I would welcome some form of less time-consuming way to get Imperial Standing. One member of my Salvage group has to run from Al Zahbi to Bhaflau Thickets and then into Nyzul Isle every time we go to do a run, as he has no IS left. I'm sitting on around 67,000 IS due to having merited a lot back in the day, but honestly, all it goes on is portal passes and the odd time I feel like getting Regen / Refresh Sanction from the guards.
Yes, he could go solo mobs and yes, he does do Besieged when it's due, but you can sit around waiting for hours until they attack. The ratio for IS gain is 1 IS per 10 EXP I believe, so it's not a very time-effective way of getting IS. Perhaps add it as an assault reward, or make a repeatable quest that's relatively short and gives, say, 300 IS per completion. Could have it as repeatable every game day.
Maybe something even as strange as trading food or other items for IS to certain NPCs. That might somewhat encourage crafting again on a small-scale (Synergy is not "crafting"), as at the moment - every little helps.