"...it's not the game, it's the people .."
Absolutely. IMO that can't be said enough. People can wreck the experience for you, as seen by the posts of some but for some reason they feel the need to blame HTC/AH for vulches, gang bangs, lopsidedness, HO's, idiot behavioer etc etc. However "people" can most definately "make" the experience better for you as most players find out after they join a group or find thier "niche" in AH (or any other sim/game).
I shake my head somewhat when I see others tell those who're unhappy to "Come back, or wait, for AH2!" Sorry to spoil the delusion but AH-II is not going to bring any cleansing of the arena gene pool nor make players suddenly play "your way." The same habits you see right now are the same you will see in AH-II. And to some degree you will see todays players bring todays behavior to the TOD version also. They'll find new means to enjoy thier new brand of "play" which will inevitably piss people off, leading to posts on the vBB. People are seriously "high" if they think they will see some type of "hip! hip! Say what?! Cheerio! Well done ol' boy!" and white silk scarved pilots saluting an opponant from an open canopy. The facts will be seen that they'll still get gangbanged, vulched, face large odds, HO'd, , etc etc.