Given the question, "equally respectable" and "yes" are the same thing. :P Having gotten several pieces of raid gear I do have to say I respect IB gear more. You can be carried through the raid, you can cheese the bosses, but you can't cheese the IB bounties. You need the bounties to effectively farm the rep and those are based on individual merit. Somebody that gets both pieces of IB gear STILL needs a piece of raid gear to be 30. So if I see a 30 with IB I can reasonably assume the following: - he/she has done the raid and is at least familiar with the mechanics - he/she is a competent player and won't be a liability - he/she has patience and dedication to see things through PLUS the extra defense and offense of a level 30 applies equally.