I don't know if you're still in the market, but about a year ago I was asking myself the exact same question, and the answers I got indicated that gaming headsets are, most of the time, pretty poor value for money in terms of build and sound quality. I wanted to spend up to £40, so rather than get an overpriced gaming headset, I took the advice I was given and bought myself a set of decent headphones, and a separate lapel mic which I wound around & clipped to the headphone cable so they stay together. The headphones are much better quality than anything I've used before (I'm no audiophile but these really showed up the poor quality of my previous headsets) and undoubtedly better than what I'd get for the same price of a gaming headset: I don't know if those particular brands are available on the US store, but I'd absolutely recommend considering getting a headphone + mic rather than a gaming headset.

I started playing at the back end of 2013, and after my first F2P session subscribed instantly: considering what else you can get for £9 (a few beers? A music album?), a month's entertainment is pretty damned good value in my opinion. I started playing with a friend: we live 8 time zones apart so we don't get to play as often as we'd like but we've gotten our Operative/Mercenary team to level 35 since then, and I'm thoroughly enjoying levelling my Consular, Powertech and Sniper solo depending on what mood takes me... as well as a smuggler I started last night I've only ever played one MMO to any extent before - City of Heroes - and while I found this game considerably less easy to pick up and get started with in terms of gameplay, the story and especially sheer scale of the fully voice-acted world is incredible. The game seems substantially more solo friendly in terms of the way combat is designed, the quality of the storylines, etc than CoH - with even the Heroic missions usually being solo-able if your character is well built and played cleverly (I prefer these missions actually, more exciting!), and in general I'm having a blast

I started a male Twilek smuggler last night! Got to level 9, and don't think I've laughed so much at some of the dialogue and actions even in that short time! I went with male because I liked the idea of charming, flirting & sleeping my way across the galaxy and from what you said the females (as usual in games, sadly...) have less agency in this regard. The game feels totally different, instead of noble Jedi and brutal bounty hunters I'm just a random guy running around booting people in the nads, whacking them with my gun, shooting consoles because they don't work, and legging it before anybody finds the bodies (so that's what that smell is), even the soundtrack sounds quite playful: such a change! Definitely merits a place in this thread from what I've seen so far And I have to agree with everybody on the Agent storyline: it's absolutely awesome. I'm playing mine in a duo with my friend and her Bounty Hunter, put up against each other there seems to be a real gulf between the stories in quality (not that the BH is bad, the Agent is just another level altogether) and the voice acting is superb. That evil chuckle when TA is triggered... so good!

You've made me want to roll a smuggler now, since they are one of few classes I've not gotten to the advanced class stage I shall do it when I get home tonight! Thinking Twilek... a dashing rogue who's in it for the fun and acts with greedy selfishness, but has a secret heart of gold that prevents them from doing some really awful things. But male or female! Can't decide! You sound like you know your smugglers, which of them seems to have the most fun?

How about rather than sticking in a brand new RNG, simply add the visual effect to a mechanic already in the game? As somebody mentioned above, what you are describing is in effect, a "super" critical hit... why not just add the visual effect whenever you land a normal critical hit? Your character glows for a second, shouts out something (Consular says "the force guides me", or whatever) and that's that. Perhaps add a 1-2 minute internal cooldown on the effect though, since it would get pretty annoying after it happens 5 times in a row in a lucky streak. I'm sure Bioware could make it worth their while by adding extra shouts and colour flashes to the Cartel market!

So, I've been playing for about 6 months, and have tried many but not all classes yet, and was wondering what people think are the most satisfying classes to play. This can be judged by whatever criteria you want: the rate you mow down enemies, the screen-shaking visual effects of your powers, the feeling of bad-assery the storyline grants, the voice actor nailing a line perfectly, anything. I have a couple right now: the male Operative who has an absolutely brilliant voice actor, and his chuckle whenever he downs an enemy with a knife in the back sends shivers down my spine. Additionally, my Powertech who fills the screen with explosions, fire and rocket punches feels so incredibly powerful that it's a blast (heh) to play. What class always puts a smile on your face?