T7-O1, because he's equipped for combat. If combat wasn't an issue, R2-D2.

Mon Cala and others, they SHOULD be available! They're fun! They're Star Wars! I know many quintessential Star Wars species are available as companions for various classes... you've got a Jawa, Trandoshan, Wookiee, Mon Cala... but we should be able to PLAY some of them, too. Your storyline argument is valid, but only on the EMPIRE side of things. And that brings up a flaw with the entire Empire structure; making them largely xenophobic 'human supremacists' similar to Palpatine's Galactic Empire severely limits the potential for introducing new species, which is something I think everyone expects from expansions. It feels wrong to limit all 'not just humans with different skin color' species to Republic side, but new species on Empire side would basically need LOTS of storyline reworking. I haven't played through any Empire classes enough to see what's what, tho. I'd love to play Sullustans, Duros, Mon Cala, Rodians, Cathar, Nautolans. There are enough NPCs of those species with plenty of expression in their faces, plenty of ways Bioware could find to allow a lot of customization at character creation. They may not all have a great many classes to choose from, but it'd be nice to see. And I wouldn't worry about Lion-Os and Cheetaras... I wouldn't be surprised if there's already dozens of Chiss Bounty Hunters with variations on "CadBane" around (I realize that'd be a lot more common if Duros became playable). And I've seen lots of people trying to grab various major movie character names, too, on their human toons. No worse than some of the really silly names out there.

Wookiees could easily be modified in other ways. They could have hairdos (slicked back, a few kinds of shaggy, flat-top--like Chewie/'Snoova' from SOTE, tho I think the flat-top was ridiculous--and probably more. The fur can easily be identical to human hair color choices. Complexion could be patterns in the fur, highlights and the like. Maybe there could be 'outfit' options like Bowdaar's Customizations available (vest, different bandoliers, ROTS-ish Wookiee armor). There are definitely options; more limited in number than some other species, perhaps, but not every species has a full list of customizable options anyway. Rattaki don't have hair OR hair color, for instance! I'm not sure if they even have a skin color range at all.

Re: Sith Purebloods... storywise, they're supposed to be fairly rare, right? Chances are most Republic citizens, even officials, don't know what the species is. Even a lot of Imperials might not know, and it could also be known to any who SHOULD know that not all Sith Purebloods were raised in the Empire, there were exceptions that struck out on their own and even joined the Republic. So while some flavor dialogue of 'mistaken identities' could be nice, it may not be necessary. Most people don't know that they're looking at a Sith Pureblood... they just think "Red human with pointy bits sticking out on their face". Wookiees could be cool, but if you role a smuggler with one, you'd have a Wookiee and a Wookiee. Those conversations would just be howls to each other, presumably with subtitles (I haven't advanced my Smugglers far enough to unlock Bowdaar yet). Bowdaar doesn't show any/all armor (based on his customization kits) so your character wouldn't change very much as you leveled, except weapon models. That could get tiresome, unless you're into that (all Chewie ever really changed in the films was his hairdo, after all) Trandoshans, though... The Clone Wars have shown us plenty of Trandoshans speaking Basic, including Bossk (oh, how some people HATED that, just because his only 'line' in Episode V was a snarl directed at an Imp who got too close to his foot!). Qyzen can wear plenty of armor that changes his appearance, though you'd have to sacrifice some visible pieces. It could work! Jedi Knight, Smuggler, Bounty Hunter, Trooper, all could potentially work for a Trandoshan. Maybe even Inquisitor! Wearing some Social pilot gear could get your Trandoshan looking very Bossk-like, too

Armstech also can craft a lot of actual blasters, moddable & otherwise (along with rifles, sniper rifles, assault cannons, electrostaves, vibroswords). Artifice has very few actual lightsabers it can craft, last I checked, so it gets to craft more upgrade items.

Not so... look at Oola in ROTJ. The cones aren't her ears, they're silvery, part of the headdress. They could easily have decided that Oola had regular humanoid ears UNDER the headdress, but at some point between 1983 and 1997, George decided to approve someone's misguided notion that Twi'lek women had cone-ears. Probably someone who completely forgot that Bib Fortuna did NOT have cone-ears; who thinks to themselves "Ah, for THIS species, males and females have completely different ears"? Who looks at Oola's headdress with the rounded protrusions on the sides that don't match her green skin at all and says "Those are her ears!!"? EU showed female Twi'leks with humanoid ears in the Rogue Squadron comics at the very least. If male AND female had cone ears, that'd be one thing... having 'em different is kinda silly. Then again, Devaronian females don't have horns, just dark circles in their fine, short facial fur.

Purple, however, is a basic color. It's in the movies (and has only ever been rare in the movies), it's in EU all over the place, easily attainable in the KOTOR games. Teenage Jedi have purple sabers in Luke's order. 50-only colors should be more exotic than that. Even white should probably be available sooner, maybe around 30-ish (in ANH, the sabers were originally intended to be white--Luke's even still looked white most of the time until the '04 DVDs), but it's okay as a 50. Black-core crystals and the various other hues as level 50 are fine, too... but not purple. Red, green, purple, orange, yellow, blue... 6 basic colors, should be open for all. Gives a lot more variety and more fun while leveling. Cyan, magenta, and other KOTOR2-style colors like bronze, viridian, vermilion (and any others they think to include) can all be high-end colors. Purple belongs down with the basics.

Unless there's a white version of it from an FP or something, it may be a new skin available soon... but yes, it's basically lowbie armor and one of the few non-robe, non-smuggler sets available for Jedi Knights. Hopefully it's a whole moddable set, it looks nice.

Touché. Waitaminute... RGB, CMYK... computer/print colors! Next you'll suggest there also be black sab--oh, wait.... And aren't saber blades plasma? That's like a liquidy solid, like paint. So the standard color wheel primaries & secondaries are back! YEAH! I really would like orange and purple to just be baseline rares like yellow. It'd be more fun (and profit) for Artificers as they level, and for Treasure Hunters, too (unless their missions keep coming back w/o any color crystals), and we'd see a lot more variety among the under-50 crowd when it comes to blade colors.

Purple's only rare in the films, and the films have little bearing on what happened 3000 years before they occur. EU from the same era, including Bioware's own KOTOR, has purple as easily accessible. It wasn't common, as the traditional Jedi roles had blue, green, and yellow for their starting crystals, and many run-of-the-mill Jedi may not see a need/desire to change up their colors... but it was seen often among Jedi and Sith/Dark Jedi nonetheless, and in any case player characters aren't 'run-of-the-mill' in terms of a game's story. They're exceptional heroes/villains. Purple should be available at many levels, just like yellow & orange. Balances things out nicely, having all 3 primary colors (red, yellow, blue) and all 3 secondaries (green, orange, purple) as choices from early on in your Jedi/Sith careers. But really, orange & purple should be more like yellow: rare mats from Treasure Hunting, made with Artifice learned from the trainer. Save all the tertiary colors and more exotic like metallics, black-core, white for later levels (tho white would be nice to get mid-game)

I wonder if it was orange in the beta... Torhead had comments about them tricking you and giving you yellow instead, but nowhere in the conversation does it say they found an ORANGE crystal. Just a rare one, and yellow--being a blue recipe--counts as 'rare'. I think it was Bioware's backdoor way of getting blue, green, AND yellow in as starting-planet saber colors (similar to KOTOR when you choose Guardian, Consular, or Sentinel on Dantooine)

It was a big way, but it was also a WRONG way. As people have said, tradition is not law, and there's a lot of examples in the EU showing evil Sith/Dark Jedi using blue or green and good Jedi using red. I do agree Neutrality should have some tangible rewards, too. Some unique moddable gear would be a good start. I haven't looked at Dark/Light gear with more than a cursory glance, but ideally some of that stuff would be unique. I like that idea, and think they should expand it to entire sets. I'm not sure if any commendation gear has alignment requirements, but the LS/DS vendors (and eventually a Neutral) could have unique sets available at 20, 40, 50. Maybe some are just unique recolors, but having actual unique models would be pretty great (and if they wanted to be cheap, Bioware's already got access to plenty of unique models for such sets: opposite faction gear! With a unique recolor to that, it could work... and it'd give Dark Jedi a shot at having some of the cooler Sith models for their gear) Gear can show your personal taste, but it can also show your status in various factions or alignments. Saber color (not to mention blaster-bolt color) should just be choice. The old method, if you CHOOSE to play Light, you're FORCED to use blue or green (or yellow, or orange, or--in a perfect game--purple, but it's way easier/cheaper to grab green or blue). Now, there's more variety available. That's a good thing!

One partial fix could be having Shift-Left Click only link an item to chat IF you have a chat prompt open already. Slightly mess up one way, you spam chat with links. Slightly mess up another, you use a consumable. Gotta be a better way.

What makes 0 sense is basing crystal colors in the game on the MOVIES. TOR takes place thousands of years earlier. EU, including Bioware's own KOTOR, has long established that before the Banite Sith began and after Luke starts a new order, Jedi and Sith alike used a wide variety of crystals in lots of colors. RGB were the most common, but purple, yellow, orange and the like were also very evident, even in the sabers of mediocre Jedi or Sith. The time of the Ruusan Reformations saw a revamped Republic and also the beginning of the end of the Jedi Order. That's when the Jedi, thinking the Sith were wiped out, started getting so dogmatic and decreed that only 'pure' crystals, from Ilum mostly (where they were blue & green) could be used. And the Ruusan Reformations happen 1000 years before the films, still 2000 years beyond TOR. Applying restrictions based on George's Saga-era whims is limiting things too much, and pretty annoying for a game squarely set in the EU, particularly given its connection to the KOTOR games and comics. Allowing Republic access to purple is a good first step, tho the lack of availability for purple while leveling is pretty sad (it's rare in the movies, but ONLY in the movies; ever play KOTOR? You have a very good chance at getting purple pretty soon after finishing your training on Dantooine). All the less exotic neutral colors (yellow, orange, purple) should be available throughout the game, from Artificers. keep the black-core blades, the whites, magenta, cyan, and any other shades for later, but give us 6 colors to fairly easily and inexpensively choose from as we level!

Yeah, 12 years ago at the start of the game is when the Treaty of Coruscant was signed. If someone's been missing or hunted for 12 years, it's probably related to the war or the sacking of Coruscant/signing of the treaty.

He may have been serious, but he was confused or heard bad info from someone else. Bluish-skinned beings worshiping a spider god(dess) is definitely Drow from D&D/Forgotten Realms. Some of the Chiss skin tones are very Drow-like; I can't recall offhand if they have a white hair color option, but with the right skin and white hair, you could make a semi-decent Drow...just with red eyes and no pointy ears.

Well, his eyes are red...

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Dark_Jedi_Conflict Kibh Jeen revealed it to the Jedi, but as they thought he was mad, he was largely ignored. Yoda was born soon enough after Jeen's time that the tale of Jeen's fall, and his ravings, were still discussed (Wookieepedia says a Jedi Academy built near the old Sith ruins also enacted a drama of his tales, probably as a cautionary tale for young Jedi learning about the dark side)

I was hoping to get Chiss Smugglers from the get-go, before reading they were Empire-only. I always liked the idea of having a Chiss as a fringe class... if you can let 'em be Jedi or Sith classes, too, even better! Also like Sith Pureblood allowed on Pub side. It'll still be fairly rare, I think. Patch 1.2's looking pretty good so far.

Anakin Solo's 'full potential', as originally planned, was to fall to the dark side just like his namesake. All the good stuff he had going for him in NJO was originally slated for Jacen, who would've died a hero, saving the mission. Instead, the storylines were swapped when Lucas said "Uh, don't make Anakin fall to the dark side." He may have said "it may confuse fans", but he could've also easily said--and been absolutely correct--that "it's a dumb idea." Of course Anakin would have to deal with the fact he's named after his grandpa, who turned to evil and slaughtered hundreds of Jedi and helped bring tyranny to the galaxy. But it's lazy and uninteresting to have him succumb to that doubt and fear. Brush the dark side, sure... but not fall. It'd make him a stronger character to overcome those doubts & fears (both his own and his family's/anyone else who knows the history). And, in a way, that's what they did... but because he also had Jacen's "god of the Force" storyline attached to him, he went out as a blindingly-bright being, saving his team. Having ANY of the Solo children (or Ben Skywalker) fall to the dark side and/or become a Sith Lord was pretty lazy on Del Rey's part. They had a legacy to live with, of a villainous grandfather but heroic parents. Have 'em grapple with the negative, but do it in a more interesting way than "Oops, he fell to the dark side. He didn't think he would, he thought he could be better than grandpa and what he was doing was right, but he's fallen and he can't get up and he's a monumental threat to the galaxy and Jedi and he may just kill some of his family." Have the true dark side threats come from OUTSIDE the Skywalker clan... then the kids could learn to deal with them and their own internal struggles, like Luke did in the OT. Another reason I kinda want a reboot of the post-ROTJ EU. Keep Mara, Ben, Jacen, Jaina, Anakin... keep most of the Rogue/Wraith Squadron stuff intact (including Corran and his Jedi family)... but bring up Luke & Mara's wedding (along with the Hand of Thrawn stuff and the peace treaty w/ t he Empire) to soon after the twins are born, so Ben won't be 15 years younger than his cousins. Keep some of the threats, like Thrawn, but have the Empire (read: Pellaeon) face facts a lot sooner, so it's not another decade of fighting the Remnant after Thrawn's failure. Ditch Dark Empire entirely (aside from Boba surviving, maybe...just don't let Traviss near him or Fett'll make every Jedi look like a chump and the Mandalorian language will be second-nature to half the galaxy instead of Huttese). Keep the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin IV, and the eventual resettling of Ossus. Keep the Empire of the Hand, and Baron Fel's involvement in it. Have Luke & Leia find out about their mother A LOT earlier (Artoo would probably be thrilled at the end of ROTJ, finding out that Leia now knows she's Luke's sister, so he wouldn't wait decades to show them or let 'em find old recordings of their parents). Let the kids--and other heroes of a new generation--take the spotlight (when they're old enough), and KEEP them there. And let the OT heroes do whatever it is they're supposed to do (Leia as Chancellor, Luke as Grand Master Jedi, Han constantly looking for ways to avoid state functions and probably off gallivanting around with Chewie in the Falcon, checking out Lando's latest enterprises), quietly, in the background. Not in the thick of things ALL the time. And no Solos/Skywalkers falling to the dark side! It'd be better off if Cade Skywalker, over a century later, was the first one to truly be in danger of falling. (I wouldn't mind keeping Cade and much of LEGACY, just not the Maul-tattoo 'uniform' of most of the Sith)

Obi-Wan's meant (now) to be 57 in ANH. Alec Guinness was 62 when it was filmed, which makes it only a 5 year difference. Not a big deal there... and some people age much better than others (whether or not they've had work done!). William Shatner's 80! That's crazy! He looks too young to be 80. Yet, there's also people who look ancient, yet are only in their 60s or 70s. Harsh desert environment, individual worries, stresses, concerns, emotions... that can take a lot outta people. Obi-Wan had the weight of the galaxy on his shoulders. HE trained Darth Vader, tool of the Republic's downfall. HE failed to curb the darkness in his old friend. Now he's gotta watch over Luke, one of the last hopes of the galaxy, and Luke's step-uncle won't let Kenobi near him. Obi-Wan & Threepio DO see each other while leaving Mustafar; 3PO's flying the ship while Obi-Wan's in the copilot seat, shocked at recent events. Obi-Wan may not look at him during that brief shot, but I'm sure they interacted plenty offscreen after AOTC and during various times in ROTS, particularly near the end at Mustafar & Polis Massa. However, Obi-Wan never 'owned' a droid. He was telling the truth about that. Jedi have very few personal possessions; R2-D2 was a gift to Anakin, and the Jedi Order allowed it as he'd need an astromech anyway for space missions. R4-P17, R4-G9, and any other droids Obi-Wan partnered with in starfighters over the years were merely assigned to him by the Order basically.

Yeah, that summed up my feelings on it, too. When I read the Thrawn Trilogy and Dark Empire somewhat concurrently, I figured DE was its own little thing... then reading the backup features in each issue, it said it takes place within months of the end of Thrawn. That's when DE lost me forever; some great art (some stinky), but one lousy story to include in the chronology. For one thing, as I recall, it's the first instance of Leia suddenly becoming a fully-'trained' Jedi Knight, which gets dropped again pretty quick later in the chronology (Jedi Academy Trilogy, I think). It started a trend; seems like Leia 'graduated' every other story, then got reset to 'politician with hardly any training' in the next author's work.

You forget Star Wars' serial influences... someone gets shot, is thrown off a cliff, gets sliced in two in one installment... they 'get better' in a later installment! This goes for exploding ships, too!

It doesn't need to be 'made' to fit the lore; there was no lore before AOTC when George said "good guys use green & blue, and Sam asked for purple". The early EU had only the first three films to go by, and they rightly didn't assume that red, green, and blue were all there was just because that's all we see in those 3 films... we also only see 3 characters who use lightsabers frequently. That's too small a sample to declare--if you're not George with umpteen years between films changing your mind about a lot of things--that ONLY those 3 should exist as commonplace. TOR already gives us yellow crystals fairly easily, and orange somewhat less so. I think yellow, orange, AND purple should all be on the same level: rare mats from TH, crafted as blue recipes via Artifice. I know we'll supposedly have easier access to purple in the next patch, but it's still a pretty high-level thing, I think. I always go back to KOTOR where you could get a purple crystal fairly soon after leaving Dantooine, well before you learn your true history.

Gonna ramble a bit about some of the stuff I've seen in the last few pages... In the war between Star Wars movie-fanboys and Star Wars everything-fanboys, most decisions probably should favor the latter. The only reason we had KOTOR and this game and all the EU stuff is because there were so many one-time movie-fanboys from back in the day who wanted--shockingly!--MORE Star Wars! Yes, it was also a huge profit-grab for Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Lucas Licensing, and George himself (plus all the artists, writers, publishers, etc who were all hired by the Lucas Empire to create all of this)...but you know what else was? Episodes I thru III. The EU may have died out eventually without new films to offer up new eras and new official info (IOW, the Prequels 'expanded' the universe), but for all the wackiness of parts of the EU, Episodes I-III gave us stuff that was even CRAZIER. Anakin's father being 'the Force'? Anakin building C-3PO? Owen being a stepbrother who only knew Anakin for about a day? Vader being only in his mid-40s at the time of his death?! Obi-Wan having another master entirely, with Yoda only overseeing his training as a little kid along with a class full of OTHER little kids? The Clone Wars being named after the army of the Republic alone? Jedi NOT allowed to have families? Padme dying moments after giving birth to the twins? All of those are more 'lore-breaking' than Sith being able to use green & blue occasionally, or Jedi red. This game relies HEAVILY on the EU for its backstory, far more than in relies on the films. The EU's take on saber colors should definitely take precedence over the films' presentation of sabers from a completely different era. And if some alternate restriction was put in place, FORCING all Sith to use ONLY red, I think we'd see a big drop in Sith players. Variety is a good thing. That's not to say every color needs to be immediately available at level 10 or from Artificers with a skill of 20 with Grade 1 color crystals, but having more available to both factions and any alignment is a great thing, and having a wider variety available while leveling is also good (no reason for orange to be limited to moddable drops & comm gear, not when it could just be a 'rare' like yellow; adding purple to the mix, too, would balance things out with 3 rare colors, 3 common colors, and you've covered all primary & secondary colors as well! More exotic colors could be available at higher levels and endgame)