It's science fantasy. The "Force" is something completely supernatural/fantastical, and any "science" elements are superficial at best; they're just there to provide cosmetic flavor at most.

Well, I checked my e-mail first, so I managed to avoid that issue. I'll hang on for Doc on my JK and go with Theron on my Consular or Trooper.

Overpowered? I'm just going to point out that I did Star Fortress on Heroic 2+, and the final boss seemed really intent on killing my companion. I somehow managed to keep aggro off my companion just long enough on my last attempt to beat the boss. My companion, however, finally ate it once he attracted the boss's attention and I just couldn't get her off of him. Basically, I don't think the companions are super OP.

How is 14k massive? Credits were always easy to come by, and I don't find 14k to be excessive for high-end mods at all.

I've enjoyed the story, and yes, that IS what I want here since it's NOT what I get in other MMOs. I've played WoW for a very long time, and you know what? I got bored of the latest WoW expansion pretty quickly, even with the addition of the garrisons and followers and the newer stuff. I'm also going to point out that they've tried to do a bit more with story in WoW (don't consider it particularly successful or interesting compared to the story in KotFE). Now if you want to rush through story stuff, go right ahead and do that - and then move on the doing the fhlashpoints and ops like you would raids or heroics in WoW and so forth. Duh, the only thing you ever do in all MMOs is get to max level and then pretty exclusively raid or do instances - and even THAT eventually gets boring. These days, I get bored of that crap really quickly. It certainly sounds like they'll be adding more FPs/ops in the future - they just won't be out right now, and it may be a while before you see any new stuff beyond the Star Fortress. The story here is one of the few things that sets the game apart from other MMOs, and I like it quite a bit overall. I also used to be a raider in my WoW guild until I finally got bored and decided I wasn't interested in it after years and years o endlessf raiding.

Well, I'm enjoying it, so toodles. Maybe all you people who feel compelled to write giant "Waaaaah, I'm leaviiiiiiiiiing!" threads could make one thread and post in there. *rolleyes*

Well, I very definitely had a chance to kill a former companion (technically, it was one of my SI's former companions) OR to recruit him. I chose to recruit him instead of killing him, because I don't waste human resources/alien resources. How is that a choice that doesn't matter? As for massively branching narratives? That's a separate issue, and I personally have realistic expectations in these situations, so I don't expect much more than to have my choices add a certain amount of flavor for the most part. Ever play a Telltale game like TWD S1? Yeah, you have choices, but they're there for flavor, and regardless of what you do, you ultimately end up in the same place with Lee (his fate isn't up for negotiation). However, your actions and choices certainly change the tenor of the final scene with him, particularly your relationship with Clem. As far as KotFE goes, one example is where you can choose to kneel before Valkorion or not. While this essentially results in the same major outcome, it's clear that kneeling or not kneeling leaves a mark on your history, and the game says something about your actions being remembered when you make your choice. Presumably, you'll either be looked upon as a hero for doing one thing or be looked at as a villain for doing the other, and perhaps people will respond to you differently in the future because of the choices that you've made. That being said, it's still so early that we don't quite know what might happen later or how much impact our actions will have on relationships with other characters. If the story is solid in general with a decent amount of flavor, then that's usually good enough for me. If you came into the expansion with unrealistic pie-in-the-sky expectations, then maybe you shouldn't play the game since you're probably going to be frustrated if you think you're going to see major plot points that wildly diverge from each other. Could they still do that? Maybe, but it's really best to temper your expectations.

I can tell you that i got Yuun and Xalek and Talos on my JK main and that they have slots for gear - these were my alts' companion, so presumably, any old companion from the original game seems quite likely to retain their equipment slots (except for droid companions who only have the appearance customization slot). When I temporarily had access to Kira, Doc, and Scourge, they had equipment slots just like Yuun, Xalek, and Talos before being separated from me in Chapter 1. Now I like to mix things up and try new outfits and will experiment a fair bit if I see something nice, so my point was ONLY that while this situation with the newer companions is somewhat disappointing, one can at least look on the bright side in that the original companions can still be customized if you choose to - which works out fine for me. If you like sticking with one look, hey, that's your thing. *shrug* If the current situation is permanent with the newer companions because of cinematics or because the devs want them to have an iconic look/whatever reason, that's unfortunate. Maybe it could change later at some point and the devs will eventually add slots for armor so that you can customize them more - who knows. I don't think anyone can actually tell you what the reasoning for it actually was except for a dev, but good luck getting an answer about it from them on that.

Well, you can't equip gear on newer characters, but you can clearly alter their faces via the customization slot. Perhaps this will change in the future, but maybe it's about these specific characters keeping their iconic armor (well, if you consider their gear iconic that is) looks for now? One can only guess. Though it's unfortunate that you can't alter the new companions' appearances substantially (beyond the face thing), at least your cartel armor, etc. won't completely go to waste since you can stick that stuff on your older companions if/when you get them back. I would actually like to dress Lana in something else if I could. Her armor is a tad bulky, and I tend to be a bit of a fashionista with my companions.

I just did a regular bounty and a Kingpin bounty and had no trouble at all - both bounties were taken down very quickly, and the planetary trash mobs were a non-factor since I was about 6-7 levels higher than the mobs in the vicinity of the bounty targets (I did the regular bounty on Coruscant and the Kingpin bounty on Ord Mantell today). I even experimented with the trash mobs around me, which effectively took about a second to kill as I pointed out in another thread (that was for regular trash - the silver guy I killed maybe took three seconds). On Coruscant, I was 18 and the trash was 11, with the bounty target being level 18. It actually seemed even easier and quicker than before level sync. Whether or not that was because they rebalanced the mobs or because of my newer gear, I'm not quite sure. In any case, it was a very smooth experience. Honestly, if the fact that you can still kill things extremely quickly with little to no trouble just like you did before level sync is an issue, bye I guess?

But thanks for wasting our collective time with a melodramatic rant about how you're leaving. The only stupid thing that I'm looking at right now is your hyperbolic thread title. BTW, can I have your stuff? I'd like to vend all of it and then buy my companions a round of drinks to celebrate your imminent departure!

Really,OP? I had to fight mobs after getting knocked off of my speeder once - they were gold and silver mobs on Ilum in the heroic camp area, and it didn't exactly take that long to kill them (no time at all really). It's not like this change has suddenly resulted in you having to stop and fight every single mob you encounter for two hours straight or something equally ridiculous. And considering that you can quick travel to most places, you probably shouldn't actually have to ride through all that many mob-congested areas anyway. Your reaction is, as far as I'm concerned, both silly and extreme, given my experiences on I had no trouble with any enemies that I encountered. I also happen to drive smart instead of driving right over mobs - you might try that if you insist on driving around everywhere. BTW, to that other guy who was saying that doing bounties will suck because of the trash mobs, I just did a bounty on Coruscant. You know how long it took to kill the target? Less than a minute just for the target. Even if I had somehow driven through a bunch of mobs or aggro'd a bunch of mobs, I really, really doubt it would have been a problem. Why? Because I was SEVEN LEVELS HIGHER than all the trash in the area (I was level synced to 18, just like the bounty target was level 18 - all the Coruscant trash mobs in the area were gray and were level 11). So before prematurely complaining about how much something will suck because you think it will suck, maybe people should actually go take some bounty-hunting missions first and THEN complain if they somehow end up actually having trouble - which I rather doubt will happen. In fact, either because of my new gear OR because of the level sync, the bounty target was EASIER than ever before. EDIT: BTW, I ran into those level 11 mobs on purpose after I was done with my target. You know how long it took to kill one of the regular mobs? One second - I'd say that the silver level 11 took about three seconds. Woop-dee-doo, that was SUCH a drain on my time. *sarcasm x infinity* EDIT 2: Oh, and I just did a Kingpin bounty on Ord Mantell while solo. It was about as easy as the regular bounty on Coruscant. I was also much higher than the trash mobs on Ord Mantell in the area of the bounty, so I had exactly zero trouble with killing the Kingpin and handling any trash mobs in the area.

Hah, I mentioned HK-55 chasing those critters around in another thread as an example of the humor in the expansion - absolutely loved that bit and found it hilarious (especially when another companion popped up in that scene and pretty much just shook his head after he saw what was happening).

It also isn't the disaster that it people were screaming about while claiming that it would ruin their lives because - oh dear - they might get knocked off their speeders or couldn't kill things quickly enough because they would be soooooooooooooo underpowered (not). I was level synced while doing a quest and experienced no negative effects; I pretty much sliced through everything like a hot knife through butter (and considering that I'm Watchman spec, that's actually an appropriate metaphor). The level sync generally benefits lower-level friends you might want to help, and it's clear to me from actual personal experience at this point that it doesn't really hurt you - not even in former heroic areas, which seem to have been tuned accordingly. For example, I got knocked off by a bunch of gold/silver mobs while in that camp with the heroic quest on Ilum but wiped them all out quite easily. So far, I've been to Yavin 4, Alderaan, and Ilum, and I haven't had any noticeable problems. As if crushing low-level mobs on a low-level planet was ever a challenge before the update. Since this really appears to hurt no one and actually benefits low-level people you might want to help, I'm not really having an issue with how it's been implemented after having played through all nine chapters. I still crush things and do it so quickly that I honestly haven't noticed an actual difference between my pre-4.0 crushing of low-level mobs and my post-4.0 crushing of low-level mobs. As for you saying that the level sync doesn't make the game better, more interesting, or more engaging for you, here's a newsflash: It's a part of the game mechanics, and game mechanics like this one generally aren't the most exciting things in the world. You want to be engaged and interested? Then go play the new story content and/or the at-level content. After reading a number of your posts, I tend to believe that you just like complaining for the sake of complaining, even when it's not justifiable - vis-a-vis level sync not actually turning out to be the end of the world. As for other issues that are actually up for debate because they're way more subjective issues, if you don't like the story content or whatever else, then I guess it's probably time for you to quit the game. Though I can agree that it would be nice if they made level sync optional for people who are still peeved AFTER having experienced the change for whatever reason, it ultimately seems to have turned out to not be that big of a deal.

I started with my JK Sentinel main as I had originally planned on doing.

Umpteenth uninformed, irksome tanturm - whee! But I see that other people have already attempted to point out really important things that you just want to ignore - like how you had to be subscribed for a specific period of time to actually get early access, etc. It's your problem if you can't read/pay attention/whatever. I will now go back to the bar to hang out with Nico a couple of days earlier than you can - tee-hee-hee. He and I will be enjoying our drinks with tiny umbrellas and will share a toast over the copious amount of tears that you must be shedding over having to wait a week to play the expansion, OP! I've been subbed since launch and never dropped, so I was subbed on the dates required to get early access. I have no sympathy for you or other people who cry about things that are essentially their fault. You want to blame the company because you didn't read the information/news/keep yourself up to date on matters? That's on you, OP!

Well, I've already said nice things in other threads, but I have enjoyed the new story quite a bit and like a lot of the changes. I think the new companions are cool and am interested in seeing how the Alliance system develops - just had the chance to kill someone or recruit them - being my JK, I recruited said person (wasn't terribly fond of said person on my SI, but hey, help is help ).

I enjoyed it - pretty fun overall. I liked the story and the new characters (found them interesting and not at all boring, unlike some people here), and I liked the humorous dialogue/scenes. Some of the ambient conversations are entertaining, and there was one scene in particular with HK-55 that had me laughing - HK was trying to exterminate a bunch of alien bugs (I guess they're bugs anyway) and started chasing them around as more or them popped up. You just kind of have to see it for yourself - heh And I believe that it's probably the first time ever that I actually ended up recruiting a companion by mixing a drink for them (btw, don't forget the little umbrella!). For some reason, it amused me - now if only I could have brought all the booze onto my ship - I have no doubt that my JK Sentinel could use a couple of drinks after spending the last five years in carbonite.

Pretty much this - I feel similarly. I expect full VA in something like DA:I or the future ME:A, but in this case, A) the main story is still fully voiced and B) I don't mind this nod to the past in the Alliance-related missions. As long as the main story remains fully voiced as chapters come out, then I'm okay with this situation. If we went full-on expressionless mannequin a la the Warden in DA:O throughout the whole game, then I wouldn't particularly like it. However, that clearly isn't the case (again, all the main story-related stuff is fully voiced as I pointed out). I mean, honestly, seeing some people say that devs should be fired because one relatively small portion of the game doesn't have you speaking? That seems like a bit of an overreaction to me (it even mentions the "classic" part in the window that popped up when I started doing my Alliance missions, so it's clearly a reference to KotOR).

Yeaaaah, I just got to the cantina and the start a romance with Theron option popped up for my JK main (had a fling with him in SoR). Now I'm in the same boat as some of the other people - I want to get my JK's hubby Doc back and saw his e-mail from five years BEFORE the whole carbonite thing, but there's now the ongoing temptation of Theron (and Koth - liked him quite a lot actually). I ended up waffling for the last 15-odd minutes and then quit the conversation because I didn't want to burn my bridges with Theron quite yet. On the other hand, I remember what a certain you-know-who from the dream sequence said about straying hearts, and I want to hang on for Doc just to stick it to that person (also because <3 Doc), but gah, it's really hard when you have two guys who interest you versus your absentee husband who hasn't had anything new to say for the last couple of years - lol. Actually, I think I'm committing to Doc now - kept thinking about it while writing this. I'm just going to go steel myself to finish the conversation with Theron and steer it away from romance. I'll just hook up with him and/or Koth on one of my other characters who aren't attached to their LIs (sorry, Felix, but I won't miss you all that much).

That's hilarious because it was basically business as usual on my JK Sentinel with all of my old abilities exactly where they were since the last time I played her. I'm 99% sure that aside from getting the new Blade Blitz ability, I didn't actually have to relearn how to do anything on her (I had to learn new schematics, but crafting is a separate matter).

I'm pretty sure that i had a lot of fun yesterday, so I'll be sticking around. However, if there's some sort of mass exodus of trolls and people prone to throwing tantrums and threatening to leave over x/y/z instead of being calm, I can't say I'll be sorry to see them go. Yeah, there are some bugs and a few issues atm, but on the whole, I've liked what I've seen thus far.

I read everything and read it closely, because reading is required to avoid misunderstandings like these. It doesn't matter that they've done it differently or that you've played other MMOs and they did things in a specific way. The responsibility is ultimately the user's. I deal with a ton of idiot authors because of my job, ones who apparently AREN'T capable of reading or understanding even the most simple instructions/guidelines. Some of them just completely ignore all the stuff that they SHOULD be paying attention to, which has resulted (far too many times) in me wasting hours of my life formatting a manuscript, only to later be told "Oh, but I didn't approve THAT!" by one of these dimbulbs. My response: "The template designer created your template, AND you signed off on literally everything in your template. Why are you suddenly complaining about the font, the font size, AND the spacing when YOU approved all of it?????" Here's one recent example of an idiot author who didn't bother to pay attention to important details: I sometimes have to place images in a book, and doing so means that the author generally has to fill out an image placement form. There are neat and clear instructions in the header rows of each column. Now in the column that very clearly stated "Image File Name(s)," the idiot author entered COMPLETELY USELESS STORY TITLES. Sorry, but did the column say "INSERT YOUR COMPLETELY USELESS AND IRRELEVANT STORY TITLES HERE"? No, it pretty clearly said "Image File Name(s)" right at the top. So this author either didn't pay attention or totally failed at simple reading comprehension. What happened as the direct result of HIS not reading? I couldn't start working on his title and then had to send the rep a semi-annoyed e-mail pointing out that this idiot needed to fill out a new form and that he would actually have to enter the image file names in the column that's specifically FOR image file names (it's been over a week, and I STILL don't have a new placement form or anything). I have zero sympathy for people who don't read (especially people here who don't read) and then complain about missing something important later - particularly since my job is made infinitely harder by authors who fail to read (and then act like it's someone else's fault, not theirs). I, for one, do NOT appreciate having to redo hundreds of pages of work and having hours of my life wasted when all it would have taken to avoid unhappiness on all sides was for the author(s) to have read whatever they were sent to read AND to have paid just a little bit of freaking attention. EDIT: The same applies here (obviously) - all you had to do to avoid unhappiness was to have done your due diligence and to have made sure to read the details closely.

Well, I haven't experienced any weird bugs like other people, so I've been having quite a lot of fun. I like Zakuul and the new companions, and I've enjoyed the story thus far. The only weird thing I encountered was the fact that all my companions' pants were off when I logged in (did read about that in another thread). That problem was easily fixed by putting everyone's pants back on - lol. I haven't crafted anything new as yet, but i did go and learn the new schematics at my trainer. You would think it was a disaster based on the crying I've seen in other threads (I understand complaints about bugs - I just mean those end-of-the-freaking-world-type posts). Even at max level with mobs close to/at my level and my somewhat older gear, I still seem to be just fine and am not having any problems combat-wise.

I had all my old JC schematics rendered useless in WoW after the last expansion, but in exchange, I got new designs that were actually quite useful. I neither wanted nor thought I deserved any kind of compensation despite spending tens of thousands of gold, but like I said in that other thread, I have this understanding as someone who's crafted in multiple MMOs for a long, long time that 1) everything eventually becomes obsolete due to expansions and 2) there is always a possibility that the crafting systems, combat systems, etc. in any MMO may be subject to seismic upheavals every so often. It's something that you need to deal with and just move on from there. I invest in designs/schematics knowing that sales value can drop like a rock, that I might have to deal with undercutting, and that I might have to deal with future obsolescence. It's the cost of busines as far as I'm concerned - and I put in a lot of effort RE'ing with my main and alts and hitting 500 in every profession on them just like you (except for my Sorc who's 400-450 in some redundant skills because her skills are duplicates of my JK main who's already 500 in Artificer/Archaeology/Treasure Hunting). As long as the new crafting changes result in an overall improvement, I don't have an issue with them. There are a number of things that will benefit us now, such as the fact that items that we craft can be as good as drops from story ops. We'll also be getting blue schematics at minimum as opposed to green ones, and they should be more useful for leveling. I don't think BW should or will hand out cartel coins in compensation for obsolete schematics or any schematic that has (as that new crafting blog now makes clear) been shifted from one profession to another, per the Artificer (my JK main is an Artificer)/Cybertech changes, etc. However, if they choose to give us credits or coins (doubtful), it'll be nice of them but unnecessary for me.