It's a display bug and won't stop you advancing your light or dark levels. On my Sorceror I got this bug at around Light 2 and it stayed with me all the way to Light 5. Once I capped Light 5 it finally corrected itself. It's a silly and irritating bug, but it doesn't harm your character.

Some more diverse species would be nice, assuming the lore allows it. Personally I'd love to play a Jawa, though not much character customisation would be likely there. But I can see why they didn't allow more diverse choices for technical and perhaps lore reasons. Maybe something for a future expansion.

The fact that there's four possible body shapes (all of which are very different) alone makes it better than WoW's character generation. This ends up helping define your character much more than facial and haircut choices, because once you have all your armour and a helmet / hood on, chances are the head customisation won't count for much (unless you turn headgear off). I'm someone who puts a large amount of time into designing the look of my characters in any MMO I play, it's what I enjoy. I've played perhaps a dozen MMOs now and have to say that Swtor's character customisation is one of the most flexible. The only one that I've tried that offered even more possibilities was City Of Heroes. Also, the custom armour in this game means that everyone can put together the look they want, which is a huge plus. It's not like WoW where everyone is running around like clones in the same Tier X gear. But I don't disagree with those that say it can be improved, more choice is always good.

Currently my 29 Powertech is full shield spec. I love the survivability but the kill speed is painfully slow. I want to retain the ability to tank, but I'm wondering if a hybrid spec would speed up the levelling. I don't plan on doing much PvP. Maybe the odd Hutball game, but it's really not my focus. I would like to be able to tank flashpoints while levelling and I would like to continue to be able to solo Heroic 2 missions. But I'd also like to put out a bit more dps than a pure shield spec can manage. Is there a hybrid spec which speeds up levelling for Powertech but still retains the ability to tank when needed?

There's no doubt the solo section (beyond the green portal) is overtuned. I've completed almost all the starter storylines and this one stands out head and shoulders as being overly difficult. The Heroic 2 quests on Ord Mantel were easier to solo. In that instanced room (and only in that room) the normals fight like strongs, the strongs like mini elites. Taking on one of the strongs alone was enough to take me to 5% hps. The only way I managed to beat the packs of three in there was by killing one and running out, rinse and repeat. Obviously not working as intended if you have to do that.

The forum for every MMO is like this. Every. It could be the most perfect MMO in the universe and yet the forums will still be a train wreck of complainers. It's just how things are. Unhappy customers tend to be much more vocal than happy ones, so if you read the forums for most games, products and services chances are you'll mostly see complaining. Of course there are some legitimate complaints. There are bugs and there are problems which need addressing. But this applies to any MMO. I've seen perhaps a dozen MMO launches now and SWTOR's launch has been one of the best. And it'll get better as the remaining bugs are thrashed out.

I'm really enjoying the voice acting. But I wouldn't want to see it in every MMO. It suits a Bioware MMO because it is their speciality and it continues the legacy of good voice acting in their other games such as Mass Effect, Dragon Age etc. In the main the voice acting in Swtor is very good, though it can be a bit patchy, especially with some of the bit part actors, but thats perhaps to be expected. After all there's a huge amount of lines recorded. So far I've played male Inquisitor, male Imperial Agent and female Bounty Hunter and they are all voiced acted very well, especially the male IA (I guess it's because I'm a Brit and I love the sarcastic and cynical tone that Bertie Carvel brings to the role). I did also start a male Jedi Consular and rapidly lost interest because the actor's lines were so dull and the storyline didn't engage. So I can understand both side of the argument here. It does very much depend if you can make a connection with the voice acting for your chosen class and this will be a matter of taste and can break the immersion factor for some. Those who spacebar through everything on their first run through are missing out. Even on repeat play throughs different classes and genders get different reactions from many quests, plus theres the issue of how your companion will react to your choices depending on what you say and do. Yes there's some filler and not all of it is worth listening to multiple times, but much of it is. I'm actually quite surprised by the depth of content they've managed with the voice acting. Yes, you could have even more depth with text. But lets be honest, in many games much of the text in quest descriptions is pure waffle and tedious drivel. I think one of the advantages of having an actor need to say the lines is it weeds out some of the bombast and pomposity that often permeates quest text in many games (though here and there it still pops up in the voice acting). Ultimately, this is one of those things that is bound to divide opinion, it's a matter of taste.

Dump Khem, go on the offensive and use a DPS companion. This may seem counter intuitive, but it works. Best way to survive packs of mobs is to burn the weaker ones down quickly before moving to the strong or elite. As they say, the best form of defence is a good offence. Andro is the only choice you have at 30, but he's pretty good and if you give him decent gear he doesn't take much more damage than Khem and his dps is much higher. Quicker fights = less healing. My Sorceror (now 35) is full healing spec and I have no problem with packs of equal level mobs, 2 strongs, elites or whatever. Mostly because I play quite aggressively and bounce the aggro between myself and my companion. Make sure to use your aoe knockdown on packs and always keep your static barrier up on yourself and your companion whenever it is off cooldown. I level with Ashara now, Andro before. I only use Khem for Champion mobs.

I've been levelling my Sorceror as a healer (although first 5 points were in Lightning for the increased force and force cost reduction). Since Tatooine I've dumped Khem and don't bother with a tank (even for elites) because my healing is good enough to keep my dps companion (currently Andronikos) alive. A typical fight against regular packs of mobs is to set companion to aoe, static barrier the pair of us, set companion to initiate combat (and take some early heat). Then I run into the pack, Overload and Tumult against one of them. Then I proceed to Force Lightning, Shock and Lightning Strike the rest down. Strongs and Elites I set companion to single target dps and get companion to take early aggro. I then open with Crushing Darkness and Affliction, then use Force Lightning and Shock while keeping companion topped up with heals and barriers as needed. Tough pulls I use Whirlwind as necessary. But usually there's little need for crowd control other than emergencies, other than Electrocute and Jolt where needed. I've no idea how this compares to a dps build, but it's been working for me ok.

Totally agree with this. I've stopped using Khem for this reason. My Sorceror is 33 and I run with Andronikos even when I'd be better off using a tank. Id rather chain heal Andronkos than put up with Khem. I zoom my camera out a long way much of the time but it doesn't really help, Khem has a real knack for getting his ample backside in the way of pretty much everything, from bioanalyis nodes, to quest npcs and vendors, elevator switches, quest items, you name it. This problem is largely true of all companions, they all follow the player far too closely and need to be made to stand a little further apart when you come to a stop. But it is most noticeable on the large companions like Khem. Whilst this seems a minor issue on the surface, the fact that you have to work around it (by swivelling or zooming the camera) every single time you need to interact with something means it ends up being a very irritating minor issue.

Something is currently very broken with Reverse Engineering. I'm Armstech 260 and usually I can RE a green into a blue schematic in about 4 or 5 tries on average. Blue to purple about the same. Since the latest patch, I cannot convert even a green to a blue despite dozens of tries. Earlier I tried to RE green Skill Barrel 12 and after 20+ attempts gave up and levelled beyond my need for it. So I just returned to try for Skill Barrel 13 and I have just blown two whole stacks of mats with no success. Almost 50 tries to convert a green Skill Barrel 13 to a blue. Nothing. I ran out of mats and gave up. Given the time it takes to gather the mats and send companion off crafting the barrels it's nuts. Dunno if this is a bug or an intentional nerf. If it's a nerf I'll be giving up bothering with crafting. The only useful thing that Armstech offers while levelling is the barrels anyway.