Is there a schedule of upcoming Cantina events available anywhere? I live on the east coast and would love to make one of these, but I'd also like to be able to plan in advance to make sure I can attend. Thanks for any help!

I subbed after about 3 days as an FTP player, and the reasons I did so are: I enjoy the game. I can afford it, at least on a periodic basis. There's enough clear benefit to subbing to make it worthwhile, in my opinion. That said, if I were not able to afford a sub, I'm really not sure how long I'd keep playing. There are a lot of quality of life benefits to subscribing that I'd miss if I let my account lapse into FTP mode, and I'm not sure I'd enjoy the game as much without them. I'm also a current or former FTP player or subscriber to STO, TERA, The Secret World, Age of Conan, Aion, Fallen Earth, Everquest, Eve-Online, and several other MMOs. In my opinion, TERA has the best FTP deal out there, particularly if you bought the game during the sub-only days and have a Founder account. One of the worst is Age of Conan, which not only makes subscribers pay for new content but blocks access to that content if a player's subscription isn't active. In other words, Funcom doesn't care if you've already paid up front for new content, if you want to actually play that content, you'll have to keep paying for a sub. Maybe it's just that I've worked in retail too long, but to my way of thinking, when you buy something it should be yours to use as you please, you shouldn't be forced to pay even more to enjoy what you've already paid for. For me, here's the bottom line: I'm still playing TERA and even buying some stuff in their cash shop. I've never had a subscription to the game. SWTOR, on the other hand, I'm not sure I'd still be playing without a sub, even though I really enjoy the game. I believe that if SWTOR made the FTP experience better they'd gain more players and make more money. TERA and other games have demonstrated that not only can MMOs be quite successful with this model, but their players are happier and probably more loyal as well.

I'm a total sucker for the sci-fi setting, played Eve-Online for about three years. I'm also a lifer in STO. I'm still having more fun with this than either of those games. And the best thing is that I know there's still so much to try, so much more to explore...

But here's the thing: I wasn't there. I never said anyone was wrong to be upset at whatever they were upset about, I was simply saying that as a new player I've found plenty in this game worth staying for. I mean honestly, this game has the best production values of pretty much any MMO out there. For 200 mil, it damn well oughta. I'm judging the game from the perspective of a brand-new player while you are judging from the perspective of a veteran, Maybe if I'd been around as long as you have I might feel differently, but I haven't. And it's not an attack or challenge to you that I don't share your perspective, it's just reality.

Upon further reflection, there's another thing I like about this game: Bioware's policy on same-sex relationships. See, now if the devs would enable a player to change their toon's gender they could cover the entire LGBT spectrum. Even better, how about this: Imagine a series of missions you have to get through in order to win your gender change? Maybe you'd also have to keep your estrogen or testosterone stat above a certain level for a while... C'mon Bioware, go for it! Let's see F-ing Guild Wars 2 top that!

One thing you read a lot of on forums like this one is some form of "I'm leaving/unsubbing from (MMO) because...". Now the truth is that I, like I'd expect many of you, tend to be a bit fickle when it comes to my gaming. The second I'm not being sufficiently entertained is the same second I start looking to move on. The truth is that while I've always been a huge sci-fi fan, I've never really been all that into Star Wars. I was 15 in 1977, when the first Star Wars movie was released and if you were around then, and particularly if you watched television and listened to radio at all (and in those days, everyone did), Star Wars was everywhere. People were disco dancing to the Star Wars theme, Mark Hammill was guest starring on the Muppet Show, and pretty much the entire country was Star Wars crazy. While this was going on, I was busy discovering punk rock and...other things. Before I started playing this game about a month ago, I hadn't even seen four of the six Star Wars movies. (now I've seen all but one), much less played any of the single-player Star Wars games. The truth is that I really enjoy the storylines and the combat, but even more than that, a big reason why I've elected to stay with this game, at least for the foreseeable future, is because of how well it's presented and how Bioware avoids the unnecessary tedium of many other games. An example of what I'm talking about is how when you loot you collect from all dead mobs in the area at once instead of having to run around from body to body as in some games. Another is how the group missions are given out by a different mechanism than the soloable missions, making it easy to distinguish which missions you want to take without having to dig through the mission descriptions to figure it out. Little things that may not mean much by themselves but can mean a lot when you spend significant amount of time in-game. In most of the MMO's I've played in the past (and there are many) sooner or later, I always found a reason to move on. That may eventually prove to be true here as well but right now I'm having big fun playing this game and so I expect I'll be sticking around a while, even though it's a little more expensive than most MMOs in some ways. For me, it's more about the overall experience of an MMO than the actual winning or losing, Sure there are some things I'd like to see, but as a new player I'm still formulating my opinions on such things. Right now I'm enjoying myself more overall than in any other MMO I've played recently, and that includes some pretty good company such as The Secret World, TERA, Aion, and Star Trek Online. Someone (I don't remember who) once remarked that what most MMO players are really looking for isn't a game to play, it's a world to live in. Maybe that's true and maybe it isn't, but one thing that's for certain is that it's easier to live in the SWTOR universe than in most other MMO universes I've visited, especially if you're willing to spend a little money. Personally, I don't mind spending a little on a good game if I feel like I'm getting a good value for my money. So far, so good.

Thanks for the welcoming, everyone! It's interesting how this game intrigues me and interests me more than anything else I've played recently. In fact, I've done a little blogging on the topic. My blog is called ADD Gamer and as the title suggests, I tend to jump around a bit in terms of topics. Basically, it's all about my experiences in gaming and so whatever I'm playing, such as SWTOR now gets a lot of coverage. Sometimes I'll publish first impressions of a game and find my opinion and interest level changing as time goes on. Right now, I have active (and semi-active) accounts in SWTOR, The Secret World, Fallen Earth, Need For Speed World, Aion, TERA, Hawken, Mech Warrior, and Tribes Ascend (I think that's all of them) , so while I know I'll be talking a lot about SWTOR, it's not the only thing I'll be talking about. I usually publish once every week or so, but sometimes more if I feel the need. I hope you'll check it out.

With this game I've developed a naming scheme that's almost guaranteed to get me the name I want. I choose the name I want and then tack my legacy name on the end. My toons will all have the last few letters the same but by doing that I can choose pretty much whatever I want as a name for my toon.

It's funny...when I told gamer friends I was getting into SWTOR just about every single one replied with some form of "Oh jeez, you don't want to get involved with that. I hear that unless you spend piles of money the game totally sucks." Well, there's no doubt that if you spend a bit you get a better experience. Big shocker there. Thing is, I enjoyed the game enough as a free player that I decided to drop $30 on a 60-day time card to see if I want to get into it long-term. Why? Because it's a great game. So far, all I've spent is that $30 and I'm having a blast. That's really what it's about for me. I don't mind spending a bit if I feel I'm getting a good value for my money. I also like the fact that the game is only a year old and the first expansion has just come out. That gives me time to get at least one toon up to level 50 before I worry about blowing another $10 on ROTHC and feeling like I'm lagging far behind where most players are, as I have in other games that have been around longer when I started playing. I suspect that by the time those 60 days are up I'll have already bought it. I played Eve for 3 years, basically until I'd progressed so far in the game I really didn't feel compelled to keep going anymore. I could easily see myself playing this for a similar amount of time, assuming the quality keeps up, maybe even longer. Another thing I really like, although kind of minor, is the security key. So far, 3 different MMOs I've played have had their databases hacked and subscriber info compromised. Anything that provides an extra layer of security for my account is something I'm all for, and I believe is long overdue in as an industry standard.

...because honestly, I've never really been that big of a Star Wars fan, so who would have thought I'd find myself so addicted to SWTOR after just a few days as a free player that I'd end up a subscriber? Sure as hell not me. So far I'm having a blast with it I love the sci-fi theme and this game has a much better story than Eve-Online or STO. I'm just into the early stages right now, but damn, don't you wish all MMO's were this well-done?