You know, instead of being a jerk in your reply, you could take a moment to realize that the poster you are responding to wasn't making any comment about the unify colors option with regard to dyes, he was helping a previous poster who specifically mentioned that she hated when she had gear that clashed. You can infer from this that she likely missed the patch note about the unify colors option being implemented. He never once said anything remotely close to the option with regards to dyes. He was being helping someone else understand what they can do now. As for the topic of dyes, I'm indifferent. The Unify Colors option actually was, largely, enough for me. Of course, that's not reason to say that it should not be available. Ultimately, I think dyes might actually be worse for the game (but not necessarily enough to warrant keeping them out, if players really desire them). I think there are a few things that need to be considered: 1. Dyes were partly an answer to two problems in many games they were implemented for. Yes, the ability to choose your character's color was a motivation as well. But they were primarily implemented to solve the problem of gear clashing and lack of variety. While leveling, you'd use whatever came along. If the best was hot pink pants with a lime green top, then that's what you wore. Dyes helped remedy that. When you reached endgame, everyone was using the same powerful items (or worse, sets), so this again added variety. This isn't a problem in TOR. The Unify colors option has effectively removed clashing as an issue. And as modding is now required for optimal stats, players are free to choose their pieces from a huge variety of item models. The issues that led to the implementation of dyes just don't exist in TOR. As mentioned earlier, that doesn't mean they can't consider the desire of the community as a sufficient motivation--all I'm doing here is pointing out why "Well <insert game> had them!" is not a convincing argument. It would be better to say "Well, the implementation of dyes into <insert game> gave me the ability to <action> that is missing from TOR and meaningfully affects my enjoyment of the game." 2. Dyes would have a meaningful (detrimental) impact on the capability of crew skills, which 1.2 just went to great lengths to make more valuable. Modifiable items are now an actual commodity, particularly in their crit forms. The primary money-making ability of the armor-crafting skills is from the creation of augments and these modifiable items. As of right now, the most important craftable items are the chest pieces. These are what players care the most for outright, as most of your attention is going to be focused there while playing. Right now, many chest skins have multiple versions that are only differentiated by color scheme. In virtue of the fact that there are people who will desire more than one of these items, that increases the market (as, if players freely chose the color, they'd only ever have reason to buy one of these items). The unify colors options has effectively made chest pieces the only way for crafters to economically gain from that diversity. These schematics are also selling for quite a bit of money--eliminating their distinct value that's solely based on their color would be a pretty big loss for those investments. And lets not forget that there are still modifiable items that actually have requirements like valor rank, making the color a prestige note. 3. Dyes for other games were dealing with much, much simpler gear pieces. Right now, the only color-swapping gear is for the more, well, "basic" gear pieces. Most of them aren't nearly as elaborate as many chest pieces are. For instance, the robe my Jedi Knight is wearing right now has 4 different color fabrics, plus different colors in its detailing and embroidery. Making that compatible with dyes will be very difficult. The unify colors feature tends to just sorta "wash" the item in that color, which works because they aren't focal points or covered in fine details. It will be much, much harder to implement with chest pieces. Even if the dye just changed the "primary" color (the one used to judge what colors the other gear should take when unified), it might very well end up looking funky. The chest pieces in EQ2 weren't nearly so complex. 4. Finally, let's just get down to it and ask if this is something the player base, as a whole, really wants. I'm strongly inclined to imagine that it does not. It is certainly a subset of the player base that cared about potential clashing enough to make it an issue they wanted addressed quickly (meaning, before other major complaints). I'm very strongly inclined to say that the Unify Colors option was exactly what most people wanted. It's simple to use and requires no micro-management at all. There's no dye shopping, no need to plan out the colors and accents of your outfit. You just press a button, and your colors are all cohesive. Better yet, you switch a chest piece to a different color, press the button, and they are again cohesive. I know this doesn't help the group who does want control of those colors (particularly the ability to freely choose their chest color), but I do think that we are currently in the best state for everyone. It's not too much busywork or planning, it allows for a ton of customization, and you always match. Yeah, you don't have a ton of color options per skin, but you DO have them. And you're only going to gain more with time. So yeah, I'm inclined to say it would hurt the game. Maybe not a ton--maybe giving the relevant dyes to SW/AM might boost their sales, but overall I'm expecting it to be less well-received by more players than the UC option is.

I've known plenty of people who played the opposite sex, because they preferred looking at them. Never been an issue for me, since the gender I'm attracted to and my own are the same. One thing that's really nice about TOR's female characters is that you can make them look normal. They don't all have skinny waists and ginormous breasts. Only one I can't ever see myself playing is the female trooper. I adore Jennifer Hale as a voice actress, but I will always wonder how Commander Shepard ended up a long, long time ago in a galaxy far away. I liked both Consular voices. I think the male Knight might have my favorite voice, though. Female's is good, too.

Server merges are a lot of work, and generally create a lot of aggravation for players. They'll do them if they have to, but it's better for everyone if they can find a better solution. We have population issues, but a great deal of that is because everyone is so spread out. Fleet might only have 50-80 people, but how many does Ilum have? Corellia? Daily Planets? Warzones? Flashpoints? Just going by fleet populations is a terrible idea because, theoretically, most players aren't just hanging around. And if they aren't doing something on their main, they might be leveling an alt. Not saying that there isn't an issue, just that a LOT of the arguments I've been seeing have been really, really bad. At prime time for WoW in Wrath, Dalaran usually had under 200 people in it. And it was the staging point for both factions. But the game was definitely healthy. And remember that server merges would actually be difficult and, possibly, more headaches than we want. There are a lot of small details we tend not to think about. Like how to handle legacy, character, and guild names. How do you handle characters with legacies on both servers? What happens if they have 6 characters on both servers? There are a LOT of these smaller questions, to accompany the much bigger (often technical) questions. It's disingenuous to pretend like this is a simple matter, and it doesn't do the argument any justice to ignore that.

Why in the world would you link it to server time? You are moving between different planets. Night and day are relative to your own planet's rotational period. There's no reason to assume the rotation of every habitable planet is 24 hours, which would mean sometimes other planets are daytime while we are, sometimes they aren't. And even if a planet had a 24 hour period, it could be the polar opposite of Earth, always night when we have day. Etc.

There are 5 ways abilities work in this game (and, frankly, in every other MMO I can think of as well). Instant cast, instant damage. Instant cast, delayed damage. Cast time, instant damage. Cast time, delayed damage. Channeled, (damage slightly delayed, but constant as long as you channel) Strike is an example of instant cast, instant damage. Weaken Mind is an example of instant cast, delayed damage. Mind Crush is an example of cast time, instant damage (upon completion of the cast). Disturbance is an example of cast time, delayed damage (upon completion of the cast). Forcequake is an example of a channeled ability. All four are well represented. "Instant" is a measure of cast time, not the amount of time until damage is inflicted. If Turbulence and The problem is that Shock is currently in the first category and Project is in the second. All balance issues stem from this fact. Moving shock from category 1 to category 2 is just as valid as moving project from category 2 to category 1. That will protect the mirror design, and it will not introduce a new type of ability into the game. It is not logically valid to argue that changing shock or project to mirror one another, regardless of which is changed, that the same will need to be done to every other ability in the game. Because all they would be doing is moving one spell to another existing category, which will be the case regardless of which fix they choose. And that's assuming that your assumption that all classes would need to work the same way holds. In fact, it does not. If one set of classes had an instant with delayed damage that the others did not, it would not be game breaking as long as it remained balanced. My Jedi Knight can't damage opponents when 35 yards away. Sages can. That is not a problem. Whether or not you want Project to be instant cast, instant damage is another story. You are entitled to your opinion. But that's what it is--an opinion. Just like my opinion is that Shock should be changed. My opinion is no more and no less valid than yours. And we are both entitled to our opinions only while we allow others to be entitled to theirs.

OP makes a point not to include spoilers, so the first reply does instead.

I don't even care if we have to buy "Longspur tune-up service" or something (equal to or greater than the cost of the higher speeders)--I paid real money for that speeder, and I should have the option to use it without detriment to my performance. I think making it cost money is fair. But it's just not okay for it to be so easily outclassed. And, frankly, 8k by 25 is nothing. I had well over 40k by the time I hit 25 by taking Slicing (all done post nerf). Missions might be only a small profit, but the yield from field nodes is nothing to scoff at.

What do you mean? Like a floor glitch? Because it's a big round room--the only place where LoS could be broken is over near the door. And, honestly, you don't need to be mobile here. No reason to be; he spends nearly all of his time casting.

That's how it is supposed to be. Dark and Light are force alignment, and relative to your faction, not good/evil. If you are a Jedi and going dark side, it means you are more of the "by any means necessary" type of player. You're not a Sith, you aren't even a Dark Jedi (proper noun). You're just a Jedi who doesn't care for rules or the code. In a time of peace, the council wouldn't have looked the other way. But they probably still wouldn't have exiled you or anything (you just wouldn't have become a master, and they'd be pickier about what missions they sent you on). You're still a defender of the Republic, you are just more in it for yourself. You still don't make use of the Dark Side of the Force (though you could RP that you wouldn't mind doing so, but don't because you are walking a fine line before the council intervenes). I guess you could say that "light" Sith are actually more neutral--they use the Dark Side of the Force, but don't necessarily care about its supremacy. Maybe like how Starkiller could use it even after converting to the Light. Vice Versa for Jedi?

There is only one telekinetic power that is viewed as dark sided by the Jedi, and that is Force Choke. But even that isn't absolute. They disaprove of the power in general, but don't view it as dark sided if it is used only to disable (for instance, limiting air supply so they pass out, or have trouble breathing, not cutting it off completely). Using it for humiliation, as the Sith loved to do, was particularly dark sided. That's the ONLY dark sided Telekinetic power in the lore. All higher lore sources support Telekinetics, including Force Throw, as a neutral power.

Does Nadia have any customizations that only alter her hair color/style? I don't like using customizations that alter "permanent" features. Especially on her, since you have such a long time to get used to her look. She just wouldn't "be" Nadia for me if her face changed.

I actually really would as well. For one, it would add some diversity to the Inquisitor's attack style. Nearly all of their attacks are just lightning flying from their fingertips. This would at least make it something cool and unique. I also love the utility of Project in PVP. You can't use it as an instant interrupt, no. But it has so many other great uses BECAUSE of its delay. My favorite is using it to interrupt a healer that is about to break LoS with me, giving me additional time to catch up. Since it casts when they are still in sight, but doesn't hit for .5-1 seconds after, they are almost always stationary and casting a heal by that point. Obviously, you could have just stunned them before they went out of LoS at all. But you essentially get an extra second "locking" them down this way, since they are going to be running behind a pillar (etc.) while the projectile is being prepped. Plus, I just don't think Sage/Shadows need another instant interrupt. Personally, I think it's too OP.

As Haavik says, this game takes place in the Expanded Universe. Therefore, it doesn't make any sense to reject lore sources because they aren't the movies. The moves are considered the highest level of lore. Meaning that they are always deferred to in the case of contradictions with other lore sources. (Statements by Lucas and other lore info directly from him are also top-tier canon). The television shows are the next highest tier of canon. That video I linked of Shaak Ti using Force Throw in battle is higher level canon than just about everything else in the Star Wars Universe, and it conclusively shows that Jedi (including an extremely "light" aligned Consular master, and council member, like her) use Force Throw in battle. In a world with high tier lore sources, the Consular would fight like she did--lightsaber attacks, force throw, force lift, force push/pull, and MAYBE Force Heal (I don't know if that is in the television series). It's for the sake of gameplay that the Sage was created. One, to differentiate them more strongly from Jedi Knights. Two, to create a mirror for Inquisitors (who DO exist in the higher canon as purely force-based fighters). And it is for the sake of diversity that the more complicated TK abilities, like Disturbance, Wave, and Turbulence, were included. These, being incredibly complicated powers, require specialization in Telekinetic combat. So it only makes sense that Telekinetics Sages would almost exclusively use them, where Balance Sages rely primarily on less complicated skills. Remember, Nadia is a powerful force user, and talented Shadow. She can still barely lift a rock using the force, because it takes too much control.

Ah, I see. You're just a troll. Carry on everyone.

Thing about TOR is that you can really feel free to level in any spec you want. This is for two reasons. 1. Your companions. Regardless of what you choose, you are going to want to pick a companion to suit your style (or pick your style to suit your companion, if early on or you have a strong preference). You'll get two tanks, two dps, and a healer. Tanks and DPS will have a ranged and melee variety. So say you take Shadow, and level in a tank spec. Well, then you can either use a DPS companion to rip enemies apart faster (as you keep hate). Or you can bring along the healer, who will keep you alive (and do some decent dps in the meantime) while you focus on taking them out. One thing I've seen being really popular, at least for Jedi Knights, is to take the tank spec and level in DPS gear, with either the DPS or Healer companion. Nicer survivability, but not too huge of a hit to DPS. Which brings me to... 2. The disparity between tank and healer DPS isn't huge until high levels, and not particularly until endgame. I'm definitely not saying it doesn't exist, but it's not so significant as in other games. For one, that's partially because you have a full powered companion (so you switching to a more defensive spec doesn't mean as much of an increase in battle time as if you were soloing). But it's also because you are perfectly capable of using dps stats, and you primarily keep hate in this game by doing damage. The vast majority of your hate comes from attacks that are (in virtue of your stance) doing 1.5x threat. So you need to be doing more than 2/3rds of a dps' damage to keep the attention of a mob. That means that you are definitely still putting out good damage, but have singificantly more survivability. You are free to convert this to healing too. As a sage, you are primarily going to lose damage by not having access to the dps abilities (particularly with reference to the telekinetics trees). But, really, you can very happily roll a healer spec, grab your companion buffing skill (buffs presence), and bring out a dps companion. You'll easily keep both of you alive as you dispatch enemies. Ultimately, you'll kill slower. But you'll also have less downtime. TL;DR: Leveling as either Sage or Shadow is perfectly viable, and that includes leveling AS a tank or healer, instead of using a DPS tree. As for crew skills, Synthweaving, Artifice, Cybertech, and Biochem may all be useful for you. BioWare announced that they are actively rebalancing all crew skills right now, so they'll be equally useful at endgame. So no reason to take that into consideration now. I recommend Synthweaving if you want to have a lot of aesthetic control over your character's looks at cap. Artifice is okay for the same reason, but it's mostly nice because it gives you control of your crystal color, and always gives you the strongest weapons (which also buff force powers). I don't actually know what the signficant pros of Cybertech are, to tell you the truth. But I know it can make grenades and ship parts. Biochem means you'll always have stims while you level, and medpacks will be useful if you go shadow.