There is nothing to suggest that it is a bad thing. I think that people will be working to get the new 'group' gear as soon as possible if its better than CE raid gear. Here is the deal. If say they made a gap. Between the group game and the raid game. You then are FORCING new players to the game to grind out old raids to play catch up. You see this in games like Everquest. Where people had difficulty jumping to current content because of a gap. I for one will work towards ANY gear that is better whether it be group or raid. I am honestly disappointed with the raid stats there isn't a huge difference that I am seeing.