I was very hesitant to switch servers originally, but now that I'm Ebon Hawk, I'm glad. There are always people to help you but you can still solo no problem if that's your thing. I've had to wait very few times and I've barely had anyone "kill steal". Definitely worth switching over.

You can also check out this thread, which has an insane amount of info: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=3898 This one might be more helpful: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=101662

I disagree. I'm on Ebon Hawk and every single time I've needed help and asked over General chat I've had MANY people respond, both over General and in whispers to answer my question and/or help me out.

Really you need to ask yourself this: 1) Are there people around for me to play with. I'm on Ebon Hawk and the answer is yes. 2) Are they releasing new content. Again, the answer is yes. Who cares how many subs there are, and why argue about a number? The game will go on for a while as they have invested a lot into it. Less worrying about subs, more about playing the actual game. Worst case scenario, it dies and we all move on to another game and everything will be OK.

You could build your own PC... Or you could just walk into a computer store you trust and just throw money at them so they can do it for you. I live in Canada so I went to Canada Computers, told them I wanted a system that could play SWTOR and I got something for less than $1000 with taxes that runs any current games beautifully (including SWTOR). All I had to do is bring my PC home, plug it in and boom I was all set. To me that's worth the extra money because of the convenience.

I got the app for my Samsung Galaxy S2 (Android) and it works perfectly. I've never had a problem getting a code to log in and it does give you access to the Security Key vendor without having to pay for a physical key.

This made me laugh out loud. Back on the subject. There are so many suggestions people have given the OP but I don't think that was the point of this thread. I mean, I do get it, it sucks to have to change your name, but you have a lot of options. Add an apostrophe, add a last name to Shayde, add letters to it... Honestly if people "know" you from your internet legacy that you've left in all your other games played as Shayde, I'm sure if they see "Shayde Greyface" or whatever they will come up to you and say "OMG are you the legendary Shayde I grouped with in Ultima Online in 1998?!" and all will be well in the world. You don't have to go from Shayde to Frank where no one will recognize you. Even from an in-character stand point you can write up a whole reason why Shayde suddenly finds out his last name or is reborn, etc (or goes undercover haha). I mean, you even mentioned that your kids went through the transfer and were fine with it... Maybe take example out of that if anything.

I'm sitting at work dying to play after buying the game yesterday and this was very helpful. Thanks!