You can.

Grind or not, if you only did 10% of the game with XP slider for max gain from class quests, I suspect people would arrive at 50 and not know how to play their class...

Yes, I think the complaint here is that you need to select subcategories BEFORE you enter what the custom name you want to search for..

Actually, there sort of is. At least, if you've ever played a MMO before. The rules may be unwritten, but they are there. People who are going to use the gear for good effect > offspec/alt/companion. That being said, people need to learn to play nice and not throw a fit over what could be an honest mistake by someone who has never picked up an MMO before but did for TOR because of the IP involved. Consider this, as I am sure it has been mentioned before. If everyone was going to roll need for alts/companions, we'd not need the roll buttons at all, because everyone basically needs everything for various companions/alts. Bottom line, only roll Need if you're going to use it yourself on the character that is playing. Or at least check with the others if they are ok with it befor rolling.

Or at least alternative versions of "blaster" like a bounty hunter with a blaster rifle is not that far fetched...

I wholeheartedly agree. Cross server LFG tools ruin server community.

There are commendation vendors for all the plantes at the fleet (or whatever republic side has as their "Hub"). No need to go to each specific planet. If you've never used a commendation before, I'd say there's a pretty good chacne you are severely undergeared for your level.

Look and feel wise, the UI is fine in my book. scaling and moving can be a low priority for all I care. But, what really, really, really bugs me more than sitting on broken glass all day would, is the fact tha every time a companion returns from a mission, all the UI windows I was currently working in close. If I'm on the GTN checking out mods for items, and I wanna compare that to whatever I have in my orange gear, the GTN window closes. Seriously, I understand that it is beneficial to automatically open invent when you ctrl+right click to modify an item so newbies know what to look for, but it is also anoying as heck! Not being able to layer UI windows is also a pain in the backside! I have now taken to screenshotting items cause it's easier to alt+tab out to check the screenshots than to do it ingame! That should tell you something!

This is very much needed!