He was probably talking early WoW/SWTOR.
But even then, early WoW PVP was dominated by raiders. I remember getting a crossbow out of Blackwing Lair that would literally one shot mages with an Aimed Shot. Then you had Shamans laying down WF totems for Warriors, which the Alliance didn't even have access to, and a Warrior with a raid sword could one shot other warriors if windfury proc'd, lol. It was fucking hilarious and unbalanced, but I loved it.
You're right though, the last time I played WoW a few years ago, you had to sink massive amounts of time in to even be viable in PVP in BGs, much less the Arena. There's literally no comparison between the two. Even in the Iron Banner event, if you're max level, you more than likely have gear that is capable to hang with everyone. I also understand the need for a mode like the Iron Banner. As I said above, getting that xbow in a raid, and then transferring over to PVP and dominating kids was fun as shit. This is not meant to be a ultra balanced, competitive PVP game. That said, as my videos have shown, the better player with probably still win out 99% of the time, and it's quite a feat they've even achieved that in a game with this structure.
Destiny PVP is all about your expectation VS the reality of what it actually is. It's not Halo, quit thinking it's going to be Halo because it's made by Bungie. It has flashes of Halo, but it's also very much its own thing, and if you can get past that (like I have!), you'll find a fun experience.