Rogues heal? Who cares about semantics, games let you change much more about your character then what people are looking for in AC respec and are not any worse off for it. "Class" changing isn't some sacred cow, it was a limitation of technology and then a reason to keep people grinding. Neither of those should be excuses in this generation of MMOs.

My guess is that they don't want you sending all 5 crew out on the same mission, so it is a limit on how much of the resource you can get through that system, which hopefully creates a market.

Right, but what is the difference from leveling as a DPS because it is easier but switching to a Heal spec at 50 and leveling one AC because it is easier and then switching to another AC at 50. My point is that you already have people using leveling specs and then switching to their level 50 spec/role with no experience in it.

I can't see them doing anything that leads to class story bypassing such instant 50 or switch factions (unless you have a 50 of that class on your account?). I also hope they avoid being able to buy in game credits. I'd pay $15 to switch AC. Multi-companion parties would be a good feature for the game, included for subscribers, so a nice feature for F2Pers to buy for $15, specially if it comes with a new gameplay mode (e.g., companion arenas).

I can level DPS and then go try to heal a WZ or Op once respeccing. I'd also need new gear. What is the difference?

As having played an Agent/Operative, I can tell you that the three 'trees' if played to their fullest play completely different than each other, and as a healer all stealth means is I get to bypass enemies on my quests. Sometimes I even just take cover and use snipe and explosive probe. So I've go about as much in common with the other two tree as I do with the other AC.

It should be trivialized, it is the least distinctful aspect of your character after choosing your class at creation, about on par with which tree of your AC you specialize in, in this STORY based game. SWG was the funnest at the beginning and the end, when you could either grind a new template (class) in a few days or pay (in game currency) to switch classes completely because it was the same character. Having a single character to identify with keeps people. I'd be all for that complete class respecs but I'd argue that the STORY in this game is too important.

You can send your crew out while doing dailies, so assuming you are sending your crew out, you still get more credits by doing dailies then sitting in the Fleet waiting for them to return. I admit that I was turned off by Black Hole dailies but then finally went to Ilum and found those fun and quick. Otherwise I probably would just be relying on crew missions and selling items on the GTN.

Yes, people like to pay to play dress-up and the class story really makes you connect with your character and keep coming back.

It is probably exciting, but maybe it is just me being out of the loop as it is all so vague like the exciting news about epic weapon quests or whatever was the big story from ComicCon or E3.

Wow, if I had a nickel for every time an MMO developer said they had no plans for something that ended up in the game I'd be rich. For example, on the topic of F2P, BW/EA sure had a lot to say as to the differences between a game designed for one or the other, and even had this to say last december

What the above said, or wait until it is available in the Cartel Store.

Examples of what? Running into inexperienced players? That happens now and are pretty petty reasons to want to keep an option away from someone respeccing into the other half of the class they picked at character creation.

The difference between this game having a free to play trial capped at level 15 and then going to 50 is the same as WoW have a free to play trial at level 20 and then going to 50. Then WoW could just sell expansion for each additional level cap increase, like SWTOR will. But there are plenty of people who could enjoy either game for months or years without getting tired of the solo PvE, which is why the Cash Shop is added. Companies know they can't rely on these 'trials' to get people to pay a sub just for endgame access, most of those people already are subbing and they know they will lose subs from people who only play the story, so guess where they hope the money come from? I think I have the same non-negative view of this change as the OP (I am actually very hopeful for what F2P can do), but I do think it was not the best comparison.

While I think some more consistent connection with the community would be a benefit, it's not like they have anything to tell us about what they are working on other than what they have already announced and not finished. I remember SWG too and a lot of times those Producer's Letters had no info at all (or just repeated stuff that was already known) and people would complain and complain. Still, I do think something is better than nothing. I miss all the teaser kind of videos they used to do, even the 'which class would win' ones.

The only thing worth my subscription is going through all the class stories. This was the way I saw it when SWTOR was announced and when it launched and even more so now that it is going F2P. If I wanted to raid and grind WZs there were already other games for that. I know this is the only Star Wars game (aside from Clone Wars Adventures) but they made it clear what the focus of the game was, so it seems silly to tell them to abandon it to focus on the stuff other games do better.

The ones that got dropped in level? Sure. I think the most expensive would be the repair droid (which I wouldn't buy) at 350K and I could do that in a few sessions of dailies and crew missions. Some of the quick travels are now cheap enough to get on the main of a brand new legacy. The only thing of the reduced perks that would be millions of credits would be trying to get all of the XP perks at once (or trying to buy any of these perks for all alts) but it would not take long at all to max out one or two XP perks for the next alt I've set to focus on.

Any toons that don't fit on the primary destination will go to another destination that matches as close as possible (based on a random roll). You will not lose any legacy unlocks either. If you have characters from two legacies ending up on the same server, you keep all your unlocks and have the XP/level of the highest legacy. I think the only thing you might 'lose' is the preferred name.

This only has as much to do with F2P as the reason they are going F2P. They want to keep the non-hardcore crowd and they no doubt have enough feedback/statistics to realize one of their big selling points, Legacy, isn't even usable by most people, especially the perks for alts. I've been here since early access and I think I might have hit Legacy level 12. It's not like I've ever complained but if they've lowered the requirements then they've just added something to my enjoyment of the game that they didn't even have to add.

I believe they have had a Guild Summit in the past where they revealed/discussed things about the game.

From what I read of the FAQ the $15 is to move boxes and it is sort of a head start on the subscription side of F2P (the $15 gives a free 30 days) as those players are getting cartel coins (not sure if they do for the free 30) and that when F2P launches you can just get the client free without needing to be a subscriber first (which is what the box does) since all trial accounts (free to 15) will full free 2 play automatically. The $15 to join regardless of free or subscriber is something I though they might do, but further reading suggests it is just to sell boxes left on the shelves, or get people to join ahead of the conversion.

The same goes for most of the DPS vs Tank/Healer specs. I leveled up healing operative and the couple times I have tried a conceal or lethality spec has been a complete failure. Plenty of people get to 50 without really understanding everything their class can do, or can't do, in WZs and FP/Ops. Most people who become really good at their class these days do so because they either understand the game mechanics and picking up a new class/spec is not hard or they read up on the internet and will read up again. The people who are these apparent horrible lazy players who would switch to a completely unrelated spec/class without proper gear or knowledge would be the same people to race to 50 with whatever is the easiest leveling route and then hit end game with no real knowledge about their class.

So how much does someone stand to rake in doing this and how much time are they going to have to spend switching between 40 characters on 5 accounts? Compare that with doing missions for 8 characters on 1 account and then just doing dailies on them? If the small number of people who might do nothing but run crew missions is enough to blow up the economy, it isn't much of an economy.

Who has mentioned a gear 'conversion' at all? While I am sure there is one person out there who would threaten to quit if they couldn't trade in their blaster rifle for a sniper rifle, I don't see that being expected by anyone who has been talking about it here. Also, the fact you think it take 4 days to get to 50 might be where you are missing the point. Not everyone can get to 50 in 4 days, or even 4 months. So what is it to you if that person, instead of going through the same exact class story again, can just switch their AC, which in this game is effectively little more than switching specs.

I don't see it. These types of players have been common in MMOs since the beginning and not only have no problem paying a monthly sub, they don't mind buying a new copy of the game when they get banned. You know, I don't think I've seen any of that kind of behaviour in WoW, nope not at all. You know, it is fine to just admit you are not entertained enough by a game and just quit, you don't need to publicly blame it on some other group of people.