Allowing Need rolls for companions would be grossly unfair to Smugglers and Agents, because most players like to run with their healer companions, all of which (except for the Trooper's Elara) use the same Medium/Cunning gear as those two classes. Meanwhile, Knights and Inquisitors would benefit disproportionately from such a rule, because it's pretty rare for anyone else to want their gear for companions. Outside of their own classes, they'd only have to worry about Bowdaar or Vector (neither of whom is exactly popular), while the Aim and Cunning classes would have to worry about, well, a lot more than one companion taking their gear.

For most characters, the only good headgear is Hide Head Slot. My Gunslinger is currently wearing a hat that looks like the love-child of a paper airplane and an old-timey leather football helmet. Or, rather, would look like that if I didn't keep it hidden. At least her chestpiece looks good. Synthmesh Battle Jacket. It's a tan longcoat with goggles hanging around the neck. It's my favorite Smuggler chestpiece, and I got it way back on Tatooine, from the easiest heroic quest ever. I got an extra for Risha, and I've got her wearing it with a color-matched Genteel Dress skirt. Along with her sniper rifle and her pseudo-Victorian helmet-hair, it gives her this cool "prairie wife" look. I also got one for Guss, but it really didn't look right on him. He can't wear those goggles. And how did he even get them pulled down over that huge, bulbous melon? And they looked really uncomfortable around his neck; I felt like I should be the one asking him, "Can you breathe?".

Can Star Wars characters breathe in outer space? Can they walk around on the surface of a star? No. So, some level of realism is still a factor. I'm not saying I'd object to dyes being reuseable, but it makes sense to me that they aren't.

Here's my idea, and I think it would make a whole lot of people really happy... Two characters, a male and a female, for each faction. You can choose to recruit one. They're bisexual, so the option is there to romance whichever one you like with any character. You don't have to romance them to recruit them, but you do have to choose an existing companion to replace with one of them. They then basically function as a copy of that companion. Same roles, same stats, same gear, same combat animations, same likes and dislikes; just a different model and voice (with unique audio clips). This would please those players who want a long-term same-sex romance, as well as those who'd like another hetero option. Just as importantly, though, it would please all those players who'd really like to get rid of one of their existing companions, whether they're interested in romancing an NPC or not. They could even throw in Dark Side and Light Side options for how you get rid of your hated companion to make room for your new friend. Light Side, maybe you just fire him. Dark Side, you kill him.

Well, it's also realistic. If you paint something in real life, you can't scrape the paint off later and reuse it on something else. And, yeah, there's also the aforementioned financial interests of BioWare. It's a situation where those interests intersect with realism. I can't really complain about that.

Is it possible you might have lost a few of those Beryllius to quicker buyers? I've had that happen a few times. I'd buy something, go to my mailbox, and there'd be a letter informing me that someone else had beaten me to that item, with my refunded credits attached.

Well, you can at least get the third-best gear in the game playing entirely solo, through crafting. I don't know of any other MMOs where this is the case.

I plan to buy all the specieses.Even if I don't end up using all of them, it's nice to have the options.

With the new Collection system, you can get around that 36-hour timer if you're just looking to send the item to an alt. Just equip it on the character who opened the pack, pay a few more Cartel Coins for the account-wide unlock, then reclaim it on the alt you want to have it. If it's an armor piece, you'll probably need the full set. But the gloves and belts and stuff do tend to sell dirt-cheap on the GTN. It's just a question of whether it's worth those extra expenses to get the item on your other character right away. You're the only one who can answer that for yourself.

Thanks for sharing where to get that beret! I think that's just what I'm looking for for my Cathar. Well, I guess I'll be doing more Makeb dailies in the near future...

Only if the speeder is "adaptive". Mouse over the speeder icon and check the tooltip; if it lists multiple training levels with increasing speeds, then it will go faster as your skill is upgraded. Otherwise, it'll only go at its normal speed regardless of your training level.

Han Solo is the quintessential Smuggler character. He used cover a lot in the movies, and pretty much only used his blaster in fights. He wasn't really sneaky, and he stayed out of melee range whenever possible. So, he's more like a Gunslinger, despite not using a second blaster.

Here's my new Cathar Commando... http://imgur.com/XY8NNp3 It's nice finally having a use for that Organa Statesman's Jacket. I'm not entirely certain I'm satisfied with her hair, though; maybe I'll try to find her a nice hat.

Here, a highly underrated classic rock tune... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhbRlhQgj_Y

Nautolan, Togruta, Zeltron, and... um... Devaronian, maybe? One of my concerns for a new alien species is that it should be believable to have one romancing a human or near-human. I think Nautolans are about the limit for how weird a species can look while pulling that off.

I disagree with the idea of going to the extra trouble of putting veterans together and making newbies run with other newbies. Newbies learn much faster when they run with more experienced players who are willing to give them a little coaching.

I'm no apologist. I just recognize that anything made by us flawed people will likewise be flawed. Nothing's perfect in this world. You take what's out there, or you get nothing if you're not willing to accept flaws in everything. When the negatives of a game outweigh the positives for you, quitting is a totally valid response. If you're done with TOR, I wish you the best of luck and hope you find a game that fulfills your needs better.

I had a wait time of ten or fifteen minutes tonight on my Gunslinger.

I'm not getting squeezed. I spent a mere 60 Cartel Coins (or was it 90?) to register the Aratech Nethian in my Collection, and now I'll never have to buy another scooter again.

Did you try registering it while it was still pulled out and sitting in your inventory? That could make a difference.

I had one Eviscerating Derelict-Purple Crystal that I pulled from a pack, and I gave it to my Sentinel along with an Endurance crystal of the same color. After I registered the Crit crystal, I was able to pull two copies of it from my Collection for my Gunslinger. Awesome!

Probably the Clandestine Officer's Uniform. It's a great-looking outfit. I have it on my Sniper. That's one of the other outfits I could register at any time, but it wouldn't look right on my Republic characters for obvious reasons.

In the midst of all the negative feedback on the new Collection system, I just wanted to chime in and say I really like it. It's nice to be able to get all the Relaxed Jumpsuit sets, Aratech Nethians and Eviscerating Derelict-Purple Crystals I could ever want on all my characters, and all it cost me to register them was 390 CC (240 of which was for the crystal). My one minor quibble with the system is that it'd be really easy for all my characters to end up dressed the same. It's a very cool outfit, though, so I won't complain too much if that ends up happening. And I have at least a couple more outfits I can register any time I feel like it. And that complaint doesn't apply at all as far as the Nethian goes. Several of my characters are still riding the STAP, because it's free for me and getting a better-looking scooter for everyone would've cost more than I felt like spending. I only upgraded my scooters when one happened to fall into my lap, like from a cartel pack. I'm really not a fan of stand-up models like the STAP; it seems like my characters should fall off them at the slightest bump. The expense is not a concern now, though; all my characters can now have an awesome-looking scooter with a seat and everything for free! So, thanks for the Collection system, BioWare! I'm really happy with it!

The Collection system is cool in some ways. For example, I got one Eviscerating Derelict Purple Crystal from a cartel pack a couple of months ago. Tonight, I added it to my Collection, and my Gunslinger was then able to get two copies of it for no additional cost. Get something once, and with a minor expenditure of Cartel Coins (240 in this case) you can get as many copies as you want. That's pretty cool, huh? I also registered the entire Relaxed Jumpsuit set for 90 Cartel Coins, and the Aratech Nethian for 60. That seems much better than trying to get more of those from packs or off the GTN.

Just put "" at the end of the quote and that'll fix it.