Well, without trying to make it sound better or worse than it is: there is a large segment of the population that has a negative bias against Stalkers - it's not that they can't perform well, but there are those that won't give them a chance to. And Spines/Nin is a good build for PvE play, having good AoE potential and Ninjitsu providing everything a Stalker needs - the critical rate outside of hidden status doesn't change because you're using lots of AoEs, and on large teams the higher critical chance (for teammates within 30' of you) means you can potentially have the highest damage of the melee ATs with all of them using an identical attack chain*.
Some of the bias stems from Stalkers before they were buffed several issues ago - they had lower hit points, did less damage, and their criticals depended either on being in hidden status or on attacking mobs that were mezzed (which are the ones that are the least worrisome). Some of it stems from people who, were they on another AT instead of a Stalker, would be kicked off of teams for playing the way they were (attacking once and running off, or running all over the map "scouting" when most of the team wants to fight through it), but for some reason it was blamed on the AT for enabling them. Part of it also comes from the simple fact that most of the time a Brute does more damage once Fury is built up and has more hit points and acts as a focal point for enemy aggro - Stalkers contribute damage, and that's about it. Everything redside contributes damage.
So yes, you'll run into some people that don't want Stalkers on their team - and it does make it harder to get onto some Strike Forces if you're not the one leading. Although that's not just a Stalker thing - honestly, with the effect that buff/debuff sets have on PvE play, you run into large segments of the population that don't want anything except one or two Brutes and the rest Corruptors for those.
And with all of that said, if you're a good player you'll make friends on the server and never have to worry about finding teams. A good player on any AT is better than a bad player leeching on an "optimal" build. If you really want to play a Stalker, play one, fill up your global friends list, and don't worry about it. 
* - this ignores little things like damage auras which add substantial damage over time, and often Stalkers have fewer AoEs than the other ATs (Electric Melee is an exception)... thus the "using an identical attack chain"
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Originally Posted by PleaseRecycle
it has gone from unconscionable to downright appalling that we have no way of measuring our characters' wetness.
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Originally Posted by Brillig
It's hard to beat the entertainment value of Whackjob Wednesdays.
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Well if it helps, I took my Em/Nin to 50 teaming all the way, before the Stalker buffs, I leaded a lot of teams but had no problems getting invites. This was on Freedom btw.
I don't know if there is resistance on high end TFs such as RSF and LGTF because when I did them on my Stalker I was teaming mostly with the Repeat Offenders so I could bring any toon I wanted because they knew me and stuff.
But hey, a nice VG/SG, joining server channels and global friends can eliminate any problem you may face in finding teams.
I'm new to CoX and I've rolled up a Spines/Nin Stalker on Virtue.
So far it seems fun... I've been mostly playing duo with a friend who's rolled up corruptor.
My question is... from my reading around I've gotten the impression that a lot/most people play Stalker for pvp... I dont know if I'll get into this (I might very well do) but ignoring that aspect for now... is Stalker viable in pve? Will I have trouble grouping and such for TF's and such?
Also a spines question... at lvl 8 my damage is definitely worse compared to my Corruptor friend but it looks like I might just have to wait until I get some of the later skills (impale, ripper, throw spines) to really come into my own. Is this accurate?
I've also read a fair amount of negative comments around about stalker outside of a pvp context but I don't know how much of this is outdated etc.
Basically.... for pve focus... and by that I mean just going through the content as a duo or in a team... and hopefully doing the big team stuff like recluse strike force ... am I going to struggle with stalker? not getting invites etc... Or will it be fine. Since I'm new etc I'm not necessarily concerned about being the best possible etc.. I guess another option could be brute. Would that be a better choice?
Thoughts?
Thanks!