Thanks for the advice guys. If anybody has any other ideas it'll be much appreciated.

I'm just about to return to this game after a 14-month break - I was especially pleased when my lvl 23 alt managed to keep his original name! I would like some help though if possible. One of the things that got me jaded the last time around was suddenly not being able to pick up archaeology items because my characters lacked the experience required. Is it possible to buy experience with cartel coins (like you can in LOTRO, for example, with its in-game currency)? Because to be perfectly honest, going back to earlier planets just to gather items is the last thing I want to do. I am a subscriber.

Being a casual player, who plays other MMOs as well, I'm well and truly grateful for these double-XP weekends. This weekend, in about five and a half hours of playing time I've managed to level my main from lvl 30 to 33. I do however, have a dilemma with how to spend the next 3 weekends - do I try to get my main to as close to lvl 50 as I possibly can, or do I give my alt (who's currently lvl 23) some of the benefits of double XP? My current inclination is the latter, as one potential drawback I see from this exercise is characters on artificially high levels being underarmed, underarmoured and underfunded for the quests available to them. Whichever avenue I take, I'm looking forward to the next 3 weekends.

Seems a good idea to me. Maybe we could persuade Mott from the Starship Enterprise to relocate to the SWTOR universe.

Seeing as Bioware have announced that Rise of the Hutt Cartel will be released in the spring, that suggests that the Cathar spieces could be included in the pack (they also announced future species etc. would not be available to free players, I believe). Just an educated guess, though.

I've just registered my interest on Facebook and indicated I'll be going to the London event. Is that all I need to do? Doesn't seem a good first-come, first-serve system to me. Will tickets be issued?

This afternoon I checked the server status prior to logging into the game and was absolutely amazed to see my server, Red Eclipse, Full! One thing that came to my mind was how long it would take me to get into the game, considering I'm a subscriber. The answer was - immediately. Just two days into ftp and I'm realising the benefits of subscribing already. Thanks Bioware. Lets hope ftp continues the upward trend in people who want to play the game and keep the servers healthily populated. Who knows, we may even get to the point where more servers need to be introduced.

I don't know. Though it pains me to say this, with Disney at the helm, a time travel device is not beyond the realms of possibility.

Where's my copy? Checked my order on play.com and it's still showing up 'Awaiting Stock'.

Still love the game and will continue to subscribe. Lets hope FTP will treble the player-base and generate enough income to provide the game with what it truly deserves - expansions.

Thanks AlixMV. That's really good to know. From some of the comments I've read on this thread it seems pretty clear I've been neglecting some aspects of the game, particularly crew skill development to produce and sell goods. Still, you learn from your mistakes and it's nice to know that the CM will get me out of this particular jam.

Being a relatively casual SWTOR player, I'm currently not in any guild but would love to find one just to socialise with people online and exchange tips on the story content and find others to do group missions etc. Most of the guilds I've read up on seem to be 'level 50 clubs' existing purely for operations.

Yeah. Despite having this game since early access I'm still only level 27 with my main character (and with only 1 alt). Some of us have busy working lives and cannot devote ourselves to the game as we would like. I've noticed some other games have a similar feature. LOTRO, for example, allows you to purchase the riding skill from its online store with Turbine points. It seems only right, by the same token, that you should be able to purchase the speeder piloting skill from the cartel market in SWTOR.

Just done another search and found this link which lists the items that will be available: http://dulfy.net/2012/10/23/swtor-cartel-market-items/#more-18900 It shows that the speeder piloting skill I will be available for 475 CC at level 10 and speeder piloting skill II will be available for 225 CC at level 25. A good reward for loyal subscribers indeed. Which takes me back to the in-game credit price. Do you think 35,000 is rather expensive? Will some of you be preferring to purchase from the cartel market?

I don't know if this has been mentioned somewhere before, but will I be able to purchase the speeder piloting skill with my cartel coins when the game goes ftp? I now find myself on Tatooine, an empty planet which is an absolute bore travelling around on foot, and with the amount of credits I have even at level twenty-seven, 35,000 seems a rip-off.

Can you play any of your older games on it? Just asking.

I think this game has a long-term future, IF Bioware introduce one crucial factor - expansions. Although I haven't read all the posts on this thread, this seems to be an element that many of the posters on this thread are missing. Although introducing new operations, flashpoints etc. will keep players playing in the short term, introducing new planets with new storylines to extend your character beyond level 50 just has to be the way forward.

I wouldn't bother even thinking of upgrading to Windows 8. It's so revolutionary (in a desktop sense) and so potentially problematic for gaming that 99% of gamers will want Windows 7 to be given 9 lives, much like Windows XP.

Absolutely amazing publication. It contains so much detail it makes you wonder how many different minds went into the realisation of the SWTOR universe, and how it fits in with rest of Star Wars lore. The fact it's published by Dorling Kindersley speaks volumes.

Sounds great but I would've expected the tour to come to Europe at some point:(.

Mustafar Dathomir Naboo Having planets change from day to night and vice-versa would also be nice.

Like the facial expressions.

Which is the very reason I've started this thread. Bioware have NOT come completely clean and listed ALL the factors.

Points taken Mdgshorty. I personally also have a life away from the pc and am only advancing my characters slowly. However I placed the money one higher as keeping up your subscriptions demonstrates a greater loyalty to the game, which is also one of the reasons first-come, first serve is not very fair at all, and is at the bottom of the list.

Seeing as Bioware are refusing to spell out in full how they determined which characters got to keep their names and which had to change, I think the time is right to get peoples' views on what criteria should've been used. Below is what I believe is the fairest. Feel free to agree / disagree / come up with alternative ideas as you wish: In order: i) The character belonging to the player that has paid the most money into the game to date (include the fact that CE owners will have paid more than SE owners, and assume 6-month subscribers have paid the same as 6 x 1-month subscribers); ii) The character with the highest level; iii) The character that is further into the story (thus giving right-minded players priority over ‘power-levellers’); iv) The character belonging to the player with the greatest number of name changes across ALL his characters; v) The character that has had to have it's name changed last time around; vi) The character belonging to the player that purchased the grander edition of the game initially; vii) First-come, first serve.