let's be real pvp in any game that's pve focused never works.
noone plays conclave in warframe.
who pvp's in WoW?
so let's be real here, frontier devs won't really flesh out PVP because pvp only works when you circle your game around it.
a prime example is the game destiny.
it tries so hard to be a pve game, but it balances it's guns via pvp, and the result is some weapons feel like you're shooting BB pellets, whilst most just feel, meh.
PVP kills games, and there are a few exceptions, but pve games last longer and generally have longer life cycles and bigger communities, so i can understand why frontier don't really want to touch pvp with a 10 foot pole.
PUBG? dead.
Overwatch? dying.
but WoW? Runescape? even EVE online? how many years and still running?
whilst decent pvp arena's or game modes would be nice,
i think i'd rather the devs focus the man power on coding in atmospheric worlds or space legs, graphical updates to wow me, instead of boring pvp. whilst pvp is other people's cup of tea, it certainly isnt mine for the most part. i enjoy the odd overwatch game, even pubg once in a blue moon.
but the bulk of what i enjoy is farming and killing and feeling powerful.
and pvp is all about balance and fairness.
if we were to have a pvp centric game/mode/s in ED, lots of damage profiles for weapons would change significantly, and the result being that you just wont feel as powerful. engineered weapons and core systems would be deactivated (for balance) and im willing to bet if you were to flesh out PVP in ED , it would either have to class you by ship type (so a sidewinder doesnt come up against a corvette), or they would nerf literally everything great about the game just so players have a fairer chance against eachother.
i like my laser mods. i like my multi cannon mods. i like my shield boosters.
if anything i would like an event based pvp, where something happens and it comes up on the galnet news, and you go to said system where 2 mega ships are fighting, you pick a side, and players fight it out. not exactly a fantastic idea i know, but trying to come up with an idea in 3 minutes isnt easy.
so all in all, the balance world of pvp doesnt fit with pve without extreme (and i do mean extreme) balance changes that would upset so many players (including me) to make the game more fair, and expecting them to seperate pvp and pve balance wouldnt be easy in a game like this, and would require man power to develop you would otherwise want them on space legs.
so to finish, the reason why pvp will always feel like a tact-on addition, its because it is, and probably always will be. this is a pve game, not pvp