O.k. i may have missed it in this thread but 1 thing that seems to have been overlooked is that the lore used in this game consists of more than what was used it the movies there has also been almost 30 years of books, comic books, video games,.etc. that have also been used in this game and if you look at the animated clone wars released between episode 2 and 3 there were several instances of Jedi using the bolts and other scraps from droids as projectiles in combat
as far as the appearance of the pvp gear while not pleasing is designed to appear as it would after the long series of battles that you went through to and continue going through while wearing it.