Can we have more PvP items from badges?

Q u o t e:
I'd like to see some sort of money changer at the banks who could convert honor into badges or vice versa. I'm no good at PVP (ask anyone) and decent at PVE. I'd like to be able to cross-pay for PVP gear. Similarly, those who PVP and are not bothered to run instances shouldn't be hindered in getting Nethers for crafting.

That kind of defeats the purpose of encouraging a broad range of play and appeal.

You don't have to be "good" at PvP to get honor, and similarly some would argue, myself being one of them, you don't have to be "good" at PvE to get badges. Some really horrible awful players have badge rewards, and come season 3 will have some shiny new epics.

Q u o t e:
What do you think about the back and forth, though? I'm quick to point out that everything in the game has conditions you have to meet to "earn" it, be it trading card loot, PVP gear, or Nightbane's mail chest. But it does seem that the benefits of PVP gear are also beneficial in PVE, and vice versa. I'd like to see some cross-pollination, as it were.

Really only the weapons cross over very well, hence the rating requirement in season 3.

There's definitely a "cost" on everything, what we expect most players to put into acquiring an item, and certainly some type of conversion rate could probably be figured out between multiple currencies. The fact of the matter is though, and I'm sure you already know this Pale, is that we don't want players to nestle in to an exclusive PvE or PvP role. We feel the game as a whole benefits, becomes a richer and broader experience, when everyone is participating in everything.

The OP is a good example of that being a positive experience for him, and that's really great to hear. If we didn't put in the badge cape/trinket he probably would have missed out on those experiences where he obviously had a lot of fun.

Q u o t e:
How does it defeat the purpose? I'd be transferring badges and honor back and forth all the time.

Very obviously? If you're able to exchange currency like that then there's no point in ever participating in PvP/PvE, as all you have to do is one of them and then exchange for the other.

Q u o t e:
Since you're clearly stating that you don't want players to focus exclusively on PvP or PvE, why don't you allow characters to have two talent specs that they can swtich between for free? Surely you must realize how vastly different raid specs and Arena specs are for most classes.

The original design philosophy was of the mind that a talent spec should be a character defining choice, as there's already a constant fight in attempting to differentiate characters beyond just their items. Since it's such an important part of a character, it shouldn't be allowed to be switched without some deterrent, such as a cost. The game is evolving though, and with any evolution I suspect there will be a required adaptation.