It depends how ping is handled. Planetside's model (client-side hit detection) would probably be the best UNLESS servers are set up in all major regions.
I'm from Australia and unless a server is set up specifically for the Oceanic Region, I should expect a minimum of a 250 ms ping to US West, 350 minimum to Europe.
To answer your question
gobbly2100, ping will be an issue initially and there will always be moments where I will think "damn, if we were on even grounds I could have won that" but it's something I've come to expect from MMO's and I would eventually adapt.
That is, if a server isn't set up to cover the Australian/New Zealand region. Otherwise, sweet! Then it shouldn't matter at all as everyone in the region would have the same advantage.