I have not played in about a year and I'm unsure if its worth it to come back. Never mind F2P; if I play I subscribe. Has Bioware fixed the end-game? Has the leveling process expanded? Are the space missions still riding a rail? And does that droid onboard our ship ever shut up?

Yes. Resoundingly yes. I'm enjoying every aspect of this game so far. I've only played 3 toons past lvl 10, but I love it. The story is engrossing, the graphics are astounding, and the character custimization is first rate.

I had a system comparable to yours. 2Ghz, old integrated gpu, and only 2GB RAM. I was getting FPS between 2 and 3. Thats no typo. Between 2 and 3 frames per second, with the settings all the way down and a 800 x 600 resolution. The game was unplayable. I bought a complete new system with an Intel i7 3.5Ghz CPU, radeon 6870 gpu, and I went with 12GB RAM. I now have framerates above 80 with my settings turned ALL THE WAY UP!!!! and a res of 1920 x 1080. In other words, better specs = better performance = more fun. Hope this helps.

I don't want to get off topic, but, there's a game manual? In the downloaded version? Well, now, don't I feel like an idiot. Of course there is a manual and it is found above, under the heading: Game Info. I hang my head in shame for posting such an obviously worthless question and apologize to those who wasted thier time reading it.

I didn't pre-order till Dec. 8th so I don't expect to play until about 37 seconds before the general launch. In the meantime I can play WoW or some other game, like I did before this whole pre-launch thing. Or I could watch TV like I did when I was a kid. Or I could read a book like my parents did. Or, and this is the craziest idea of all, I could go outside and enjoy the fresh air, natural light, and the sounds of birds chirping. My point is there were things that humanity did, before Geoge Lucas invited us to play in his galaxy far, far away, that occupied our minds.

UP TO means anytime within 5 days before Dec. 20th. Bioware will fullfill thier obligation to you as long as they get you in before Dec. 20th. Everyone wants to play and everyone thinks they deserve to play first. Well, we're all waiting in the same line to do the same thing. First come, first served. All these people squaking about not being able to play NOW...you all remind me of the idiots trying to weave in and out of stop and go traffic just to get one more car length ahead..."Don't you know who I am and how important my affairs are?", they might yell. Of course I know how important you are. Thats why I'm laughing at your situation.