Mike, no guildies you can play with? The honor grind is soul-crushing this time around, for some reason. I honestly think you're better off just getting conquest points and gearing up in Vicious instead.
I LOVE rated BG's. For me, fighting over objectives will always be more fun than just straight-up fighting. That said, for my guild this is what you might call a "building season" :). When we can get a team together we always have a lot of fun, but we don't win enough to cap out CP's every week. While I don't love arena, I am having more fun with it than I expected, and knowing I can get my CP's there before rated BG night (and thus get honor in rated BG matches) takes the pressure off the battlegrounds.