Selecting need for loot

Im thinking its one of 2 things... He is bored at work and likes to argue (I can understand that)

Or. He's the type of person that knocks Ice Cream out of the hands of children, walks into churches and swears loudly, cuts off other drivers in traffic, Walks to the front of the line in a convenience store, Calls his coworkers names, Flips the bird to passing cops, and goes to depression meet up groups to tell people their lives are worthless. All because he can, has the right to, and isn't breaking any rules or laws.

I would Imagine if #2 he is also trying to justify his position on bucking societal norms for the sake of his pleasure rather than give an ounce of care to anyone else.

Yes it is. So there for HE should have informed the group that he would be rolling on ANYTHING he could use for his companion. Lack of communication is the number one problem. You can't BLAME the other members of the group and NOT blame the OP. Defending his stance is one thing. Defending the OPs lack on no communicating is saying its ok to act as you will and not expect the rest of the group to not become upset.

He is at fault for not speaking up how he intends to roll. Its the groups fault for not explaining the loot rules it wished to use. So if your going to blame the group for NOT explaining the loot rules you have to blame the OP for not speaking up about how he rolls loots.

Then why am I not allowed to obtain gear for a companion? What is so taboo about obtaining gear for a companion?

So quick question on etiquette since this appears to be the thread; why does everyone say to roll "greed" on stuff like speeders from ops bosses and rep tokens from strongs? Surely if you don't have something yet that you can use (speeder) or have reputation left for the week you "need" it and if you want to sell/alt (speeder) or stockpile (rep) you'd greed? I always ask in groups, esp for ops bosses (or say what to do if I organized) but some people think I'm weird for doing it that way.

Similar for crafting materials, though its usually master looter for that and distributed evenly at the end (statistically if everyone needed across all ops ever it would come out evenly but its a lot of credits so I understand the desire for a more consistent amount per week).

If you want something you should hit need. There is time to fix mistakes afterwards.

I'm sorry, I should have clarified that. If the group establishes ground rules before the run, then when someone violates those ground rules they deserve to be kicked and I will vote to kick them. If the group does not establish ground rules before the run, assuming that "social convention" or some other loot rule system will be used, then I will vote no to any attempted vote kick against a player who rolls need for his companion.

There is nothing wrong. I do not make a "hierarchy of neediness" to judge people with. Certainly if someone can use the gear I will defer to them.

you are completely able to obtain gear for your companion. People do it all the time and no one has a problem with it...

However,
a team consisting of IA,BH,SI,SW
The group as a whole adheres to the social norm rule of "greed if it isn't an upgrade for your character."
If a Strength item drops and the SW does not need it for his character, Everyone will hit greed.
If a Willpower item drops and the SI does not need it for his character, Everyone will hit greed.
If a cunning item drops and the IA does not need it for his character, Everyone will hit greed.
If an Aim item drops and the BH does not need it for his character, Everyone will hit greed.
This is established by the rule the party is adhering to.

So when the Strength item drops and the SW has no need for it Everyone rolls greed, but if the IA rolls need, and especially last. He knows without a doubt he will get that Item. Every single one of those classes has a strength based companion. and every single one of them may want that gear for their companion. but since the group rule said greed for companions, they did, and so were cheated out of that item by the one person who used a false pretense to get a 100% chance at loot. This pisses people off and kicks happen.

However if the Strength item drops and the SW has no need for it Everyone rolls greed, but the IA says "I really need that for my tank companion. Can I roll need?" There would be no problem at all.

It's not about what you use the gear for. It's about how you obtain the gear.

I'm going to shock you here and agree that rolling need for a companion can be seen as selfish, which is why I choose to follow "social convention".

One of the areas we disagree is when it comes to denying a player the option to roll need for his companion if someone wants it for their character. To me it is every bit as selfish for a player to tell someone that they cannot have a chance to win that aim chest piece with defense because the vanguard DPS might want to tank, or that I cannot have a chance to win that cunning chest piece for risha because the gunslinger wants it.

You may not agree with me, but that is the way I see it. In both situations, one player is being given a higher chance to profit than another when all contributed. In the case of the player who bucks "social convention" his need roll trumps all the greed rolls of those players who choose to follow "social convention". In the case of the character before the companion, the character's need roll trumps the roll of the player who wants it for his companion as that player is only permitted to roll greed.

Your failure is failing to communicate what you were going to do in the group. You should have told the group upfront beforehand not after you did it.