Unfortunately it's completely impossible to create an MMO like what you're talking about. Of course it's funny that you kill a group of soldiers easily within sight of their friends, but if it was "real life" you would never get anything done because you would constantly be mobbed by all 600 mobs who can see you. You just have to practice a little suspension of disbelief. Ha. My friends and I joke all the time about what you're talking about. We'll be killing someone or planting a bomb while saying out loud, "Don't mind me, just blowing up this ship!" while all the other mobs just stand around, totally uninterested in the warning sirens and explosions happening all around. Ha. And you play a mass murderer in just about every video game, so nothing new there!

You can sort of turn them off in the sense that you can have them set up where you have to hover your mouse over the option to see the alignment and then just use the number keys to choose instead of your mouse. That way you don't know if they're light or dark. To answer the OP, I thought some of the DS options were kind of bull. Some of them are really petty, I thought, and not really the kind of thing a Sith would actually do. I don't think that Sith really go out of their way to be jerks just to be jerks if there's no other benefit in it. I haven't started a Republic character yet, but I have heard from a friend of mine that some of the LS Sith options are weird.

I'm also loving the game more than any other MMO. I really don't get where all the hate is coming from, but then again maybe I'm just different from other people. If I try a game (and I have tried many MMOs) and I don't like it, I quit. Never once has it ever occurred to me to go troll a game's messageboard just to tell everyone that I hate it. I decided to join this forum because I like the game... I would also like the hood/mask thing back. And I wish there was more character customization. I mean, no height slider? What is that?? In most MMOs now I think it's just standard that you at least be able to adjust your height. Character customization has always been a weak point for Bioware, I guess, but I had assumed that when making an MMO where being able to express yourself through your toon's appearance is one of the most important aspects of the game, they would step it up a little.

I am also another one who does these things with one other person and two companions and so far haven't had any real trouble. I guess it helps that my usual partner is a real life friend who I am talking to on the phone or is in the same room with me. I guess if you're with a group of strangers and you don't have vent it might be difficult and frustrating to get an efficient group together, but so far we've been handling +4s ok with just 2 and companions. But I do usually do them when I'm a level or two over them. I don't know. I haven't tried using /1 to look for groups yet, but I have noticed that it seems pointless. I always see the same people asking over and over and over and never seeming to get anywhere.

I haven't read a lot of the books about the prequels...what book is it where Maul is resurrected?

I agree with bfish. In fact, as I recall in the books Bane seems to show quite a bit of respect for the old Sith, before the Brotherhood. Bane wanted a return to traditional, wholesome values...and no more gays in the Army. He was the Rick Perry of his time.

Personally I hated the game, but different strokes for different folks. The housing was cool and that was about it for me. Well, I did like that there was an entertainer class. I thought that was kind of cool. I like Bioware's style. I like all their games, except Dragon Age, which I could never get into. But then again I'm more into questing and the storyline. I'm not really too interested in PvP or crafting or just walking around aimlessly.

It is surprising that there isn't swoop racing. I mean, it was featured pretty heavily in the KotOR games.

Minds, prepare to be blown.... The troopers lost to Ewoks because ultimately it was a family film and GL had/has/always will have a lot of stupid ideas.

You know you're dealing with the absolute height of maturity when most of a person's arguments are "Hurr durr" and "Derp". If you're already a level 50 and you hate the game and you hate the PvP and blah, blah, blah. Try another game maybe? Bioware's not going to change everything about the game just to please one person who probably won't be satisfied by anything at this point. Some of us like the game. Is it perfect? Far from it. There are a ton of things I wish were changed, but nothing is ever perfect. If all else fails you could always just turn off the computer and go read a book or something.

Maybe if Mel Brooks had actually made "Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money" we would have learned the answers to this and other exciting questions.

I love that the OP hinted that they have a lot of experience as a game tester and yet they find this game too buggy to play. Hmmm. Something isn't adding up there... I have played half a dozen MMOs at launch and TOR has no more bugs than any of them. It has far fewer than some! While I'm only a lvl 15 right now I've experienced less bugs so far than I did a year ago in Everquest 2, a game that has been out forever. Basically, it just seems to me like OP is just hunting for things to complain about. Report the bugs and if you decide you don't like the game, don't play it. Simple. Not every game is for every player. I hate WoW, but lots of people love it to death.

I'm going to go ahead and risk blowing your minds and say...It's a game based on a made-up universe! Things rarely fit together perfectly in real life, so you can't expect perfection in a game. You don't need to wrack your brains to death trying to iron out every little insignificant thing. Also, as far as the whole aging thing goes. I've never heard that being a Jedi is supposed to halt aging and different people age differently. Look at Johnny Depp, for example. He's how old? In his 50s, I think? And he looks half that age. Jack Nicholson has looked 65 since the early 70s.

The thing about all the popular aliens looking human is easily explainable, actually. Star Wars is made up and made to appeal to us, an audience comprised mainly of humans. Obviously humans naturally tend to find humanoids more visually appealing. There are tons of species in the Star Wars universe that are weird looking, but the most popular ones are the most popular at least in part because they do resemble us. Also, as someone else said, the entire universe is based off a sci-fi movie from the 70s where all the main characters had to be played by human beings.