This right here is why I stopped ever identifying myself as a PvPer, even when I do engage in it. People give it such a bad name these days.
Edit: In order to contribute more to the thread, no, PvP isn't the backbone of every online game. LOTRO is a perfectly working online game that has virtually no serious PvP and the community there is awesome.
Not all games are PvP-centric. Period. Not having PvP in a game does not automatically make it a bad game. It just doesn't make it a game for those who can only feel happy doing PvP.
What so-called PvPers need to do is wake up to the fact that not everyone thinks the way they do. Not everyone is wired the way they are, and not everyone thinks everything everywhere is a competition. They are not entitled to force their viewpoint onto everything any more than anyone else is.
What's more, PvP isn't shooting people! Any veteran of EVE will tell you there's strategic PvP, economic PvP, there are players engaged in complex wars where they never personally fire a shot. There are players in high-sec who have literally no interest in combat but affect the game's economy in drastic ways.
Case in point - I have deliberately decided to fly Solo in Elite because I have no real desire for the MMO aspects. I want my original Elite space sim feel, and so far it's done it pretty well. It's not like Solo can't be challenging or there's no risk - it's just a different set of risks to be managed.
Am I anti-PvP? Well, indirectly yes in this specific context, but not actively so and not in general at all. If other people want to blow each other up, go do it - indeed, I flew in EVE for some time in such a circumstance. I just don't feel the need to do so in Elite, nor do I particularly warm to the idea of other people insisting that I must do so for a game where I'm paying just as much (probably more) money for the privilege, and the game designers have actively stated that no, it's not their focus. Nor would I want everyone in Open Play to feel actively penalised for not wanting to engage in PvP just because they wish to be social (which is why there's a sequence of measures to prevent people just being silly)
Afraid to face the world? More like tired of these narrow-minded viewpoints.
Perhaps an actual suggestion would be of merit, such as how the present Open Play doesn't support PvP (which to my mind, it does just fine - go find an Anarchy system, job done).