Well, there's still gear hunt -cosmetic and all- but it's still there. I don't see the problem with PvP, maybe people are not used to not being able to outgear people due to hours alone and that makes them feel bad about it? I don't see a problem with that, plus there's also legendaries to build.
Dungeon sets in explorable mode and big world events are the equivalent of repeatable gear hunts and PvE content, are they not? It's a weird complaint to have for this game but not others. In my experience, people at cap in other games don't run 6 or 7 different instances all the time, they run 1 or 2. The rewards kind of suck I agree, so maybe that is why.
There's definitely stuff to do still, the problem is that people get to 80 and feel they've accomplished the biggest milestone, while getting to 80 is like the easiest thing in this game. I would consider it like the halfway step of your journey, but I will admit the game is not clear about pointing you to the stuff you can do anywhere. Lack of exposition might throw people off too. I know your story ends, but the way people play PvE (not paying attention to NPC dialogue chains, going back to speak with them and what not) maybe makes them feel there is no such substance there when there definitely is.
