There's already a much larger thread around here in protest of the Jedi Knight War Hero PVP gear, and I concur with the OP's sentiment as well as those dissenting in the other posting. The gear is universely unpopular and reviled, almost all postings in all venues indicate this.
As has been said before, if the Jedi Knights guarding Tython had been shown wearing this gear rather than their Jedi robes upon game release many people would never have bought/subscribed to the game simply due to this kind of absurdity.
Also, modding out the gear is a lazy retort. No one, regardless of class, should be in a position to have to mod out their gear at extreme prices. It would be preferable to just purchase the WH level armoring, mods, and enhancements themselves rather than the atrocious pieces.
I was hoping the designers would come to their senses and solicit suggestions from the community regarding reception of appearances, much like was done with the Jedi Wizard/Sage situation, but it doesn't look like that's ever going to happen.