soon a chain reaction will lead to all out warfare and spontaneous PVP happening in the world.
It might happen less frequently than it does now but I bet it still happens a fair amount. The nice part will be that you don't have to rush to 80 to avoid gankfests anymore.