This really isnt my place but as someone who keeps coming back to the game and tries to overlook its flaws I can tell you that the developers rarely comment on specific things or about changes in any real detail. Alot of the problems bothering pve'rs are very much there and not likely to change. Ive had this game since September last year and have gotten a reply from Mercurysteam exactly one time. And that was a week ago because I used a bad word.
Those of us closely following the game have realized that 1st and foremost Mercurysteam has a vision for the game that they arent wanting to deviate from and that centers around the Antagonist and everyone needs to deal with it. It is what it is. In the meantime I will keep coming back and hope for the best while fearing the worst for this game in the long run without alot of improvements being made.
Yea I didn’t have high hopes for an answer but the situation is so frustrating I thought it was worth a shot, they do seem to have that kind of “deal with it” attitude, which isn’t healthy for any business, more so in an industry as competitive as this.
While it is doubtful that there will ever be a separation between pve and PVP. They just recently widen the range to help speed up antagonist matchmaking so the encounters are more frequent than they used to be.
At the point it would more beneficial to the Raiders and antagonist to increase xp and the reward system for both parties. Raider rewards decrease with the encounter and if the antagonist gets jumped everytime they spawn they don't get anything either.
While I can't speak for what MercurySteam end goal for the long run is I do know that separation of the two would split your player base resulting in long matchmaking que times.
Low population is an issue that is clear (although I would argue the forced nature of the antagonist system played a significant role…), in the end as a player and customer that is not my concern, I am here to be entertained, not to entertain some antagonist, both parties antagonist and raiders should be on the same page when queueing for pvp, the way it is handled currently feels downright disrespectful.