Haven't entered an event but I have a rank?...

I have not entered a pvp event yet (haven’t played a single node, have a zero score etc) yet I have a rank of 493..why is this? (My alliance has mostly played and they have a separate rank so I’m sure I am not confusing the two)

That’s your starting position (492 people are already in the ladder).

Thanks shadetree, makes sense. So I am put into a specific ladder from the beginning regardless of when I enter and there’s no way to Be bumped to a different ladder?..

Once you choose your time slice, you are put into a group of 500.