Its definitely harder than other planets. On Belsavis i was able to take on 3 elites at a time, on Voss i would sometimes die to two strong mobs (Vanguard Tank). I had to recruit help more than once to finish quests that would normally not be a problem. That said, i enjoyed how hard it got, it was a really nice change of pace, i used every CD when they were up . Its lvl 44-47, no one is going to quit if they get that far, at least not over a planet.
I never noticed the travel times, and the pvp was awesome. However, i do not see the point of neutral guards if they dont react when some1 attacks another player, as i found out.