This. I await for for the original player to take off some of the mob's health, make sure the target is grey, and then assist. No loot, no exp and sometimes a thank you in return and they stay to assist me with taking down my respawned elite quickly.

Good tanks are to be as treasured as much as a good healer - and both are freakin' hard to find. I find a good tank is also a good leader - able to dictate to the group on who the attack and when, able to keep an eye on everyone else in the group and change plans on the fly. As a result, they've gotta know the FP, or whatever they're doing, well enough to lead efficiently as well. I've recently started a ST PT and am loving it (although the combination of Range + Tank made conversion of WoW equivalent tanking a minute to process). So my voice is added as for a big kudos to tanks (and healers).

Didn't you know? Chainmail bikinis give extra protection!

Seems you've had a totally different experience from me. Bring this down to bad luck or totally different expectations I guess. I found the story quest/world quests suitably tailored to my level and gear progression and have very little trouble soloing everything (minus heroics) until around level 45, where it was still "doable" but I had to plan better to overcome the mobs. Crafting was a breeze as soon as you get the droid for your ship to make everything - the only downside being having to spend credits to craft something. It gets harder and longer to find the materials as you progress, but that's to be expected. Socially, I've found the members to be more polite and social than WoW and GW2 (my sole other MMO experiences). The RP'ing has been mostly confined to whispers or group chat, so perhaps that's why you didn't see any on your RP experience. The comment of grouping being forced...well I guess? You ask for a group and get whoever comes. But I don't see how this differs from any other social game. As for your final point of space battles being a disappointment, I saw the space part to be a mini-game to give you a different experience away from the main component. Yeah, it's linear as can be and not very engaging, but it's a mini-game so I don't expect too much. Would I like it to be more open and engaging? Sure. However, since it is a mini game I don't put much weight on the matter. I would like to compliment you (not that you'll come back to read this, especially after so long) on a well constructed and thoughtful post though. Unlike the majority of "I quit, cos this sucks!" posts.

I've just starter a Healer (lvl 18 scoundrel) after just getting to lvl 50 with a DPS, and I can tell you it's HARD being a low level healer. You've only got 1 or 2 healing skills, what you do heal for isn't fantastic, and you haven't got group heals, and maybe JUST getting HoT skills. So the fact you did as well as you did is a definite hats off. Just re-enforcing that a good Healer is a thing to be treasured and hope you continue to be a good one.