Currently we know a few things from the upcoming content video when it comes to Legacy content. -Family tree relation between your characters. -Miraluka sith warrior. Cross faction race/class option is a good thing...if the changes can be made to existing characters. If it is a new character only feature, then we get this, I too have already made all 8 on my legacy server and currently have held off on playing my alts due to the vid. More progress on them right now is risky since the possibility of needing to roll a whole new character to benefit from the legacy cosmetic features is still high (until the devs confirm otherwise because they showed the miraluka on korriban, not a later planet which hints at only available to "new characters"). The lack of information is a big issue right now for the legacy system. I don't need to know which abilities or relationship options there are for it, I just want to know ASAP if the cosmetic options such as cross-faction(new?) race-class combination will be available to existing characters via some sort of character customization npc on the fleet or capital world. With that information I can continue forward and enjoy the game without worrying about how I might need to delete this or that character just to see what options are available for the legacy patch. I was enjoying all the class stories up till that video showing the miraluka sith warrior, that was way too disturbing on its own without additional information.

Public test server...I was the only person on it for the entire faction... The game was so quiet...

No, neutral is neutral, as in neither light/dark overpowers the other. So long as you don't gain more of one than the other, you'll remain neutral with no ranks in light/dark. Neutrals will be getting their or alignment vendor soon (so they say) so outside of missing out on some optional gears right now, there's no reason why you can't stay as blue/red the entire time through.

I hope they implement this along with the legacy content, it's rather idiotic to force people to start over if they want to play a newly unlocked race/class combination. BioWare, do look into an ingame character customization npc soon, it's another credit sink for sure (because you really can't charge this as RMT right now with people raging about things all the time). This is a must by the time legacy content is rolled out, definitely figure it out soon. And don't say it can't be done or it'll screw up the story, blah blah blah... There's only "human" and "alien" in terms of story/dialogue choices and when the player is mentioned as either, so not difficult to change if the race is altered. If obi-wan can get a make over in seconds (the clone wars, season 4, episode 15, Deception) we can get one done too. Cosmetic surgery can't be that hard in a galaxy full of interstellar starships and planetary weapons...

Totally didn't read through everyone's posts... Tera's coming in May. Action based combat, looks waaay better. Actual dodging to avoid damage, bigger selection of character customizations as you're not limited to the same 4-5 appearances per armor class. Sure it's another korean mmo, but it's something different in terms of combat, keeps reminding me of MH and got plenty of things to grind for... At least I don't have to wait for some "future update" to play the race/class combination I want... And of course, GW2. At least they have a good stock of world events ready on rotation so you won't be experiencing the same quests(area/story?) even with multiple characters. They have enough events that they can simply rotate out so people have new content to try out all the time. Dungeons will be variable for repeating visits, additional paths will open depending on the difficulty selected or something to that line. Not tank/spank based, no need to spam "lf tank/healz" all the time as everyone will be able to heal themselves (but that doesn't guarantee you'll survive if you do stupid things like stand in the aoes...). Player success is based on how they choose their skill sets and how they use it in combination to create the most destructive/useful combos. Every player is able to be "unique" in what they bring to the battlefield instead of everyone having the exact same skills. Oh, and multiple instant map travel points. Just open map, click warpable location, confirm and voila, you're there. Saw one demo video and there are more than enough locations on one map for you to meet up with friends to help them out in seconds. SWTOR is currently lacking variety, they took much of it out pre-launch because they know that they don't have a good stock of things ready. I still remember the day when they said they took out matching to chest option because it would lessen the variety/options/cheapen the gears in the game, heh. As it turns out they're padding the game with the same items via palette swaps instead of doing a full on dye/paint system and include more variety in gear appearances. I could keep grinding for things (pvp/pve sets) in the game, but after getting to 50 I already knew that there wasn't much left when everything you get is the exact same look but a slightly different shade of puke no matter what you kill. There's no sense of excitement when a dead mob goes green/blue/purple, it's just more "seen it, got better one already". They had the potential to make every flashpoint/operation contain an unique set of gear appearances, as well as extremely rare gear/appearances that can drop from everything. But they didn't. Sure it's work, but it'd be well worth the time invested. Take the time to Do things right, because just getting it done isn't going to make anyone happy when they find something else to complain about. The lack of variety is the biggest thing that's preventing me from playing and enjoying this game as much as I used to, heck, come feb 7th, I'll be playing Kingdoms of Amalur, then move on to ME3 in march, and Tera in May. And sometime this year, GW2! SWTOR, you've got a lot of catching up to do, you're running on bare minimums right now and that's never enough. Adding in Togruta as playable is a good start...implement a ingame character appearance modifier npc would be nice too. Add in more actual styles for gears instead of the freakin bras would be great too. Start making or think about missions on rotation, events that happen over several days at specific places. It's only difficult now because you didn't plan for it before when you took the easy way out And definitely better community communications on what you guys are doing or planning/thinking about doing, Aion had major backlashes from the lack of community communication and it suffered greatly for it. Talk to us more, we are after all keeping your game alive, if we feel like we're being ignored, then we will ignore you too...

I thought light side players already receive some faint glowy thingie, or did they remove that too for launch... I remember an old vid showing the dark side players with the paler skin corruption as well as getting a black/red aura that is suppose to envelope them at all times. The light side player would get brighter skin and these tiny wisps of pale blue/bright white lights that would swirl around them at times. It could have been removed, but there were definite options for light side auras at one point so it's just a matter of it being put back in if it really was removed. A lot of things were toned down or removed for launch, it's not that they don't have it, it's just that they don't have it in game right now.

There's no need to allow AC repicking, it destroys the entire point of having the ACs altogether. Why have the ACs at all when people just swap over to another one at their choosing, might as well just default people to the base classes instead. So this is another vote for NO to AC repicks.

The "grind" is fine, no need to make it worse. You're supposed to reach max level from doing your class story/planet stories, it's working as intended. MMOs aren't about grind, crappy ones focuses on them, but better ones supplement the game with a variety of content that is either unlocked through player progress or via content patches. The base game is always just a long tutorial on how to play and gearing you up, the real game is always what comes after. What the devs can push out now and later will determine the survivability and quality of the game, making grinding harder just means you're padding out the game by slowing down player progression, heh, it never works out well for the devs.

Like the select few people that actually answered your topic properly, I'm afraid dailies, pvp, crafting, holo/datacron hunting, rolling alts, are all you've got left. I've been doing pvp since I completed my class story and hit the cap, it passes the time and can get you viable lv50 gears if you're lucky/persistent enough. PvP is a real quick match up to 15-17 minutes each, so it's real easy to get in and get it over with without needing to stick it out for the hour+ like some other group content. People can also just drop out of the pvp match if they have to an someone is usually slotted in to fill that spot. Go check out pvp, hit the button and queue up, even if you don't win all the time it's still something to play and fun once you've improved. Respec if you need to and supposedly the respec cost is reset every 7days so don't be too afraid to experiment. You also get quite a bit of credits from pvping so it's a decent income to supplement your crafting if you're doing that too.

The only gears that are made for certain classes are the ones that have the class listed in the item itself. Otherwise it's free for all for anyone that can wear the armor type when it comes to orange custom gears. Mods don't dictate who can wear them, as the marauder could easily swap out the mods right on the spot with his existing ones if he already carries them. Rolling on the same item type as the one your class typically wears I'd think it's fine if they're able to use it right away and it's for them personally and not for an alt/companion. I detest the people that roll "need" for their alts or companions on these gears more than appearance swappers especially when the people in the group can actually use/need them right away. These items are usually just palette swaps of the same gear you normally find anyways, and the stat gain might "seem" to be beneficial, but it's largely insignificant when you actually put them on. Whatever changes it makes to your stats won't be game changing, even if you had won it and put it on you won't deal noticeably more damage/heal more just because of that one piece of orange gear. I pass on anything that isn't relevant to my character that I play, I'll need on gear of the same armor type and main stats as my advance class, and I'll greed when the item is of no immediate use to anyone in the group (ie. a class that isn't present). You're better off just doing more runs if that crappy gear is so important to you, stats won't matter much until late/end game when they actually add up to something useful. It's a ~30 gear, you'll swap out the mods by the time you go to/finish the next planet anyways so all that's left is the appearance.

I skipped a few missions on my first 50, mainly because the missions were too stupid for me to care or finish, or I simply had enough of that planet and left (Taris and Hoth were main offenders). For the most part I won't skip normal missions, since I don't do heroics or flashpoints (time and availability issues) these normal missions and space battles are what I do for experience gain. Bonus series I will finish when I get around to it, again mostly because I need the exp as well as getting some orange gear for it. I still skip heroics and flashpoints for the most part on my alts now, the rewards are mostly just palette swaps so I'm not missing out by not doing them. Even the prototype/artifacts from being in a group is usually only good for a level or two, and then replaced once you reach a higher level to swap out a few mods. I'm not a stat gamer, I'll choose appearance over stats if it doesn't make much of a difference. Social points are more or less useless to me due to their light armor type, so there are even less incentives for me to group up and complete these other types of missions.

If creature mounts ever make it into the game, I would like reeks as an option. Wouldn't be the first time a reek was used as a mount...

Yeah, if the legacy update is just opening up existing races to other faction/classes, then ugh, why did I bother to play other characters at this point. Miraluka sith, meh, didn't like them on the republic side and they'll still just be referred to as "alien" if there's any specialty to it. Definitely want actual NEW Species for the legacy system instead of the existing palette swapped ones, and a racial/character customization change option for existing characters wouldn't be too bad either. Else I'm really going to have to halt my game for more reasons than graphical glitches until who knows when the game is actually ready... Designing rise of the rakghouls for a year...you could have implemented 2-3 more playable races, unlocked character customization options, implemented 4-5 more actual styles for armors/appearances, create an paint/dye system for armors, or any combination of the above in that time...no wonder James Ohlen looks tired in this video and not nearly as excited as before the game was launched... If the team is checking and listening to the fans, then hear this, I'm sick of palette swaps in this game. Take the development team and go and put in some of the cool armors you guys promised before and then return the match to chest or put in a proper dye/paint system. I don't care if I have to pay credits and go to a specific npc/planet for it, I'll gladly do it for something that I really like. Right now I'm totally cross-class-dressing, because there's nothing that looks interesting for my class (BH) considering they're all the same fett-ish design. Btw, you have 3 months left to get as much of this stuff out as bug free as possible. Not only is that the usual time period in which subscription drops significantly but also the launch of Tera, another MMO coming out in May. I like this game, I just find it lacking in all the simplest places, choices in character customization, so simple to fix...

That's a problem with your group, timers won't help. Tell your group to stick together or go to a certain objective, either way, you have options. Stopping people from continuing the action is not exactly the point in pvp.

I dunno, never liked the tanking companions due to their crappy AIs against hard hitting elites/champs or any situation with aoes...they tend to just stand there and take the big hits and die quickly... Moot point for me I guess having already reached 50 as a merc, used Mako pretty much the entire time and was invincible throughout the story.

There are bugs with this patch but not enough to warrant free time like DCUO or FFXIV. FFXIV was messed up within minutes of the game going live, the game was unplayable for the majority of the player base right from the get go. DCUO suffered extended downtime and made up for it via free time for the amount lost plus extra. A patch is incoming to fix some higher priority issues, but again, this game isn't near the free time level just yet. The servers have to fail catastrophically or the entire game becoming unplayable and went unfixed for free time to be an option. People have played for a month, mostly their original included time. Many wouldn't have kept their subscription anyways as they've cancelled within minutes of logging in to the game like they always do with MMOs.

You know, the clock-like fade reminds me of another game, maybe GW or something but the clock effect will take place most of the time, but once it's near the end, say the last 5-10 seconds, it'll show the number instead and the light up completely again ready to be used. Pro of the new CD indicator: -It's colorful. Con of the new CD indicator: -Can't tell the exact readiness of skills with longer than 30-60sec CDs as it nears the bottom. -Can't tell the location of the light blue line when it's up against a skill icon of the exact/similar color. -Costly in PvP to have skills light up but can't be used, I don't care if I have the resources for it but if the cooldown isn't finished it still can't be used so why light it up! Really don't see why they had to change something that wasn't broken, they need to test these changes themselves and run it through multiple people before letting on to the PTS, and then get feedback on it and adjust it before putting it on the live servers. Do things right instead of doing it quickly, people will wait for things that are done right, but will get really angry if you rush out problem-ridden products/changes.

As much I want to keep it positive, the negatives I have definitely pops up...but honestly my negatives are super easy to fix though... I did enjoy the story aspect of this game (for the BH) as well as how combat works. I didn't have issues with PvP (imperial) other than there weren't many republic players to go against if at all. PvP is a player issue, never an easy thing to fix trying to tell people to get better. But in the end I felt that there were so many places they could've excelled at but didn't, and opted for the easy way out rather than doing it right, mainly in regards to player customization. Locking character creation aspects, fine, you want people to speed through the cc process. Palette swapping armors for the entire game...ugh, this part I hated. What you see from the armor progression videos ARE the only ones in the game despite how they've repeatedly said there'd be more styles to satisfy everyone. Not to mention at least two of the ones in the vids would be pvp champion/battlemaster armor or endgame pve armor, so yeah, you're left looking like the other 2-3 sets showing in the vid the rest of the time before hitting 50 in the game unless you cross class-dress or are light armored so social items actually would be normal for you. I really do enjoy the voice-over missions and the ability to make dialogue choices in these missions but that's only one aspect of an entire game. I liked the game, I went through the BH story wanting to know what happens next, discovering how I shaped the planet/galaxy's course of action. But after that, there wasn't much. Pre 1.1 I'd say the game was decent and good at times, but post 1.1 I can't even enjoy the game/story due to graphical glitches. They had a lot of work to do and even more thanks to 1.1 before even meeting my expectations; not a lot, just want an actually diverse selection of gear appearances instead of palette swaps and free up the character customization, enough with the clone wars...

Did you sell them all before you logged out last? Did you share your password and info with someone? Did you buy credits or use powerleveling services?

It's not just Illum. And yes, people are having black flickering, I experienced it on Tython outdoor areas myself and found it bad enough for me to simply exit the game than to suffer through it. Moving + outdoors for sure have flickering, no manipulation of settings will affect it. Something needs to be done on BioWare's end for this one, no matter how it gets resolved.

You have Nautolan but no Togruta? Shame on you. And I'd have to say No to Voss, it's just too human (just another palette swapped human, like the ratataki, chiss, miraluka, mirialan and cyborgs). Though tying new species to legacy system...I think it was hinted/suggested before and people were upset about needing to beat/grind out the game first in order to unlock them. Don't think it was too popular an idea at the time.

Not really, there weren't that many battlemasters and so long as people were queuing they would've been spread apart for the most part. They were also easy to take down too so long as your team acts as a group. It's group pvp, not 1v1 pvp, everyone bursting down one player at a time is extremely effective. Now you have battlemasters in their own bracket, racking up commendations/bags without caring if they win or lose. Before you could have benefited from having the few 50s who knew what they were doing, now you're just waiting to get facerolled by them again when you hit 50 when they've been going against each other and building up their own skills...

Just go and do them... There are other more important issues than people who can simply dig themselves out of the hole they created. Graphical issues, client/server issues, those are higher priority than things that players can easily remedy within minutes of actually going and finishing the quests.

You really don't understand Sith politics... We fight each other all the time, employing all our resources to manipulate, undermine, or eliminate anyone that is in our way or could potentially become a threat. A datacore gained by another Sith/Imperial is a datacore lost. What one gained then could become a weapon to be used against you in the future in some way. It makes sense to send our own people to fight against other imperials, this is the Empire, there is no "friendly territory".

BioWare Austin is not responsible for the Mass Effect series, completely different teams. PvP problems are a result of players. Faction imbalance is a result of people's choices. No matter how you rewrite the system as it stands more Empire players seems to be interested in PvP than Republic players. Tell your friends or servers to go to warzones and start playing them and start getting better. I've played my share against the republic and some were fairly organized and good while the others just seemed to be first timers. Everyone sucks until they've gotten better, the Republic won't recover if their player base isn't as vigilant and continues to blame the Empire players or BioWare when it comes to pvp.