Hayeth, this needs to be seen by BioWare - Consider this my signature. Taking into account how much they've learned from other titles, I'm surprised they didn't lift this from CoX. It'd be perfect; A Master and Apprentice/Padawan system.
Without this mechanic, the game will suffer. It helps expand the game so much, allowing people to participate more and experience more content without making it less challenging. I left City of Heroes just before SWTOR was released, so I'm relatively up to date with the goings on over there.
For example, taking a level 50 character in CoH and doing a level 15 Task Force (Flashpoints and Heroics, essentially) was still a challenge. Your powers got Exemplared down to level 18 (enhancements were too, but that's more complicated) so you still saw some advantages, but nothing that tipped the scales too much in your favor. That being said, I don't know how they'd exemplar gear in SWTOR. As mentioned elsewhere in the topic, CoH is based on enhancements in powers. Reducing the Rank of your individual powers down to what you would have at level 20 if you were participating in a level 15 Flashpoint may be a step in the right direction. I think gear should be left as is, with you being exemplared to the level of the mission. That would give a fairer advantage, I reckon.
Of course with SWTOR exemplaring should be more of a choice. Players should be able to choose whether they want to steamroll a mission or not.
- Hephaestus (SWTOR - Rogue Moon Server), Baltoro (CoX - Union Server)