Frankly, I haven't read a Star Wars novel since I was twelve, and you'd have to pay me a lot of cash money to be seen so much as carrying one these days. I'm a fan of the general setting, but a lot of the craziness that goes on in the EU - not to mention the atrocious writing - doesn't instill me with the confidence that these people know what they're talking about. "Craziness" and "atrocious writing" can likewise be applied to nearly everything GL's done with his own setting since Return of the Jedi, which is why I don't lend his words on the matter all that much weight. Guy's out to increase his huge piles of cash, and selling books does just that. He's the originator, but the universe has moved beyond him, and, frankly, I doubt he cares all that much about any of it, as long as it's making money. Sometimes it's fallen into great hands (Avellone), other times not. You're more than welcome to slavishly adhere to the canon system established by people working for him, but for my part, I prefer to work with the good and ignore the bad.

The problem with Professor Walsh's position is that it simply doesn't work within the canon established by the game. Light Side Sith are a possibility in TOR, which means the Jedi are committed to wiping out an entire population containing at least some folks who ain't all that evil, simply because they happen to be on the wrong side of a given political boundary. The game outright tells us that not all Sith are evil. Where this fits in the ludicrous canon system established by Lucasfilm, I have not the faintest idea, not do I care in the slightest.

Perhaps it's just me, but it seems like the Imperial story lines are, if not better in terms of plot, then at least better in terms of storytelling and characterization. With the Republic, it feels like the writers were writing archetypes rather than characters, whereas the Imperials...well, even the worst Imperial story line is, by general consensus, decent, and the PCs themselves seem way more interesting. I think part of the problem is that the Republic's weighed down with two Jedi stories. The JK story is epic, don't get me wrong, but the JK himself comes off as some sort of kitten-rescuing robot if LS, and a mustache-twirling vaudeville villain if DS. Same pretty much goes for the JC. The Sith, on the other side of the fence, get much, much more range.

Which is why Star Wars is a franchise best enjoyed if you ignore pretty much everything Lucas has intended to do with it since about '85 or so. I think we can acknowledge him as the creator while also acknowledging that he has long, long, long since lost his touch to tell a compelling, interesting, or even comprehensible story. Sith are capitalists. Jedi are communists. Sith believe in survival-of-the-fittest Darwinism, where the worthy survive and the competition falls. Jedi believe in everybody helping everyone else and living in harmony. Capitalist, communist.

I must be missing the boat on the Male Jedi Knight, as I'd rate it as a 4, tops. It lacks character, not enough timbre, and just generally comes off as supremely bland to me. Male Sith Warrior, on the other hand, is an easy 10 out of 10. That guy manages to sound sophisticated, witty, brutal, and menacing...all at the same time, which is quite an accomplishment. Male Bounty Hunter's a solid 9 out of 10. Appropriately gruff and militaristic.

The most important aspect for me was the voice acting: I initially wanted to go Knight, but couldn't stand the voice. So I tried out Warrior. Holy moly, what a difference. I do still want to complete Knight at some point, just for some of those iconic "one dude against the universe" cutscenes that I suspect lurk within, but Warrior will have to do for now.

I popped up to the fleet and actually looked around, and noticed that while Type 3's taller, it's not quite as taller as it might appear from the character creation screen. I think I'll be able to live with it, though I still wish it was bulked out at the normal height.

Just out of curiosity, are there any servers where the Imperials actually outnumber the Republic? And does it matter? Generally, I try to roll on the underdog's side, but I'm getting an itch to try out a JK.

I don't know. Apparently I and everyone I know just comes from hearty, broad-shouldered stock, then, because Type 2 looks stick insect-like to me. Type 3 would be fine if it wasn't so goddamn tall.

I'm sure this has been whined about to death, but since I'm new to the game, I'll take my turn. Body Type 3 is the only male that looks remotely decent in most armor, as far as I can tell, yet he's clearly come to the Old Republic by way of the Baltimore Ravens' linebacker corps. Type 2 would probably be fine if the head-to-body size ratio weren't so absurd; as it is, I can't help but think he was modeled off some software developer living in Seattle who's big into Apple. Type 1's great, I guess, for the preteen crowd that wants to do a little author-insertion fantasy persona'ing it up, while I don't think we really need to discuss Jabba over at Type 4. So, until they release Type 2.5, my official declaration is that the majority of your characters (and inhabitants of the galaxy) are just unnaturally short. Because I don't particularly want to play an 8'1" Jedi Guardian, but Type 3 it has to be.

Here are some mindset tweaks that I've found make playing Imperial a lot easier: Overall, remember that you're part of a society that is much smaller than the Republic, and that the Republic, without question, wants to destroy you. You're going to meet - and kill - plenty of good people who may not individually want to, but you're at war with an entity that will wipe you out, given the chance. If you're an Inquisitor/Warrior, and a generally good guy, remember that you can change things for the better once you're at the top of the heap - but that you can't get to the top of the heap by playing nice. My Warrior, for example, is a dark sider not because he's mustache-twirlingly evil, but because the dark side gives him power. Power he hopes to use to take over the whole show. Of course, the dark side needs to be fed. Thus, he commits plenty of necessary evil, in hopes of one day serving a greater good. If you're a bounty hunter, well, you pretty much have to be an in-it-for-the-credits amoral merc. Agent's actually pretty easy. You're essentially a black ops operative, in an active war, and it's never going to be saving kittens and helping old ladies across the street. Think, basically, of the SAS storyline in the Modern Warfare series. You're working to save your nation from annihilation, and you have to do a lot of questionable things to make that happen. You get the job done, period.

It's weird that there's not consensus on this. I've heard Bounty Hunter's fast, I've heard Bounty Hunter's slow, I've heard Sorcerer's fast, I've heard Sorcerer's slow...

Wait, we missed high gear, low skill Sentinel versus low gear, high skill Guardian. If that goes to the Sentinel, Guardian's right out of consideration.

I think I'm going to have to just roll one of both. I prefer the aesthetics of the Juggernaut by a factor of around a thousand, but Marauders just seem...well, too damn good. Easier leveling, deadlier in PvP given equal skill and gear, etc. I know Juggs can get defense points and all that, but I did the PVP tank thing in WAR, and it's...well, not nearly as satisfying as burning stuff down.

Well, that's thoroughly depressing.

I've heard conflicting reports. On the one hand, people say DPS Guardians are maybe half a step behind Sentinels. On the other, people say DPS Guardians are maybe a step above not hitting the target at all. I think the consensus is that Guardians can put out some burst, but it's really only worthwhile burst once you're a 50 and in top-end gear; prior to that, it sounds like quite a struggle. That about right? Bonus question: Guardian versus Marauder, one on one, equal skill, equal gear. Who wins?

Let me say thanks again for all the replies, guys. I appreciate the info. I dunno. I really do want to want to choose the Jugg, as the look's just better, and one saber's classier than two, but...there's just too many reports of Jugg leveling being painfully slow, DPS being terribad until you're in awesomesauce gear, etc. I've done that before, just dunno if I really want to do it again, especially when there's a (comparatively) ready-out-of-the-box solution in the Marauder. I can learn to accept two sabers, but the armor's always going to look absurd.

I already need a break from my Juggernaut. I probably should've gone Marauder, as the Prot Paladin style of gameplay just isn't doing it for me. Anyway, what I want to do at this point is roll up an alt for the express purpose of hitting 50. Or at least getting to Legacy. Just have some fun and roll through a storyline, maybe make a little money to keep that gear-hungry Juggernaut going. The class has to be fun to play from 1 to 50, and it has to be a fast leveler. Oh, and it has to be Imperial. Beyond that, I really don't have any other requirements. PVP, endgame raiding, etc...none of those are a concern. At all. So, what would you recommend as the best (or at least fastest) PVE solo leveler?

Yes, I realize this question's asked a lot, but it always seems to be answered from a PVP perspective, which I have little interest in. Mostly, I'm concerned with which one is easier/faster to level. I don't care about group functionality or raid performance, I just want to play through the Inquisitor storyline. So which is better for breezing through that?

I was afraid of that. Ah, well. ******* dual-wielding and bathrobe armor, here I come.

Well, I'll primarily be soloing, I'll do the occasional PUG to see flashpoints, and I'll PvP a little, but I doubt it'll be the focus. Ops are right out - my raiding days are over, I think. Just don't have the will for it anymore. Marauder, on the surface, sounds like it'll provide a more enjoyable leveling experience, and be better at the things I want to do. Unfortunately, I'm not partial to two lightsabers, and Marauder armor universally looks terrible.

So, from the sound of it, a Juggernaut probably wouldn't be recommended for someone who primarily solos, joins the occasional PUG to see instances, and likely will not get involved in much endgame raiding or PVP?

Lower than standard? What's the standard? That all makes the Jug sound a lot like the (vanilla) WoW paladin - low DPS, high survivability. Having played that class for a while, it's not an experience I'd look forward to again.

Howdy folks. So I'm two days into TOR, and it's finally time to turn my Sith Warrior into a Sith something else. To be honest, I'd probably go with Marauder, as they seem to sort of be the berserkers of the bunch, if it weren't for 1) dual lightsabers, which looks dumb, 2) their robes and slipper armor makes them look like residents of a gothy retirement home, and 3) there appear to be five Marauders for every Juggernaut. So, I'm leaning towards the Juggernaut. The problem is, though, I'm just all tanked out. Tanked in WoW, tanked in AoC, tanked in WAR...I just don't want to do it anymore. Every now and then, in a pinch, sure, but I'll happily leave it up to others. Which brings me to my questions: 1) Are Juggernauts who aren't tanking just wastes of space? 2) Their DPS, near as I can tell, isn't all that hot even going up a DPS tree. True? 3) They seem to do alright in PVP, though even there Marauders sound like they do a little better. True? 4) Leveling. Everyone says it sucks due to how slowly you kill. This accurate? This is probably the real deal-breaker for me; I've leveled horribly-underpowered-in-the-beginning classes for their endgame utility before, and it just sucks balls. Thanks in advance, gents.

Hello, folks. I'm brand new to the game, and I'm sure this question has been asked about a thousand times before, but I haven't seen any answers to it since the latest patch, so that may have changed things. Pretty simple, though. Should I go Juggernaut or Guardian on my warrior? I want to be capable of good PVE damage, holding my own in PVP, and not necessarily always being seen as just the tank, as I think my MMO tanking days are coming to an end. I like the single-bladed style of the Jugg better visually, but eh, if I have to go Marauder, I suppose I will.