A cursory glance at some of the faction gear reveals to me that it's not much (or any) better than the raid gear and exotics. I put off deciding on a faction because it all seemed geared toward PvP. I see now, that it's somewhat balanced between the two, PvP and PvE. I guess I'll give it a go, which will slow down my Vanguard rep., but that's looking a little less attractive as well once one gets to 31. Thanks, all, for your responses. It's helped me to sort this out.