Mm i agree that PVP has taken over PVE lol.. pre tbc as i recalled everyone has that kind of enthusiasm to raid instance, being together, teamwork and crap.. During those days wow is generalised as deeply pve mmo, kill bosses and pvp only involves merely bgs and duels..

once the arena system was implemented(tbc), everyone started to lose interest in raid instance; turning over to the rewarding path; PVP .. like in a couple months you can be equally geared like those hardcore raiders whose commited so much energy and time at raid dungeons..

based on my exp, i got like 4 core guild mates left pve environment for pvp lol.. and their got like already couple pieces of t5.. the arena welfare system should be abolished imo.. Bring back what WoW supposed to be.. lol wtf am i mumbling in here..

regarding to ur question, wow is definitely worth the money provided u got commitment and sacrificion unless ur going casual welfare pvp only.. next xpac should be better

Casual playing in TBH will get no where.. But if time is not a matter to u, raid 4 hours a day for 4 times a week, u probably end up in high end instances.. like how does my guild is progressing towards hyjal/bt .. sometimes WoW is a lil complicated