So more observant and wiser players than I seem to have found some good things to give feedback on and I hope the team considers each one. I will leave it to these more detail oriented comrades to appraise the team of such things. I just wanted to take a minute to pass on that I think the new UI changes coming in 7.2 are a job well done. I've spent the last hour or two in the interface editor tinkering with the new utility bars, their features, the mini map etc. VERY glad to see the current minimap (maximal) layout is available still (cuz us old timers like to keep what we've gotten used to lol) and very excited that, in addition, the new utility bar features and new popout map are all independent of this, so you can pick and choose and mix and match between the new and old elements. The ability to mix and reorder and add or subtract buttons on the utility bars is fantastic, very excited by this functionality and I will definitely be spending a lot of time tinkering with my UI when all these new features roll out. I think my favorite part so far is the popout map. It replacing the minimap when open was surprising, and I think it would be nice for there to be a toggle somewhere of engaging this function or not, but it didnt take long to adjust and adapt to it and I actually am very excited by it replacing the minimap when open to keep the UI a little less cluttered, a little cleaner, especially on those long drives when you've got the big map open to navigate. The team's attention to detail in how these UI revamps/additions have been executed is excellent. I am in love with all the new functionality and can't wait to tinker with it on the live servers. Hats off to everyone, well done, keep it up

Just an update after having actually started figuring out the gearing system So, now that I'v started working through the conquest gear vendor and finished the legendary implant quest (as well as read a couple guides explaining how the gearing works) I feel like I need to re-evaluate my thoughts on it. I still feel the system isnt the most intuitive and the limitations of max irating and gear quality based on content is an unnecessary and somewhat archaic step backwards. However, while the behaviour of the gear vendors was off putting and strange, the actual upgrade progrssion of gear is actually very straightforward. I think splitting it by content over so many vendors is unnecessary and confusing but once you actually get into the whole process its very simple and straihtforward and I actually dont mind it. Overall, I think my earlier assessment was harsher then needs be due to ignroance. That said, I think the biggest critique I have that would leave a much better first impresion when you ge to endgame gearing is not dividing it among different content tracks or difficulties, and not limiting the quality or max raiting attainable based on such. I think making more challenging content more rewarding to allow for faster upgrading is fair and I would support that, but I think the way PVP gear is set up is honestly the most fair. Its more of a grind for the casual solo player but the highest quality gear and a higher I level is attainable. I think applying this to the rest of 7.0 gearing and rebalancing the upgrade material rewards to favor harder content to expedite the process would be more universally fair and welcoming to all types of players. As a solo player, so long as the imbalance of rewards wasn't too extreme, I'd be more then happy to put in the grind time doing heroics, conquests, flashpoints, etc to eventually get rating 330+ artifact quality equipment. The rewards being so limited based on type of content and difficulty is just not inviting. I understand some of the why, since it was common practice to just grind easy flashpoints or easier content to gear up tot he max and that left a lot of the games more challenging or later game content rarely touched. While pvp is not most people's go to type of content, I think the way it's gearing upgradeing track is set up is the best set up across all the different content branches and would be a vast improvement if applied to them.

First off, just want to give a shout out to the team on 10 years of fun and looking forward to 10 more. You all are awesome. To business, I just wanted to share my thoughts where they might be seen by you, the team. I spent a little time on the PTS but didn't really spend as much time with it as I would have liked and didn't see anything blaring from what I did interact with. Mostly, I tinkered with the Combat styles and the revamped skill trees. As far as the Combat Styles and combat skill edits, revamps, pruning, etc, I like it. It has been what I've most looked forward to in 7.0 and I do not feel disappointed. I like the options, how the skill choices are organized, and the new additions to skill functionality. I main Vengeance Jug and the addition of turning Impale into a short range gap closer with Skewering Strike is pretty awesome and I love it. Some of the choices between active and passives were a little tough to make, but I don't feel handicapped by them. Particularly when adjustments can be made situationally on the fly almost anywhere, anytime. I also particularly like the meditation cutscene/mission where you choose not only your secondary combat style, but can also be prompted to change to the mirror of your primary if your choices have shifted your alignment in the Force (Jedi Knight using Guardian gets to switch to Juggernaut if they gain Dark Side alignment levels.) This an excellent mechanic and very immersive. I'm assuming it triggers again if they turned back to the light, but I've yet to try it. That said, my one small critique is that Tech (non-force using) characters don't have a similar option. I understand there is some kind of technical impediment to swapping styles out completely at will (while unfortunate, I have confidence the team will/has figured out a work around and a Cartel Market item will be introduced that will initiate the Style adding/swapping for those who wish to completely re-spec). However, given it appears possible to swap between mirror styles (guardian to juggernaut for instance), introducing a similar option for Tech characters (gunslinger to sniper for example) would likely go a long way to acting as a partial workaround alternative. I've completed the 7.0 storyline thus far, and reached 80 along the way, as seems intended. The story is good and Manaan and the Ruins of Nul are both fun and engaging locations. The Elom flashpoint in particular had a bit more mechanical complexity that was a welcome extra notch of difficulty, particularly the ancient security system (second?) boss fight. However, the storyline as a whole was surprisingly short, and felt reminiscent of Forged Alliances or Fallen Empire, where the intent was an episodic sort of release schedule. While patience is not a common gamer virtue, I liked the staggered release. I am hopeful this is the plan for Legacy of the Sith as well. The major core system mechanical overhauls and revamps alone are certainly expansion level material, but I confess being a little surprised at the story length still, which I hoped was going to be more on par with Onslaught, which I thoroughly enjoyed and enjoy replaying. I do understand that wrestling with an older and sometimes limiting engine can be a pain and very time consuming though (Went to school for animation and game dev for two n a half years, so I have at least a basic understanding of the trials I can only imagine the team has to go through creating new content). So while the story length was a little disappointing, that's not something to hold against the team with how hard they've had to work, especially with the pandemic complicating matters exponentially. The new character creator, interfaces, and UI, overall, are also great and welcome. I very much like the new character sheet and having so much all riht ere in one place. I'm afraid, however, this is where I have a few more minor critiques. Mainly, the limited camera zooming in both character creation and the equipment preview window. Maximum zoom in has been significantly reduced, making it much harder to see the finer details of complexions and makeup in character creation, particularly compared to pre 7.0. Also, the preview window has been similarly crippled, not only in maximum zoom in, but also the ability to manipulate the character/camera in the window. Vertical and horizontal range of motion are almost nonexistent at present, coupled with limited zoom, makes fashion and outfitting much harder. The new character sheet Ui, I like very much. The more dynamic pose and camera angle I also like, but because the angle cannot be changed or zoomed in, it makes the issues with the preview window and character creation interfaces all the more frustrating. I'm not suggesting alterations to the functions in the character sheet, merely pointing out there presently is no real work around available to compensate for the difficulties with the preview window at present. My only critiques of the new Ui windows is some minor issues with color matching function in the outfitter, and the tile border highlights in the inventory. I'm afraid I have to agree that how boldly the individual inventory tiles are outlined is a bit distracting and difficult to look at. The one thing from 7.0 I have a serious concern with is gearing. This is an area of the game SWTOR has struggled with much of it's entire life time(I've been a subscriber since beta). 6.0 gearing, while a bit cumbersome, was actually probably one of my favorite iterations of gearing. While having my legacy storage cluttered with extra mods, enhancements, and gear pieces was a but annoying at times, how gearing worked was actually enjoyable. It made any and all gear drops feel rewarding. I felt encouraged to play content and equip whatever i got as a drop that was better then what I was wearing because improving item level improved the quality of drops. Having them be legacy bound meant it was also a way to fast track gearing alts. It gave average loot drops meaning. I understand the new system is supposed to remove the RNG component that could be a bit frustrating or tedious in 6.0 at times, but frankly, how 7.0 gearing works makes no sense to me. Mainly because how to begin the process of collecting and upgrading gear is unclear. I'm 80, yet the vendors are either inaccessible or have nothing in their store fronts. There's the quest giving npc that gives the neuro augment thing you need to do content with to charge up, which I'm guessing is what will grant access tot he gear vendors, but this is utterly unintuitive and needlessly hindering. The ability in 6.0 gearing to be able to work your way up to Best in Slot no matter what content you preferred to do was also immensely welcome and added to the feeling of reward. Gating equipment behind content seems a step backwards, even with it being common practice to have the BiS gear limited to raiding. Breaking it down further to include flashpoints and the various difficulty tiers is very discouraging. I understand the idea might be to encourage players to try higher levels of difficulty in these types of content, but this feels like a very negative and discouraging method of doing so. To be honest I feel like taking the gear upgrade idea of 7.0 and applying it to how 6.0 gearing already worked would have been a much more positive forward step for gearing then starting from scratch all over again. I can't speak further to how 7.0 gearing works, given I dont have access to it yet and am uncertain how to do so. This fact is very discouraging already, however, and is something I would encourage the team to reconsider. Overall, I'm happy with Legacy of the Sith and excited to see where the team takes things from here. MMOs are never truly finished games, the same as art is never really finished, only abandoned. The fact we've made it 10 years and no end in sight is very rewarding and reassuring for fans and players of the game like me, as I hope it is for the team making it. Here's to 10 more years, and I hope my thoughts and critiques have been helpful and not too harsh. May the Force be with you, team, always.

Bump to this thread, and just ran into the problem unwittingly myself. spent 77m to get the pistol after having a couple from the rep vendor and wanting to get more without having to burn the last few CM certs I have left and press the account unlock button and a whole lot of nothing. Very sad to see this issue is now nearing 2 years old without resolution. Guess I'll keep waiting for the fix that will hopefully come with whatever they decide to replace the Certs with. Love this game but doesn't make these long standing issues any less frustrating. Cheers

This is actually a really neat way to introduce a stronghold. Make it part of the story and the game play and have to earn it like other content rewards, with a reduced credits/CC cost to fully unlock. And the number of times to repeat the flashpoint being ten times (10x) story/solo to have enough currency to purchase the key is a very reasonable and doable requirement. This would be a great to see as a sort of theme going forward, doing content and such to earn reductions on planets where a Stronghold is present to acquire said stronghold. Sounds like a fun idea and looking forward to giving it a whirl. Not to mention the idea of a moving train as a stronghold sounds brilliant so keep it up Keith, loving what you n the team are doing with the game PS: Some of those requests for hints on if/when companions that have yet to return will be doing so would be awesome (especially Kira Carson and Mako and Ashara)

The only problem with them dropping from command crates is that command crates aren't related to the cartel market in any way. While it would certainly be a nice way to get such items, it doesnt make a lot of sense since the certs were originally intended as a reward for buying the CM packs and things like that. Getting them from the slot machine deco, which only drops from CM packs, is about s close as it gets really. Not saying I dont like the idea, just pointing out why it makes less sense then most of the other potential ideas. But hey if the SWTOR team picks that one, I sure as hell wont complain.

So, was doing a little research folks, and the CM certs has been a long standing point of contentions with about 3-6 posts about them in the suggestions box every year. A couple noteworthy threads point out what you all already know: The drop rate is for them from the contraband slot machine is incredibly low, at 0.05% chance. The original poster of this thread did some very nice empirical evidence of cost to return on this and how nonviable the slot machine decoration is as a way to acquire the certs. So the first suggestion would be to rollback or re-adjust the drop rates of the certs within the contraband slot machine decoration. http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=913995 While this next recent thread is unfortunately a bit inflammatory initially, there are a couple constructive suggestions on how to bring back the certs, as well as a god point that the slot machine decoration being the only viable way to aquire the certs is incredibly unfair to new players to the game. http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=923990&highlight=cartel+market+certificates While the suggestions of putting the certs themselves up for direct sale in the CM for coins isnt a bad idea, I'm guessing that the coon value for them would be difficult to appraise and the fact they are already a legacy bound item may add to the difficulty of putting them up for direct sale, since direct sale items thus far have all been bind on equip and then unlockable for additional coins through collections. The SWTOR Team has periodically brought the old CM packs back for limited runs, allowing the player base to purchase the old packs again to get the certs and reputation and so on. However, this seems to be about once a calendar year, making it a long time to wait, and while the drop rates are better, not everyone has the real life funds to shell out for the packs in significant quantity. The main issue with the Certs being such a scarce item at this point is that there are a large number of vendors that require them. All the CM reputation vendors, many of which provide items only obtainable from those vendors (or as lucky drops from chance cubes) as well as the decoration vendors that provide a wide array of popular npc decorations like bartenders and dancers and medical droid vendors and so on. So I have some additional suggestions to alleviate the problem, some of which have probably been mentioned in other threads or on fan sites. One option is to do away with them completely, although this would further invalidate the contraband slot machine deco as a method for reputation farming and nothing more.With the teams recent purge of most of the commendation currencies from the game (data crystals etc) in favor of making everything for credits, however, this might be a viable alternative. Either the vendors that sell items for Certs sell them for credits only, or they sell the item for two different ways, either credits + certs as they do now, or strictly credits. Obviously purchasing for credits only would be much more expensive credits wise but having two purchase options would open up the availability of the items locked behind the certs, and with the move to strictly credits having already caused inflation on the economy the risk of further inflation related to such a move would be minimal. Another option is to add the certs into the pool of drops from Grand Chance Cubes, or introduce them back into the pack drop pools on their own as a possible item that shows up as a drop instead of a jawa scrap drop (a legacy bound item already) or in substitution of a companion gift. Such a move would let the SWTOR team control the drop rate to maintain some rarity while providing an alternative to a less then half a percent chance from the slot machine decoration. Jawa scraps are great ways for acquiring crafting mats, but adding the certs in as a chance to show up in place of scraps, maybe with the same drop rate as the artifact quality jawa scraps, would add in a more viable way to acquire the certs and obtain the items they are used to purchase. What is NOT being suggested here is the removal of the reputation vendors themselves. Those vendors provide a plethora of unique and rare items that are almost as difficult to obtain as the certs themselves, and are a valuable service if you have a cert or two for things like primary or secondary black dye and so on. We lost so many skins when the planetary comms vendors were removed, I am in no way advocating or suggesting we do such a thing with the certs vendors. TL;DR: To alleviate the scarcity of Cartel Market certificates, suggestions are to a)Revamp or roll back the drop rate nerfs of the Contraband Slot machine decoration to drop CM certs more reliably b) Put the certs up for direct sale, with a regularity perhaps similar to the black and white dye sales c) Bring the old packs that dropped the CM certs back more regularly, perhaps a bi annual instead of annual rotation d)Replace the Certificate requirements from the costs of items from the vendors that currently require them, similar to how the data crystals and other commendation currencies were removed and liquidated into credits values e)Keep the certs as part of the item costs from the vendors that require them, but offer a second price for those items form those vendors based on credit value so that the items can be purchased for a combo of certs and credits or just credits, with the credits cost being higher then the combo of course. f)reintroduce the certs as drops in the new packs, as part of the same table rotation as jawa scraps or the companion gifts. Or add them as drops from chance cubes.

Posting this here as well as having put it as a reply in a thread in the Cartel Market suggestions. Just hoping it'll be seen more by being in both suggestion places. So, was doing a little research folks, and the CM certs has been a long standing point of contentions with about 3-6 posts about them in the suggestions box every year. A couple noteworthy threads point out what you all already know: The drop rate is for them from the contraband slot machine is incredibly low, at 0.05% chance. The original poster of this thread did some very nice empirical evidence of cost to return on this and how nonviable the slot machine decoration is as a way to acquire the certs. So the first suggestion would be to rollback or re-adjust the drop rates of the certs within the contraband slot machine decoration. http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=913995 While this next recent thread is unfortunately a bit inflammatory initially, there are a couple constructive suggestions on how to bring back the certs, as well as a god point that the slot machine decoration being the only viable way to aquire the certs is incredibly unfair to new players to the game. http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=923990&highlight=cartel+market+certificates While the suggestions of putting the certs themselves up for direct sale in the CM for coins isnt a bad idea, I'm guessing that the coon value for them would be difficult to appraise and the fact they are already a legacy bound item may add to the difficulty of putting them up for direct sale, since direct sale items thus far have all been bind on equip and then unlockable for additional coins through collections. The SWTOR Team has periodically brought the old CM packs back for limited runs, allowing the player base to purchase the old packs again to get the certs and reputation and so on. However, this seems to be about once a calendar year, making it a long time to wait, and while the drop rates are better, not everyone has the real life funds to shell out for the packs in significant quantity. The main issue with the Certs being such a scarce item at this point is that there are a large number of vendors that require them. All the CM reputation vendors, many of which provide items only obtainable from those vendors (or as lucky drops from chance cubes) as well as the decoration vendors that provide a wide array of popular npc decorations like bartenders and dancers and medical droid vendors and so on. So I have some additional suggestions to alleviate the problem, some of which have probably been mentioned in other threads or on fan sites. One option is to do away with them completely, although this would further invalidate the contraband slot machine deco as a method for reputation farming and nothing more.With the teams recent purge of most of the commendation currencies from the game (data crystals etc) in favor of making everything for credits, however, this might be a viable alternative. Either the vendors that sell items for Certs sell them for credits only, or they sell the item for two different ways, either credits + certs as they do now, or strictly credits. Obviously purchasing for credits only would be much more expensive credits wise but having two purchase options would open up the availability of the items locked behind the certs, and with the move to strictly credits having already caused inflation on the economy the risk of further inflation related to such a move would be minimal. Another option is to add the certs into the pool of drops from Grand Chance Cubes, or introduce them back into the pack drop pools on their own as a possible item that shows up as a drop instead of a jawa scrap drop (a legacy bound item already) or in substitution of a companion gift. Such a move would let the SWTOR team control the drop rate to maintain some rarity while providing an alternative to a less then half a percent chance from the slot machine decoration. Jawa scraps are great ways for acquiring crafting mats, but adding the certs in as a chance to show up in place of scraps, maybe with the same drop rate as the artifact quality jawa scraps, would add in a more viable way to acquire the certs and obtain the items they are used to purchase. What is NOT being suggested here is the removal of the reputation vendors themselves. Those vendors provide a plethora of unique and rare items that are almost as difficult to obtain as the certs themselves, and are a valuable service if you have a cert or two for things like primary or secondary black dye and so on. We lost so many skins when the planetary comms vendors were removed, I am in no way advocating or suggesting we do such a thing with the certs vendors. TL;DR: To alleviate the scarcity of Cartel Market certificates, suggestions are to a)Revamp or roll back the drop rate nerfs of the Contraband Slot machine decoration to drop CM certs more reliably b) Put the certs up for direct sale, with a regularity perhaps similar to the black and white dye sales c) Bring the old packs that dropped the CM certs back more regularly, perhaps a bi annual instead of annual rotation d)Replace the Certificate requirements from the costs of items from the vendors that currently require them, similar to how the data crystals and other commendation currencies were removed and liquidated into credits values e)Keep the certs as part of the item costs from the vendors that require them, but offer a second price for those items form those vendors based on credit value so that the items can be purchased for a combo of certs and credits or just credits, with the credits cost being higher then the combo of course. f)reintroduce the certs as drops in the new packs, as part of the same table rotation as jawa scraps or the companion gifts. Or add them as drops from chance cubes.

So, was doing a little research folks, and the CM certs has been a long standing point of contentions with about 3-6 posts about them in the suggestions box every year. A couple noteworthy threads point out what you all already know: The drop rate is for them from the contraband slot machine is incredibly low, at 0.05% chance. The original poster of this thread did some very nice empirical evidence of cost to return on this and how nonviable the slot machine decoration is as a way to acquire the certs. So the first suggestion would be to rollback or re-adjust the drop rates of the certs within the contraband slot machine decoration. http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=913995 While this next recent thread is unfortunately a bit inflammatory initially, there are a couple constructive suggestions on how to bring back the certs, as well as a god point that the slot machine decoration being the only viable way to aquire the certs is incredibly unfair to new players to the game. http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=923990&highlight=cartel+market+certificates While the suggestions of putting the certs themselves up for direct sale in the CM for coins isnt a bad idea, I'm guessing that the coon value for them would be difficult to appraise and the fact they are already a legacy bound item may add to the difficulty of putting them up for direct sale, since direct sale items thus far have all been bind on equip and then unlockable for additional coins through collections. The SWTOR Team has periodically brought the old CM packs back for limited runs, allowing the player base to purchase the old packs again to get the certs and reputation and so on. However, this seems to be about once a calendar year, making it a long time to wait, and while the drop rates are better, not everyone has the real life funds to shell out for the packs in significant quantity. The main issue with the Certs being such a scarce item at this point is that there are a large number of vendors that require them. All the CM reputation vendors, many of which provide items only obtainable from those vendors (or as lucky drops from chance cubes) as well as the decoration vendors that provide a wide array of popular npc decorations like bartenders and dancers and medical droid vendors and so on. So I have some additional suggestions to alleviate the problem, some of which have probably been mentioned in other threads or on fan sites. One option is to do away with them completely, although this would further invalidate the contraband slot machine deco as a method for reputation farming and nothing more.With the teams recent purge of most of the commendation currencies from the game (data crystals etc) in favor of making everything for credits, however, this might be a viable alternative. Either the vendors that sell items for Certs sell them for credits only, or they sell the item for two different ways, either credits + certs as they do now, or strictly credits. Obviously purchasing for credits only would be much more expensive credits wise but having two purchase options would open up the availability of the items locked behind the certs, and with the move to strictly credits having already caused inflation on the economy the risk of further inflation related to such a move would be minimal. Another option is to add the certs into the pool of drops from Grand Chance Cubes, or introduce them back into the pack drop pools on their own as a possible item that shows up as a drop instead of a jawa scrap drop (a legacy bound item already) or in substitution of a companion gift. Such a move would let the SWTOR team control the drop rate to maintain some rarity while providing an alternative to a less then half a percent chance from the slot machine decoration. Jawa scraps are great ways for acquiring crafting mats, but adding the certs in as a chance to show up in place of scraps, maybe with the same drop rate as the artifact quality jawa scraps, would add in a more viable way to acquire the certs and obtain the items they are used to purchase. What is NOT being suggested here is the removal of the reputation vendors themselves. Those vendors provide a plethora of unique and rare items that are almost as difficult to obtain as the certs themselves, and are a valuable service if you have a cert or two for things like primary or secondary black dye and so on. We lost so many skins when the planetary comms vendors were removed, I am in no way advocating or suggesting we do such a thing with the certs vendors. TL;DR: To alleviate the scarcity of Cartel Market certificates, suggestions are to a)Revamp or roll back the drop rate nerfs of the Contraband Slot machine decoration to drop CM certs more reliably b) Put the certs up for direct sale, with a regularity perhaps similar to the black and white dye sales c) Bring the old packs that dropped the CM certs back more regularly, perhaps a bi annual instead of annual rotation d)Replace the Certificate requirements from the costs of items from the vendors that currently require them, similar to how the data crystals and other commendation currencies were removed and liquidated into credits values e)Keep the certs as part of the item costs from the vendors that require them, but offer a second price for those items form those vendors based on credit value so that the items can be purchased for a combo of certs and credits or just credits, with the credits cost being higher then the combo of course. f)reintroduce the certs as drops in the new packs, as part of the same table rotation as jawa scraps or the companion gifts. Or add them as drops from chance cubes.

So, this probably isn't the first thread for this, but seriously. After all the awesome changes to companions. Making Armor totally cosmetic was a nice move, and I'm loving how companions work now. However Not being able to customize the armor appearences of the KoTFE companions? Lana? Senya? Theron? If there is a plan to allow this later, it'd be nice to know. Becuase if there isn't there really needs to be. it makes it hard to relate to the companions outside of the story scenes when they look like the thousands of other Lanas and Therons out there. The fix would be simple to add the armor slots to them to allow cutomization that you find in every one of the original core companions. This goes for the additional companions you gain by doing the missions for the various Aliiance leaders too. Please add this feature soon, whether it be a quality of life patch, or as a feature in later chapters. A little news one way or the other would help alleviate the ire over not being able to dress them up. They are organic characters, not droids or larger non-humanoids.

So, I was in star fortress Voss when one of the last maintencne patches was about to drop, and my friend and I decided to rush through to at least get the paladin kills before we were kicked. We succeeded, and the notifications came up saying I got the kills, but when I logged in again after the patch, it hadn't counted on my achievments list, and since then I havent been able to get credit for the kills after repeating the flashpoint many times to do so. I'm now unable to complete the Paladin slayer and get the Fallen Knight title. If anyone has any work aorunds I'd love to hear them. I tried using my Jedi (did it orriginally with my Sith Mara) and still didnt get the credit. Would love to have it fixed so that I can at least go do the kills again and get credited so I can finish for the title

So, for that first question, that's a Yes to companions from other classes becoming available to other classes (such as the example of T7 for an Imp Agent during the demo). With that in mind, the next question would be: 1)Will thee be romance options available with those cross classed companions? (Example: Sith Warrior meets Kira Carson and she decides not all Sith are so bad?) 2)Also would this apply the ability to have same gender flirt/romance options with said charcters? (Said Sith Warrior is a lovely Female pureblood and that sorta does it for Kira) 3)If that's the case, would this be retroactive to the class the character originally came from? (Fem Jedi reunites with Kira after telling her to save herself all those years ago, and she finds out Kira's been carrying a torch for her this whole time). Loving the rest of what is happening with companions, just these couple details are my burning questions. Super stoked for KotFE

well that and the same gender romance capabilities

I can totally dig this. Now that we have a bit more of an idea about what KotFE is doing with companions, I think having the appearance modification station replacing the current preset customizations would satisfy the desire to have a more unique and personalized crew. Looking back on my original post I think I over complicated the concept a bit, so I think your version is a more streamlined in a nut shell what we're looking for

So, technical issues aside, it was nice to see some hints of what KotFE will be like, and I'm super stoked. However, concerning the questions about companions, there was one area of discussion that was avoided. As many have already asked: Will there be same gender companion relations like in other bioware games? (Fem Jedi romances Lana, Male BH romances Theron for example, and so on.) Will previous class specific companions change sides/ charcters as hinted at when it was first mentioned that companion choices were getting a major overhaul (Example: Vette finally says piss off to the Warrior and goes and finds a nice smuggler to spend her days with, or at least finds a Bounty Hunter that's more up her alley) Will previous companions gain the ability to be same sex romancable (Example: Fem Jedi has ardently resisted the advances of Doc because she carries a torch for Kira, who at last realizes how much her master means to her?) This category of questions can easily be answered without spoilers, and is very important to the veteran community of the game, myself included. it would be nice to finally have a straight answer on the subject. Very excited about companions not being role locked, and also not having to be concerned about gearing them out to allow more easy of swapping if desired/needed. Looking forward to October. May the Force ever serve you.

Oh, this would also allow for the use of the new outfit designer, since the introduction of this new kind of game element would be a great opportunity to make the back end adjustments needed to allow for such functionality.

Agreed. I just made a detailed suggestion for making custom companions bought form the market like treek so that its up tot he players to give some love to the companions so Bioware doesn't have to leave us hanging anymore http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=810121

So, the last time this was brought up was about a year ago and it wasn't really thought out. Since that time SWTOR has come a long way and we have some new stories being told that are pretty awesome thus far. However, personally, I'm feeling a bit out of touch with my companions after three years of playing, and I got to thinking why. Depending on the class, there are some really good, well rounded companions, and some flatter more one sided ones. But What about customizing them? Sure, we can dress them up and such, and there's the base skin alternates, but what about some of the long standing issues that have been had with them? For one, we, the players, were promised a long time ago that same sex relationships with our companions was something that would eventually come into the game, in the spirit of the other Bioware games like Mass Effect and particularly Dragon Age. For whatever reasons, this has not occurred, with the only consolation being the NPC storyline characters through the new content that we can do some flirt options with, but you can't take them home, so to speak. We also have the appearance modification stations, which are a great asset and have started to get some nice additions to them, as well as allowing you to unlock the options from opposing factions for some races (though sadly not all. Letting humans pick from the tattoos of the Sith and Trooper after completeing those would be awesome.) And then there is Treek, the loveable Ewok Tanky/healer who has been quite popular, as well as the beloved HK-51, who also has filled those empty spaces in our meat bag hating hearts. There are also the Galactic Starfighter companions that, while they cannot travel with you and are only there for buffs in Starfighter, they still are interesting characters that would be fun to see running around with us outside of the dogfights. While we could just sit down and make Theron and Lana into new, acquirable companions (hint, this would be TOTALLY OKAY! *wink wink*) There is another alternative, either as an alternative, or in addition to Lana and Theron becoming companions that will join us on our adventures to come. All these things could be combined into a new item that could be very popular (and profitable). A customizable companion character. This item would be sold in the Cartel Market, similar to how Treek is acquired. Upon acquisition, the player can then essentially enter the character customization panel used for the Appearance Mod station to craft their new comrade in arms, selecting whatever species and gender appeals to them. Like a player character, the gender would be hardcoded after creation, but the rest could theoretically be recustomized later, like the player characters. The Companion would also need to have it's class selected, perhaps from the existing pool per faction, and would then act as an additional tank, heal, or dps depending on the preference of the player. This would also be hard coded in, and there might be a limit of how many custom companions can be purchased. Say, a maximum of three, one dps, one heal, one tank. The player would need to choose if they are a melee or ranged dps or tank at creation, the initial cartel market item would be for a generic dps, either ranged or melee. The choice would be up to the player later on so they can select based on play style and build. The custom companion would be namable, and would be voice acted, as the others are. This means it would gain affection and offer conversation options the same as other companions. For ease, the core dialogue can be recorded once for a male companion, and once for a female companion. From there, there would be the option of adding select sound bites triggered for specific classes, while still having the companion be the same core personality depending on how they get influenced by the player character, again similar to how other companions already function. Among these conversation options would be the ability to romance these custom companions, regardless of the player character's chosen gender, similar to how the NPC's have worked in Rise of the Hutt Cartel and the Shadow of Revan arcs. To allow for long time veteran players who may have already romanced one of their companions, there would be a conversation possibility where you can separate from that companion. While this could pose problematic by requiring added dialogue and animations for the existing romancable companions, this could be circumvented by the discussion happening only with the player character and the custom companion, and a textual mail arriving from the jilted companion for closure. This saves on having to reset conversation dialogue with existing companions, and will leave the option for the creation of new player characters if a player wishes to be nice and not offend their currently selected companion interest. Like the existing additional companions of Treek and HK-51, the customs could be tied into legacy, so that newly created characters can acquire them from the very beginning, allowing the player to start working with their customized companion from the beginning (outside of story relevant areas, like T7 and Kira for the Jedi, etc.) When the custom is spawned on a new character, the appearance and naming begins anew, so that a player can enjoy a variety of new, personalized companions that suit the direction they wish to go with each class. For light and dark side, the companions could either cater to the behaviors of the player character, making the perfect partners in crime, or an option in customization could be included for personality based on initial affiliation and disposition that can then offer conflict and evolution as the player and the custom companion travel together. Obviously this would entail some additional voice recordings so the partner in crime route may be more economical. To prevent mechanic breaking, having the companion tied to a particular legacy level or player character level before being able to be spawned would allow players to enjoy the beginnings of a new character with the exisiting early companions they content is designed around, then introducing the new custom later. This way, aside from the Bounty Hunter, which starts out with a healer, everyone is not making healers to make early content easier then it already is. I think that about covers the initial pitch, hopefully someone on the Dev team sees this and thinks it's brilliant (because it is), but I leave it to you as well, my fellow players, to share your thoughts and ideas, as well as make this thread into something that gets some notice. Happy gaming and may the Force serve you well.

Thank you all for your help. I finally had to just sit down and try it. So, the results for any others who see this post. If the mount CANNOT be found in another cartel pack and is unique to the vendor, duplicates can only be acquired but spending additional credits and cartel market certs (ex. IMperator's throne) If the mount CAN be acquired from a cartel pack and is not exclusive to the reputation vendor it can be unlocked normally in the collections for the usual fee of coins for account binding (ex. Correllian stardrive Flash) Thank you all again for your responses

So if I wanted to be able to account bind the mount, I'd have to buy off the gtn or get it from the cartel pack? The reputation one will only work for the character I buy it on?

So... I'm trying to understand how this works. Like for example, the Correllian Flashfire fighter mount is available from the Binary star reputation vendor, but it also drops from a actual cartel pack and is able to be bound in collections. Does the Flashfire (or other mounts) from the reputation vendor work the same as the one that drops from the cartel pack in that it can be account bound in collections?

specifically the vendetta knee high ones

specifically the vendetta style, the knee high ones

Are there any non-class specific boots that have the same look as the RD-07A boots and with full slots? ones that can be used for a non-agent? if so, what are they called?

Ok, so looking at the Imperial agent boots, I really like the look of the RD-07A boots, with the full open mod slots etc. Is there a non-class specific version of the boots with the same skin, or close too, that i can use for my sith marauder? if so, what are they called?