Snow

Hmm, I never really get much of the "EZ Mode" stereotype. Certainly it's a more "strategic" feel than some classes, but at least on my server, it seems the most respected pvpers are the healing paladins, and I think with good reason. Having clutch abilities on long cooldowns(DS, HS, BoF, BoP, HoJ), and being very screwed if a mage gets a counterspell off(with no HoTs and a weak instant heal) means you have to be very careful about when to use what ability, even if there isnt' much "variety" in the abilities you use. Perhaps every server has a different culture about it but most of the "local famous names" I can think of are holy paladins.

As for alternative specs, I think we all know the answer to this. 41/20 (with variations by taste) is currently the best PVE healing spec, and the best PVP healing spec. Paladins aren't currently anything in end-game but healers (Blizzard's half-hearted attempt otherwise nonwithstanding, and the ignoring the presence of a couple people bucking the trend), and in PVP it's no different. Ret I could see functioning on 2v2, but even there it seems suboptimal. Prot really doesn't have any PVP talents beyond reckoning which isn't going to one shot anyone anymore. I would hope that Blizzard would take steps to rectify this, but since the official opinion of the class designer is "In PVP, paladins help their team most by healing" then I doubt there will be any changes.