My suggestion is fix the white box and graphics glitches from 1.4 with the next patch. Stuttering, white box on character selection screen, colored lines at random from blasters & lightsabers etc.

That math is nice except it's random and that means it's random every single time you make an attempt. That's why it's possible to have really long losing streaks. (or get it on the first try for that matter) Like rolling a 100 sided dice.

I still don't understand and no one has explained; all the other companions are gotten through the class story quest lines which are basically solo. Why the sudden change? Is this what we can expect from all new companions added? Does anyone actually use companions in hardmodes? Aren't companions part of the story, not the optional group content?

Yes,the stealth CC, Mind Trap/Maze & Sleep Dart/Tranquilize I believe, are only available out-of-combat.

All I'm saying is that if I needed a suit of armor or a gun in real life, I would go to the armor and/or gun store and buy them. Less blood on them that way.

Maybe they should do something different and not have gear drop as loot at all, but rather have it be crafted or bartered. Looting corpses isn't really Heroic™ anyways

You know how it works right? If you always roll Greed or Pass than anytime someone else rolls Need you automatically lose. You cannot win the roll against a Need unless you roll a Need. Somewhat ironic seeing that Need is actually the greedy roll.

Join a guild? When you run with PUGs on a need/greed loot system this is going to happen and keep happening.

The best gear is Custom or [Prototype] with Artifact quality modifications and Augments. I guarantee a lvl 13 in Custom Artifact gear will have more HP than a lvl 18 in Premium. The threshold in SWTOR is about 8 lvls; lvl 15 Artifacts are about equal to lvl 23 Premiums and so on.

Which comes from gear.

They probably have high-level characters or guildys supplying them with gear. You can get Custom gear with crafted modifications and Augments that will increase your character's stats. They are too expensive for a new character. As ^ZORG said, the first character is always the hardest.

Alright soldier! You've managed to locate the groupfinder button, you've got some missions and you're ready to queue for some Flashpoints! Only one problem, you've never played a Flashpoint before and you don't know what you're doing. Fear not! This message from a TOR veteran will help guide you in some basic, basic, Multi-player Flashpoint strategy. First go to your Preference menu and select to turn on Enemy NPC Nameplates. Yes, I know, I know, -seeing red names hovering over all the enemy's heads ruins your "immersion". That's fine for soloing or RP, but in a Flashpoint you need to be able to see how many enemies you are facing at a glance (and their difficulty). Think of it as another ability in your arsenal; Awareness. Trust me on this one, it makes a difference. I can tell when people don't have it on without having to ask (it's off by default). Damage No shortage of Damage people around, but this vital role is often misused. Damage's key strategy is to kill the enemies starting with the weakest and moving to the strongest. Yes, I know it's tempting to go straight for that shiny, shiny elite. He might be carrying cookies! Try to show some discipline. Dead MOBs do no damage and that makes your Tank & Healers jobs easier. Take out the trash! It's not glamorous -it's your duty. Target the common NPCs after the Tank starts and the CC is fired, then work your way through silver then gold. Tank A good tank is hard to find and there can be many subtle moves to playing an effective tank but we are concerned with basics here. The Tank's key basic strategy is to keep all NPC enemies focused on attacking them. Unlike Damage, Tank goes straight to the toughest enemy and makes sure to keep "aggro" (focus) in order from toughest to weakest. Attack first, taunt the toughest enemy, use defensive skills, area taunt, taunt, taunt & don't hit the sleeping monsters. Would it kill you to carry a medpack or 2? Seriously consider Biochem, then train it. Healer If a good Tank is hard to find, a good Healer is rarely seen. Healer's main job is obvious -keep the Tank alive. However, It's important to let the tank draw a bit of aggro (focus) before you start healing to keep from pulling focus yourself. If the Tank and Damage do their jobs right, most of the healing should go to the Tank. Let the Tank put a Guard on you and stay alert. Don't stand in the fire. Crowd Control If your advanced class has an ability that lets you incapacitate an enemy for 60 seconds, learn to use it. Mark targets and incapacitate them just after the tank starts each fight. Timing is important. Don't hit incapacitated enemies, it wakes them up. Don't wake the sleeping monster! Learn which abilities do area damage and avoid using those abilities near incapacitated enemies. (even companions have area attacks, so you may need to turn those off if a companion is present) ~Take tough enemies out of the fight, let them nap and save them for last~ TLDR;Slice/Disable Droid, Force Lift/Whirlwind, Concussion Missile/Round, Mind Maze/Trap, Sleep Dart/Tranquilize, are your friend. Questions?

I'll tell you why. TOR is a lvl-based & gear-dependent game. Once new content comes out or the lvl cap increases yesterday's "Best Gear" becomes trivialized compared to the "New Gear"; Say they come out with an expansion and raise max lvl to 60. -Now all that lvl 50 BH and Camp gear is trivial and comparable to lvl 60 greens.

I'm still getting the white box, stuttering and the buggy lines/lazer effects. Graphics are still messed up. Any ETA on a fix or any acknowledgment that these issues do, in-fact, exist? H-H-Hello? I-I-Is A-A-A-nyone t-t-t-here? the graphics are broken!

I love it, i think it's the coolest one.

This literally means nothing to me. Why don't you tell me how many "coins" I have in a monetary system with no reference to their relative value or any idea what I can buy with them? For all I know a single medpack could cost 1500 cartel coins.

I think Taris is really easy, I even solo'd the heroics. Wait till you get to Voss or Belsavis.

That's exactly what I was saying, you guys and people like you don't consider the 8 different story lines content, which is crap. The class stories are a huge amount of content. If you're rolling a Jedi or 2, doing a few hardmodes and pretending like you have beat the game, then of course your going to think there isn't enough content to justify Legacy. You would literally have to make 16 characters to see all the class content, not 2. (of course there would be some redundancy) All I'm hearing is "Max lvl skinnerbox please". You guys probably don't even know what roleplaying is. WOW generation, hmph. MMO gamers have no imagination. Y'all just want to tank and gank some giant monster and get yer purple loots or stand around kill-farming each other all day to get PvP gear.

The class stories are the best "real content" in SWTOR by far. I've got 6 toons now and each one is very different. I've even got light and dark toons of the same class and those stories have been different. The OPs problem, and people like them, is that they just make one toon not realizing that each class story is like a new game. They are just looking for their endless MMO endgame grind skinnerbox. Come back when you've got 8 lvl 50 characters, one for each unique class story, then we'll talk about real content.

I definitely get the impression that when TOR didn't take off with huge sustained sub numbers they stopped putting their eggs in the basket -so to speak.

Yeah dude. I mainly play this game because it's Bioware and it's a continuation of the KOTOR franchise, not because it's a MMO. I like Bioware's RPGs but I'm not crazy about MMOs. There are actually quite a few things that could have been much better about this game if it wasn't MMO.

All the other companions come from playing the main class storyline which is all solo-able -not from multiplayer dungeons. Why the sudden change?

Unfortunately the only way for crafting to be really profitable in-general is to collect the mats yourself. Buying mats on the GTN isn't an option for trade purposes (at least on my server) because people tend to overprice them.

Do people play MMOs because they like to play with other people or because they like to be forced to play with other people? that's what I'm trying to figure out.

That's a yes?