In my own personal experience, I've had multiple of my characters "banned from the hub" by PCs from districts or factions, for no real IC reasons beyond ... Not obeying when they /shout "HALT!" because "I don't recognise you!". In one case it was an UD-friendly race that had caused 0 problems as of yet and had 0 surface allegiances, hadn't even talked to anyone yet outside of adventures, but some began to spread (and post) the rumors that they are a surfacer (not true, yet) and "unwelcome for disrupting trade", because they failed to halt once to a random Drow shouting. Sorry, had places to be, and you're not a guard. Not sure how selling wares cheaper than anyone else, silenlty, is "disrupting trade" but alright. That character went on to actually become a surfacer because they might as well. Self fulfilling prophecy, and the UD ended up with an enemy that ultimately was too much for them to handle, and was secretly and sometimes not so secretly behind a lot of their defeats.
Another character, has been attacked in the hub multiple times without reason or provocation, and then attacked for killing their attackers, and then attacked for having 'been a part of problems' in the past (said attacks). In all of these attacks, my character was fine, but the bodies just kept piling up for absolutely no reason. All they use the hub for is crafting and selling up between trips, and sometimes a casual chat if someone bothers to stop them and initiate such a thing. They have a reputation of being incredibly respectful and polite.
I'm not saying this to be salty. Neither of my characters were ever killed, in fact, it's the attackers that ended up getting killed/hurt. Worst case scenario I've had to leave the hub for about half an hour and come back later. Neither character has been prevented from using the hub whenever they want, but the fact remains that PCs regularly treat the hub as if they are guards in their own settlement.
I'm bringing these points up, not to air dirty laundry, but to very clearly illustrate just how much of a disconnect there is between what the staff say the hub is, and what the hub actually is.
The wiki says the hub is a place where if you come and do peaceful trade and leave (ie, not gathering info, not arguing, not doing anything) the peacekeepers will make sure you can do that.
In reality, the hub is a place where there are no laws, and whatever group has the most active amount of PvP-viable builds can openly and freely attack as many people as they want, for whatever reasons they want, and then just say 'Actually, you were disrupting the trade."
This is what I mean by the rules need to be made/enforced stricter, rather than having a no-pvp zone.
Conflict is fine, and good even, when there is reason behind it. If you are in the hub it should feel dangerous, and you should watch how you conduct yourself or things end terribly very swiftly, but that doesn't also mean a free-for-all where anyone can kill anyone for any reason. That absolutely is ignoring the peacekeepers.
I play all over the server. It's only once I get to the hub that there always seems to be one group or another trying to throw their weight around by the portal as if they're guards in their own settlement.
Seems a change is needed to fix the discrepency between what the staff is saying the hub is, and what it actually is.
It'd be nice to see, but ultimately, I'm also fine with just killing someone every time I want to conduct my business, but keep in mind not every build/player is going to be able to do that, and most just get run out.
If the hub is meant to be a PvP-free-for-all, then just do nothing. That's what it currently is. Maybe correct some of the wording in module and the wiki so that players stop getting the wrong impression.