Yeah, unfortunately... Without a way to save that, the prevailing wisdom seems to be putting non-spec-specific abilities on bar 2 and leaving bar 1 empty to autopopulate with specced abilities when you change spec. Then you can quickly rearrange those to suit. It's not optimal, but SWTOR has gone out of its way to avoid backlash from former WoW or Rift players over automating too much of the game process. (It's why we still don't have mouseover macros for healing.)

I'm so glad you're enjoying it so far. It's been fun for me, but I'm only up to chapter IX. On several characters.... None of whom I've taken into Firebrand. I stay put in chapter IX grinding out alliance reputation and collecting companions. I'm a little nervous to go past it. I've been playing a lot over the holidays as my best friend's mother went into hospital on Christmas Day and then into hospice. I stayed to help take care of her through the end, and SWTOR entertained me and kept my spirits up through that harrowing process. I crafted and PVPed and talked to my guildmates a little between administering medications and doing laundry, and I came out the other side sadder but better off than I'd have been without this outlet. Sometimes what you really need is a little escape, and SWTOR provided me that.

Happy New Year! It's been a crazy couple weeks but I just read through all I missed. As ever, I've enjoyed your stories. Congrats! If you've fully completed the expansions and are down to the end of Oricon (and you've done Rishi and Manaan and Yavin IV and had all that fun) then At least that's how it worked for me on my Marauder in my most recent playthrough.

These are great suggestions. Love it.

I've never seen this! Wow, I've literally never played it that way. Sounds like I've got an alt to make! Maybe it'll all finally make sense in all its details if I do the flashpoints in proper order...

I've ventured onto an RP server in the past, but I don't think I'm a dedicated enough SW fan to fit in. (I've obviously seen all the films, I've read some of the Expanded Universe, and I played KOTOR 1 & 2, but the minutiae... Lost on me.) So I do much what you do... Envision a backstory at character creation, hold onto a sense of identity and purpose, and then let the story change that character as it goes. Or, if I happen to have an RL friend playing with me, and we get on VOIP together while teaming up for a few missions, we'll talk out loud about the RP characteristics of the scene, like playing D&D. That's tremendously fun, but very situational. When it comes to solo casual RPing, I've always done pretty much exactly what you're describing, so you're def not alone in that. (Although a time or two, I've just played as myself, and that's pretty fun too.)

I really recommend looking for active, recruiting social/leveling guilds in local chat on starting planets or DK/Coruscant. A good guild sounds like what you need. SWTOR caters to two very different playerbases--one that's here for KOTOR 3 and solos everything and one that's here for a Star Wars MMO and wants to group. A guild is the best way to get the MMO part of the experience, imho.

Thirded. I'm dying to know what rotation and gear I should be using for PVP (PVE too, tbh) and I don't have the skills to sort out what's optimal on my own. I keep checking these forums looking for an updated guide.

Most custom (orange) lightsabers are usable both main hand and off hand. Just check their tool tips. You might plunk down a bit on the GTN....a CM saber will be custom and usable from the beginning. Or learn artifice if there's no affordable custom sabers on your server. If I'm not mistaken artifice crafts orange quality sabers pretty early in their repertoire that are usable from a low-mid level. My (new) Marauder has been using a CM saber as his off-hand from the beginning, one I used mainhand on other toons and unlocked through collections. You'll definitely pick up decent offhands as quest rewards while you level though, if you follow the main arcs.

I really am. I'm mostly solo still, and definitely casual, but dipping my toes into being in a guild, doing some conquest/PVP, and grouping now and then has been fun. I don't like the pressure of it with PUGs, and I definitely do not dominate WZs, but it's funny how five years on, I'm only now exploring some of these other aspects of the game. It has a lot of replay value, and I think even if I'm not thrilled with GC, and even if I don't love how KOTET ends, I'm still going to be here next year. I'm still gonna have a lot more fun in SWTOR than I would just about anywhere else. Much as I'm looking forward to BW's next with ME Andromeda, it's not going to replace what SWTOR gives me. As has been mentioned before, there's nothing quite like force leaping onto an enemy and stabbing them with two lightsabers at once. This is childhood fantasy territory, and even if end game isn't perfect, there will continue to be content worth escaping into.

Greetings from Jedi Covenant! I've read this entire thread, and it's been very rewarding. I was a huge KOTOR 1 & 2 fan, so natch I showed up for BW's KOTOR 3, aka "SWTOR Classic," as a pre-order. I haven't been continually subbed since then because I'm often broke, was without a laptop for a while, etc etc, but I always come back. I played CoH, WoW, Rift, GW2, and a few others over the years, but I always find myself here, clicking on create character, and going back through the original 8 stories. I played chapters 1-9 of KOTFE on my free 60, and that was fun just to explore, but I missed my companions. I missed the classic experience of my origins mattering. I'm too much of the RPG and not enough of the MMO. I didn't have a guild, I didn't have friends playing. I just wanted to see where it was all going. When I had to wait for chapter 9, I decided not to grind out alliance crates and slaughter star fortresses. I dropped sub, played Dragon Age Inquisition, and faffed around. Then I heard if I resubbed, I'd get Shae Vizla. Holy crap, Shae Vizla! So I resubbed. Then it was DvL, and by god, I was gonna get in on that. I only had a couple weeks left in the event, but I jumped in both feet and made a new toon, powered through, and got a few achieves... as well as accepting a random guild invite to a HUGE guild that tops conquest leaderboards. It was interesting, and not something I'd engaged with since the earliest days of SWTOR since my original guild decamped for greener pastures six months in. It wasn't the best fit, but it was intriguing. I liked feeling like there were other people out there doing things in the galaxy, even if I wasn't gonna participate in any grouped events with them. That was pub side, and I had never finished the Sith Warrior storyline. It was the last remaining before I'd get legendary status. I dove in, decided to see how it played out.... I'd never played DPS before but I went Marauder. On Dromund Kaas, I saw someone advertising for a "casual-friendly" guild, and I joined it. Weirdly, this is the first time in years I've felt like I want to do anything grouped. I really like my guild. I like PVPing for conquest, even though I'm terribad at it. I like running random FPs with my guildies--who are willing to teach and explain mechanics. I actually saved us all from a wipe as the last player standing--and I DPSed down the final trash to end the combat and rezzed my guildmaster to raucous cheers from the group. It was the most amazing I've ever felt in this game, and it happened because I was with guildies. Friend is too personal a word for what they are to me, but we are a team. Funny how I didn't find that until I played a Dark V Sith Marauder. I've taken my time on this toon to play through all the stories I want, and I've reached the point where I'm about to jump into KOTFE and KOTET. I'm already a 70, have been for a while. So I'm grinding out the CXP (been legacy 50 for a while, so that's ALL I'm getting anymore) and I figure, why not? But I'll admit, I married my sweet little sassbucket Vette, and I wouldn't play SWTOR GC without a guildie spoiling me a little by telling me I get her back. I get too attached. What good is being the Outlander (like everyone else in my guild) if I can't finally find out what Vette thinks about my side piece Lana? If there're no consequences for my actions, it's no longer an RPG. I know EA doesn't care like BW did before they were assimilated. That's been my biggest disappointment. I've lost hope that, with the voice actors' strike etc, we'll ever get expansions that bring back that KOTOR 3 flavored magic. Doesn't mean I won't sub, and play, and enjoy events. Doesn't mean it's not worth playing alone or with friends, or doing conquest, or joining a guild. Just means I won't rush to end game, because I don't think what's coming is gonna be appreciably better than what's already here. Now that was a ramble. Guess I just wanted to put it out there, my experience, and share it with folks who seem sympathetic to that playstyle. It's been a real pleasure to meet y'all. Sometimes the toxic noise drowns out the beautiful harmonies in this place, but y'all are singing my song.

Love all those ideas. Please, PTB, let it be so. Legacy credit banking would save my sanity.

Excellent points, all of them. I love this collection of ideas. Seconded.

Like I said in my post, I don't see that as static. I see it as the baseline which could be modified by choices. In fact, seeing what your end result would be would give you a clearer vision of what your choices wrought. I can't remember the questline, but in one instance, my character made a light side choice and lost credits (shown in the bottom left where my companion affection/ls or ds/etc pops up) immediately. It's possible that could be a way to handle it as well. If you got an immediate +/- to your credit balance or an immediate receipt of item for the stage of the quest you're on, it might not alter the end rewards but would still be a meaningful impact from a choice.

There's no way to buy in-game credits directly for CC unless you already earned the credits, which is what escrow is for. Escrow is like money held in trust. In this case when a f2p or preferred has hit their max number of credits, BW holds the remainder in trust for them until they become a sub or buy a credit transfer. However, if you wanted to buy in-game credits, the closest thing is probably buying a cartel pack and selling it on GTN unopened. Those go for a pretty stable amount relative to their price. Subs cannot use and should not be able to buy the escrow items. Contact support and see if they can remove it from your account and refund your CCs?

Why do you think this? I would assume that stating mission rewards simply provides the baseline reward. If you choose to do something additional (bonus quest/giving away or declining credits/bargaining for more credits), that would modify that in a way that would be reflected when you complete the quest and hand it in. Am I missing something? (I'm sleepy, so it's very possible.)

Chances are you're playing SWTOR in non-native screen resolution. This happens to me too. My native screen resolution for my monitor and graphics card is 1920x1080. In SWTOR, I play fullscreen at a lower resolution with the same aspect ratio to avoid lag due to my computer being mid-range at best. This means while I'm in game, my monitor adjusts to the lower resolution, making it look "zoomed in," while when I log out of SWTOR, the resolution resets. If your problem is due to a crash, just adjust your monitor resolution manually from your desktop. SWTOR just didn't get a chance to release control of your resolution settings, but they should be easily changeable. Right clicking your desktop should give you an option for managing your screen resolution. If you want to run SWTOR in your native resolution and your machine can handle it, then you can change it under the graphics settings in your preferences once in game. That should avoid the "zoomed in" appearance when tabbing out.

/signed I play mostly tanks, and I'd greatly prefer a customizable shield effect, especially for my Powertech tank since blaster bolts (especially from a single blaster) aren't nearly as visible or cool as a lightsaber and his fire effects don't change color either. It'd be nice to get at least a shield effect that wasn't totally cookie cutter.

/signed! I want -real- Mandalorian armor, and I will shell out for it.

LOL and also QFT.

I'm dying for the new speeders. Ughhh. Gotta start saving up now. Thanks for the info!

/signed If there's a reasonable way to implement this, I would love it. I would prefer it if I could get the voice packs via CM and able to be used through collections. This is precisely the kind of vanity/fluff item CM is perfect for. Unlike what happened with the dye situation, however, I'd like to be able to preview the modulation, choose which suits me, and then purchase it for one toon. If you want it for other toons, apply the CC fee for account wide unlock.

/signed. This is ridiculous. If the Jawagrams were able to be exchanged for cartel certs or some kind of comms as others suggested, that would be one thing, but as it is, they're freaking useless. I was very willing to shell out CCs for the gambling packs on the principle that while I might not get what I wanted, I'd get something -someone- wanted... This is pointless. It's one thing to gamble big and lose small. It's another thing to gamble big and lose it all. I think it would greatly encourage those who legitimately enjoy the thrill of opening a cartel pack if they knew there was a limit to how badly they'd lose on it.

^This. I agree both with the original commenter and the comment commentary. It's insightful, and pretty much true, and also unpleasant. What it comes down to is that some of us are good players but not professional players. We try not to piss off those who play this game like it's their job, and in turn we try not to stomp on the newer players who haven't achieved more than a modicum of competence yet, usually due to not having had time to practice for years. The Star Wars IP is a sweeping, global fandom. People from all walks of life want to participate, from elderly retirees with slow reflexes, poor eyesight, and no previous MMO experience to 10 year olds who've never played a computer game before and don't follow instructions well to 30-somethings who've been playing games since the late 70s. Some are a spouse, parent, sibling, grandparent, or buddy of someone and just playing to spend time with a gamer who prefers SWTOR to other forms of hanging out. And we're all in this together, every last one of us. Veteran, hardcore, 'pro' players are naturally disaffected at this point. They're passionate about this game, and this game isn't giving them much to work with. Think about it like this... They entered a contract with SWTOR not unlike a marriage vow. They desired it. They waited for it. They haunted these forums for years waiting for the day SWTOR would be theirs. When they finally had SWTOR, they set out to win it, to master it, to learn its every secret, to explore its every hidden place. They were in love with SWTOR, passionate about it, full of fire and drive that carried them to the endgame in record time. They did this because SWTOR was their beloved, and they wished to possess it completely. And then SWTOR let them down. Disappointed them. Didn't put in the effort. Didn't even try to fulfill their needs. And in the meantime, they watched SWTOR make it easier and easier for others to possess and explore it, to know it as intimately as they did, to win it as completely. And that devalued some of their experience. It made them ache and grew bitterness inside them no matter how badly they wished otherwise. They have the same brittle hope for the future of SWTOR that an estranged spouse might have for the future of their marriage. It's going to take a lot of work, and they can only do part of it. Their anger, their b*tching on the forums, that's not really about the new players. It's about their beloved SWTOR. It's about trying desperately to shout loud enough that SWTOR listens and repays their devotion in kind. And, understanding that as I do, I'm torn about the OP. If SWTOR makes you miserable more often than it makes you happy... If your frustration overwhelms your moments of excitement... Do yourself a favor and take a break til SWTOR reciprocates your dedication. Don't do the OP a favor. Don't do the new players a favor. Do YOURSELF the honor of respecting your own time and energy enough not to throw it away on something that refuses to satisfy you. Sometimes love isn't enough. It'd be nice if it was, but when it's not, you have a tough choice to make. Personally, I respect those who keep fighting it out and hoping for a change. I read their threads and weather their rage when it coincides with mine and gives me a sense of validation. I skip their threads or /ignore when it brings me down. TL;DR: Maybe SWTOR isn't that into you. If that crushes your soul, save yourself the heartache and take a break. If you're strong enough to keep fighting and still hold your head up, my hat's off to you. Shine on, you crazy diamond.

There's not really a tooltip for most of mine. It's sort of a borked UI, which is why I have little grasp on why they're so convinced (per the yellow text) that this is the best possible they can manage and listing things separately would clutter it. I think it's pretty clear why they have things set up this way. Delineating by which pack things came from and your percent of completion of a given pack is to encourage people to continue buying older packs. That said, any item which was purchased already modded will never give you the option for claiming new copies or unlocking it. It does appear in full color, but it must always be purchased individually and will only ever allow you to open the cartel market interface for those items. My theory is that when a non-mod item shows up that way after being unlocked, it's an artifact from that same coding. Like an overlap where there shouldn't be one. You can file bug reports for those instances. User friendliness isn't really the watchword for this feature release. I have hope for it in future, but it's gonna need some more elbow grease. Let's hope it gets it. At least now we've got some answers out of them, however unsatisfactory they might be.