Yah, the Silithus and Plaguelands pvp additions are supposed to promote “world pvp” with objectives, so they are not zoned… the pvp is just supposed to happen all over the zone (or at least at specific hot spots all around the zone I guess).

I like your idea of stuff like losing in BGs or pvp have some kind of direct consequence, but they could never do that because it’s “negative” so people would bitch to no end. So it makes sense that they’d make the “reward” some kind of buff and not something bigger, like vendors selling stuff for more or less. (In the beta, there used to be three xp-gain states: well-rested, normal, and tired. You’d get an xp bonus per kill if you were well-rested, regular for normal, and an actual xp DECREASE if you were tired. They thought this was a great idea to keep “casual gamers” on par with “losers who can spend 24 hours a day on this game,” but the outcry against the “negative” was so great that they eliminated it.)