Yes. GSF has a pretty steep learning curve and in most cases the stock ships suck. Tips: * If you're exhausted, take a break. It should be fun, not torture. * Spend initial requisition points on defensive abilities: Large Reactors and whatnot. Staying alive longer will improve your experience. * Avoid the scouts, at least at first. Scouts can be incredibly powerful but are also hard to handle (and very squishy). Strike fighters are not the best or most balanced BUT they are considerably more survivable and generally easier to fly.

Try bribery. I bribed the typical top shot ace in general chat with an emailed snickers bar. That match said ace did not kill me once despite many opportunities.

You will get your face melted by the many battlemasters and war heros. The grind to get gear will be painful. However, if you accept that you're going to die, a lot, it can be fun. I'm rank 52 right now on valor, i only have about 4-5 champion gear pieces, and I still die a ton. However I'm still useful using my Sorc pull in Huttball and my knockback. Knockback > dps in a lot of situations. I average about 5 medals per match. Sometimes more, never less than 4. Frustrating at times but overall I still love SWTOR pvp. Bottom line, it's a grind. For those of us late to the game (when I logged on for the first time there were already battlemasters on the server) it's a wee more difficult. /shrug

In the last Crew Skills update they said the craftable orange armors and weps come from Underworld Trading missions, NOT from reverse engineering a purple. I've not found any yet myself, but that's what they said.

No. Do not RE them, you'll only get a few materials back.

White is a drop from a world boss on Alderaan.

Recipes for those orange appearances are discovered through Underworld Trading missions. Don't RE your Purples.