Open world PvP in particular would not even exsist. So it seems as though the carebear trend with PvP continues.Regardless of the size of Cryodiil it's not the same as being able to freely roam the world looking for a fight and/or just exploreing.
As far as I am concerned, playing an Orc, not being about to visit Morrowwind or Blackmarsh is a HUGE disappointment. Not to mention the new areas of Valenwood and Elswyr being unreachable by my Main character.

I've heard Devs speak on how much they want the player to explore their world and involve themselve in the world... but only in 33.33% of the world
Hmmm, well you can explore Cyrodiil as well as your 33.33% of the world. You get 4 provinces to explore, might wanna do your math, eh?
Anyway, there are multiple other faction-lock threads that you can talk in, but this thread is just about Cyrodiil, so let's try not to derail it. I don't see how Cyrodiil is care-bear. Many people don't want to get ganked when they're level 10 in their PvE questing area, so the devs made a very good choice. They put all the PvP in one HUGE, optional area. You could potentially spend all of your game time there (after level 10, of course).