It doesn't have to be WoW to be an MMO - but you've already openly stated you want it to be WoW. Case closed.

All your suggestions detract from Bioware's one single unique selling point, i.e., story. You want tools for min-maxing, for determining who's the "best" and who isn't "carrying their weight," all under the justification of self-improvement. On the one hand, I can understand where you're coming from; Bioware ripped almost all its mechanics from an MMO where that culture prevails, so it's natural to expect this game to follow suit with mods and add-ons. But if you get what you want, then this game will have taken that final step towards becoming "WoW with lightsabers." Story won't mean jack, and future updates will reduce its importance or remove it entirely in favor of a min-max design philosophy. The draw of story is already tenuous, as it doesn't compare to flashpoints and operations in terms of rewards or challenge. But - it's all SWTOR has to differentiate it from, well, everything else. What you're suggesting would ultimately let power players tear story apart like a pack of hyenas. Unfortunately, I think that's gonna happen anyway (if it hasn't already) due to Bioware's own design choices - but I'd rather see the "community" stand up for the things that make this game different, rather than the things that would make it the same as all the other crap out there.

The worst thing a studio (or any other entertainment or artistic venture) can do is to chase after what the "community" says it wants.

Quit painting with a broad brush. I'm on the other side of that average age, and I do not fit the rest of your description. I find SWTOR significantly lacking in a few ways (mentioned in other places). For me, it's simply just not worth the $15 when compared with other options. I am disappointed; I was very much looking forward to a story-oriented MMO, but the non-story aspects just kill it for me. Off-handedly dismissing my (or anyone else's) expression of that disappointment in the way that you did is not only insulting, but counter-productive. Yes, I know it wasn't targeted at me personally - but I'm a little tired of people prejudging those of us who have decided to move on to other things.

I'm pretty much done - currently letting my second month run out. I feel like the game is saying, "Pick two: Story, challenge, or grouping (and no guarantees on the challenge)." All three are important to me, and while story kept me going for a bit, it's not quite enough to keep me subbed. Plus, there's the "too many buttons" issue, and while there are plenty of decent folks out there, the community as a whole just seems weirdly toxic, not just on the forums but in game as well. It's like a bunch of people are just waiting for their chance to shine as the biggest jackarse around. Who knows, maybe there's a contest or you get extra XP for it or something... I'm actually feeling a bit burned out on MMOs in general. I recently picked up a first-person sneaking game, and I've been enjoying that immensely. Once that's done, I might pop in to one of my old standbyes (CoH or LotRO). I don't see returning to this game any time soon, if at all.

...what a mature thing to say.

There's a commendation vendor in the cantina in the Jedi Temple (called a "Special Goods vendor" or something). The vendor sells blue class-specific gear - I think just one piece though. Edit: Or what Neeks said...

The random hate is strong in this thread.

I know you're answer is targeted at the OP and people like him, but I couldn't give a rat's caboose about gear, and I think I'm done. Stuck with it for a while for the story, and I really would like to continue, but when the game is ~25% story and ~75% gameplay, I'm finding that the story just can't sustain my interest. I'm constantly confronted by design decisions and game mechanics that drove me away from a certain other game. If it works for you, hey, more power to ya, but let's be careful with that broad brush. Oddly enough, I can't blame the OP for having certain endgame expectations, given this game's similarities to that other game. Specifically: 1) this game drives you to endgame fairly quickly, even if you're a casual player. Heck, I'm outleveling content by the time I hit level 20, unless I stick purely to class quests. 2) This game emphasizes gear too much. Like in a few other games, you're only as good as your gear, and you're exposed to a constant stream of incremental gear upgrades. In some brackets, you practically swap out your whole wardrobe between levels. It's natural to expect that gear progression to continue so long as better gear exists, and any sudden slowdown can feel like you've hit a brick wall.

All fair points, but two issues stand out for me above all others: story and challenge. If I group, it seems I can have one, but not the other. Flashpoints may offer good challenges for a group, but as far as I can tell aren't really part of the mainline story. On the other hand, grouping for main story content makes the fights trivially easy. Plus, all the rewards you mention result in a sort of WoW syndrome, where I'm being pushed through the game faster than I'd actually like. In other words, if I just want to group just for the fun of grouping (couldn't care less about the rewards), I have to give up at least one of the two things that make the game worth playing. But, as I said before, I don't think that can be fixed without a wholesale revamp of how quests are done.

WoW is one of many MMOs that I've played. I probably won't be going back - but not because I think SWTOR is so much better. If the class stories weren't so well done, I probably wouldn't be here either, for many of the same reasons that I left WoW.

OP, are you talking about heroics / flashpoints or open-world grouping? If the latter, forget it - the very nature of soloable open-world quests makes grouping pointless in at least a couple of ways. You won't get a satisfactory solution unless content is largely instanced (which many people seem to be allergic to for some reason). As for flashpoints - I'm finding that if I do 2 (sometimes even just 1), I outlevel solo content by level 21. Since the storylines are in the solo content, and since I appreciate both long-term story and a challenge, that's kind of a problem for me. Maybe other people feel the same and so don't bother with heroics as much. Edit: Also, are you just hitting people with invites with no introduction or anything? Personally I automatically decline those, as I have no idea what the person wants - as often as not, it's some bull**** reason or lack of reason altogether.

If you're physically stuck, as in you can't move, you can type the /stuck command and it will usually put you somewhere nearby. If you're in a place you can't get out of, you can use "Quick Travel" (the blue crystal-ball looking icon) to get a ride back to the bind location of your choice.

Try it.

1) You don't know what the majority of chat users speak - mainly because the majority of chat users aren't speaking at any given time. If they were, chat would be endlessly scrolling much, much faster than anyone could possibly read it. (Hint: You don't have to type to use chat - and if they're not typing, you don't know what language they speak.) 2) The idea that the "majority" is right is false. In fact, there's a term for that kind of thinking - the "tyranny of the majority." Ultimately, that's not a desirable state for anyone, even the majority of today. 3) My point isn't about language anyway - it's about overusing a common resource. Look up "tragedy of the commons" to see what I mean. If you're engaging in it, expect people to be "emo" about it - and complaining about the "emos" complaining about you is a bit hypocritical. They have as much right to "emo" at you as you have to carry on a conversation in Russian.

Interesting phrase there. What gives anyone the right to "take the chat?" That's the question - and my answer is "no one has that right more than anyone else." Again, have a quick question or want to give a quick shout-out to someone? Post in General. Want to have an extended conversation, about any topic or in any language (including English)? If you don't take it private, you're showing a lack of respect for other people on General chat, and I couldn't blame them for harrassing you about it. It really doesn't matter what the majority language is of people actively engaged on a General conversation. General chat is everyone's resource equally, and if you effectively make it useless for anyone else, you should expect fallout.

Republic hasn't really been any better IMO - in fact, my impression leans slightly towards the opposite. I've seen some incredibly inane and pointless "debates" 'Pub side. It isn't really the same. If you're having a conversation on the street, babbling tourists won't make it "scroll up" before you even have a chance to hear what was said. A little bit of Russian in General chat - not a big deal, and if people are hassling you about it, they're being petty jerkwads. A whole conversation in Russian (or Spanish, or about religion or politics or race relations or whatever) in General chat - that makes the channel useless for everyone else. Why? Why make other people accommodate you, when you aren't willing to accommodate them? There's nothing "democratic" about that at all - just selfish. ...which, really, is one of the fundamental drivers behind the issue in your original post, isn't it? Each and every person in chat thinks his or her own way of utilizing it is the most valid, and the "emo-ness" (not gonna debate the word) comes in when someone 1) thinks someone else is "doing it wrong," and 2) tries to call them out for it. In a sense, you've just shown that you can be guilty of the same attitude as "them." You seem to be advocating for your "right" to speak Russian in a public channel, while expecting English speakers to make their own channel rather than tell you what they think of you. Interestingly, the furor I mentioned in my last post only ended after I made a similar point. Among the many responses I got, someone said "Nobody cares about your opinion." My answer was, "Nobody cares about anybody's opinion, but here we are." After that, things got quiet (though maybe they just got tired of yapping, who knows).

In general terms, I get what you mean, OP. I've noticed it not only here, but in other MMOs - there's a distinct lack of humor or sense of perspective in many people's reactions. One of my first experiences in General when the game went live involved a guild recruiter advertising in both General and Trade. I saw maybe 3 messages total from her in the space of 10 minutes - and another 15 minutes' worth of full-on spam from people telling her not to spam, to go back to WoW, that she might as well sell gold while she's at it, and that her guild is lame because they're not using max level characters to recruit (with a whole tangential discussion as to whether that was a valid point). In short, the self-appointed defenders of General chat generated several times' more spam than that one recruiter. So, of course, I "contributed" by pointing that out, at which time I was told by at least three individuals that it was democracy in action and I should shut up... But for your specific examples: 1) Most games and forums have an "English only" policy for general channels. Not sure if SWTOR does (though it doesn't matter, since there's clearly no moderation in-game). My own view - if it's a one-time occurrence, no problem. It's fine to meet up with people with the same language or interest. If people are carrying on a convo in another language though, they really should take it to /whisper or make their own channel. General chat is a shared resource. 2) Why on earth would anyone be talking about his/her own real-life personal prejudices, if not to get a reaction? How could it possibly be relevant to a video game? I would assume that the person not only expects people to react, but wants them to - and I'd probably put him on /ignore temporarily, along with anyone dumb enough to respond to him. Same goes for political or religious discussions - that's not what I play a video game for.

I won't lie, I stopped playing my Operative once the whole "healing class" thing sunk in. Yes, it's possible to play through without healing, especially solo, but I enjoy teaming as well and I'd feel like a schmoe for not using it. That, and I really, really don't like that the Op's primary(ish) weapon is a big honkin' blaster rifle strapped to his back. IMO, the Op should pack a single pistol, like the scoundrel - or like every gorram secret agent in every film or movie. More discrete, better in close quarters... seems like a no-brainer. Trivial reasons, maybe, but IMO they make Ops feel like a collection of jumbled afterthoughts. I'm not getting much "superspy" vibe in gameplay - even though the storyline captures it pretty well.

There's a difference between dumbing things down vs. refocusing gameplay towards actual positioning, tactics, and situational awareness and away from muscle memory. You don't need a gazillion buttons to be smart. Other games have managed to "wrap" multiple abilities into fewer key presses in different ways, e.g., combos (DCUO, the Warden class in LotRO), "preparatory" abilities (DDO skills that proc on the next attack), positional procs (STO "flanking" and archer fire in GW), etc. I also wouldn't mind a greater emphasis on toggles, passives, and "fire and forget" skills like in CoH. For my part, I'm not really asking for fewer abilities (though many abilities could be wrapped together as situational procs); I'm asking for a UI implementation that actually takes advantage of some of the design elements that have been developed in the past 15 years.

I used to love the starting zones in WoW - lots of good diversity in terms of environmental graphics, music, and even background story. And lots of incidental NPC comments that brought home the sense of the place. My favorite was a Forsaken in Brill who said something like, "Sometimes I wonder what happened to my family. Sometimes I wonder why I no longer care..." Goofy as it may sound, I occasionally logged in just to hang out in Teldrassil, Durotar, or Tirisfal Glades. Lately however, that game seems to just play itself and push you through the starting zones in spite of yourself - really disheartening. LotRO probably comes a close second (though the tutorials suck). I mean, come on, you get to stomp around The Shire delivering mail and pies! What's not to love about that? I'm not a fan of games that just have one starting area for everyone. Kind of kills the replayability for me when I can roll an alt and do all the starter quests from muscle memory; I get bored before I even get into the game.

Thanks for the feedback, all. My main reason for not going Scoundrel is because I've played an Operative, and, to be honest, I'm not a fan of the "healer" aspect of it. Still, from what little I've seen so far, the Smuggler storyline looks pretty cool, so I'd like to play through it. I also kind of figured that Gunslinger won't be king of crowd control or utility; just asking if there's a non-dps dimension to the class that's worth speccing for, and how to spec for it without sacrificing dps.

Just made a new Smuggler and probably going to go Gunslinger with him. However, I'd like to be more than just DPS with the guy - are there crowd control options for the class? If so, is there a tree that supports CC more than the others? Any constructive advice appreciated.

I've settled into Ven Zallow for now, but I'd like to have one server for my Republic characters and one for my Imperials. Pretty much decided on the east coast RP-PVP servers, but I have no sense as to which faction dominates on either one. I'd rather play the "underdog" faction. Anyone have any numbers or guesses or baseless speculation?

The only way I could justify buying this game is by treating it like eight RPGs in one. Ironically, however, I've grouped more in this game than I did the entire time I played WoW... The MMO portion is there if you want it, to about the same degree as BC WoW - maybe even a little more.