Arguably, the main reason P4 was nerfed to P3 is due to impact P4 has on players. P4 is almost invincible and a lot more powerful when compared to P3. This meant when someone was in p4 unless you were teamed with them you were almost certainly going to die. In situations like these, many players would leave the server.
Especially, in times when there are only about 10 players online, I have seen it drop to 2, me and them due to their p4 discouraging others and not wanting an unfair fight. Yes, there is barebones for fair fights, but P4 was incredibly strong and unfair. I do understand that you guys spend awhile gathering it, but it shouldn't have been added in the first place.
It is heartbreaking to see innocent players joining the server and not even having a chance to pvp as they can just be hit 1-3 times and they are out. These players were generally the ones to leave, and it is far better in my opinion to have more people on kitpvp and be in p3, then have only a few on.