Couldn't people just do this in the arena?And there are many of us who really dislike meta min / max builds and rather have "fun" fights in "simpler" ships where one does not need Prismatic shields and SCBs to win. I think the OP is looking for something similar.
BTW, if the game itself provided a small number of PvP-only combat zones (no NPCs), then I think this might happen based on the averaging of numbers. When you remove NPCs, the game easily supports 20 players on the humble PS4 before framerate drops. With 10 players per side, not everyone has to be flying G5 Cutters. I could come in with my fixed cannon Vulture and have fun, too. My complaint with the game isn't so much that griefing happens, but rather that more traditional, "balanced" PvP does not happen, not without people going through great lengths to artificially create it. At least not for more casual "I ain't got time to grind" PvPers like myself.
Serious question.