I'm not sure where you're coming from with this "thousaaaands of years" bit. I never got the impression from the original trilogy that history had been rewritten to show the Galactic Empire as having existed for thousands of years. After all, Obi-Wan Kenobi talks about the Clone Wars as having occurred and the Jedi Order as having existed a mere twenty years before those movies.

^ The answer to those questions is fairly simple: because the process started even before Palpatine was granted "emergency powers" and declared the birth of the "First Galactic Empire." It all began while he was Supreme Chancellor of the Republic, and is shown through the evolution of starship designs, etc., during the prequel trilogy.

No. As the warning popups indicate, only one individual is allowed to advance a class quest inside a class quest phase. That is why the screen will also indicate a "story owner." (Group phases will have a story owner, as well, but that doesn't matter much.)

Considering he was extensively involved in the writing of the first KOTOR, I would venture that Drew Karpyshyn likely knows quite a bit more about the game than you do.

This game is set 3643 years Before the Battle of Yavin (Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope). In the years 7003-6900 BBY, a galactic conflict known as the "Hundred-Year Darkness" occurred (aka the "Second Great Schism"). It was essentially a civil war, as members of the early Jedi Order turned their backs on the Order's teachings and embraced the Dark Side of the Force. These were among the first of the Dark Jedi, who fought not only their former compatriots in the Jedi Order but also sought to seize control of the Galactic Republic. The Dark Jedi were ultimately defeated and went into exile, venturing into unknown space. They found a planet called Korriban, populated by a species known as Sith. The Dark Jedi conquered Korriban and founded the first Sith Order, naming themselves the Dark Lords of the Sith. They remained in seclusion, away from the Jedi Order and the Galactic Republic, until 5000 BBY. During that time, they lost the hyperspace information necessary to return to Republic space, though they never lost their hatred for the Jedi. Over those nearly 2000 years, the Dark Lords had carved out a Sith Empire in that area of space unknown to the Republic. In 5000 BBY, two civilian explorers from the Republic stumbled onto the Sith Empire at Korriban. The Dark Lord Naga Sadow used their arrival and subsequent imprisonment as a means to rise to power, claiming an impending Republic attack. The Sith Empire returned to "known" space to wage war against the Republic and the Jedi Order in a conflict known as the Great Hyperspace War. During this time, a Sith Lord known as Vitiate ruled over the planet Nathema. In the waning days of the war, as the Republic forces were chasing retreating Sith forces back into Sith territory, Vitiate called together a powerful group of remaining Sith Lords with the promise that he could save the Empire. He performed a Dark Side ritual on Nathema that devoured literally everything organic on the planet - people, plants, animals down to even insects. This ritual imbued in Vitiate immense Dark Side Force power, and has essentially allowed him to enjoy immortality ever since. As the Republic forces battled the remnants of Sadow's fleet at Korriban, Lord Vitiate led an armada deeper into the Unknown Regions, fleeing the vengeful Republic. For twenty years they traveled, until they reached a long-lost world Sith world known as Dromund Kaas. Once there, the armada's journey ended, and Vitiate declared himself Emperor of the Sith Empire. For his part, Naga Sadow retreated to Yavin IV, where his few remaining Massassi slaves built many temples - including the one that the Alliance to Restore the Republic would ultimately use as their base of operations when the Galactic Empire's Death Star was destroyed, and where Luke Skywalker would found a Praxeum to re-establish the Jedi Order. For more information on Vitiate, see Drew Karpyshyn's The Old Republic: Revan novel.

In the Star Wars universe, the Light Side conclusion is always the canon outcome.

KOTOR I takes place 3956 BBY, KOTOR II takes place 3951 BBY, and TOR takes place 3643 BBY. The comic series Knights of the Old Republic is set in the years 3964-3963 BBY. The comic series TOR: Blood of the Empire takes place 3678 BBY. The comic series TOR: Threat of Peace takes place 3653 BBY. The comic series TOR: The Lost Suns takes place 3643 BBY. The novel TOR: Revan takes place 3954-3950 BBY. The novel TOR: Deceived takes place 3653 BBY. The novel TOR: Fatal Alliance takes place 3643 BBY. To put it all in chronological order: Knights of the Old Republic comic series Knights of the Old Republic I Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords TOR: Revan TOR: Blood of the Empire TOR: Threat of Peace TOR: Deceived TOR: The Lost Suns TOR: Fatal Alliance The Old Republic "Threat of Peace" and "Decieved" cover some of the same time frame - namely, the Sacking of Coruscant and the Treaty of Coruscant. The placing of "The Lost Suns" ahead of "Fatal Alliance" is based on Satele Shan's Wookiepedia entry, as are all dates used in this post. There was also a story arc in the 1990s comic series Tales of the Jedi entitled Knights of the Old Republic. The Tales series began around 5000 BBY and concluded in 3986 BBY. There are numerous references in the KOTOR games to characters, places, and events from this preceding series, which represents, I believe (though certainly could be mistaken), the earliest chronological works in the universe. In fact, this is the series that features the background of the Sith Empire that is present in the galaxy during the timeframe of TOR.

My Imperial Agent holds the Sith in great distaste. They are incredibly powerful and as such are not easily trifled with, but their religion seems to fly directly in the face of the efficient, ordered machine that is the Empire. As such, my Agent views the Sith as impediments to uniting the galaxy under a system of governance that is not woefully corrupt and decadent. That said, since they are so powerful and since they are the ultimate authority in the Empire, one has to be careful when around Sith, and one has to be careful to work to advance the priorities of efficient, systematic governance over the whims of religion.

When this form of punishment is mentioned in Knights of the Old Republic II: The Sith Lords, it is said to be an old form of punishment. It is likely that the Jedi Order at some point lost the knowledge that was necessary to use the Force in such a manner. For the most part, it seems that those former Jedi are left alone, though I wouldn't be surprised if the Order attempted to keep watch over them, since they would still have abilities that most individuals in the galaxy would not have. Yes. The children would have been taken to the Temple, and raised by the Order. Removing children from their families and raising them from as early an age as possible entirely inside the Order was the modus operandi of the Jedi Order of that time. Indeed. There was no retcon at all involved in Meetra Surik's loss of connection to the Force. Every time you meet a member of the Jedi Council in that game, each one's response to being asked "why did you do this to me?" is a variation on "You think we did this? We did not." The only person in TSL who claimed the Council had severed Surik's connection to the Force as punishment for following Revan and Malak during the Mandalorian Wars was Kreia - and she was not to be trusted, as she herself would tell you.

I'm not in-game at the moment, so I can't verify which tab it's listed under, but there is an Auto-Skip Movies option in the Preferences panel.

Stephen Reid said yesterday via Twitter that the Android OS version will probably not be out in time for launch. (I'm not going to take the time to wade through the old tweets for a direct link - there are too many to do so.)