I wonder if your issues are like mine, i.e. playing republic-side is just gross. I made a character on a friend's server so we could WZ together, and she's all like "level up faster", and I'm all like "the republic makes me want to vomit". At least there's the smuggler, so I can roleplay not caring about the republic and just being in it for the money. Although that kind of makes me feel like a whore.