There's just one detail you've missed: Guild Wars 2 is not a WoW clone. It is hard to compare WoW and GW2 1:1, because GW2 takes a different approach to gameplay and mechanics, which is good. It makes GW2 a unique game in many ways, and it doesn't have to do things like WoW did because, well, it isn't WoW. However, TOR is just WoW in Space, with voice acting. So it has to hold up against the scrutiny of people comparing it to WoW. Also, because this thread moved quite fast and I found it itneresting: The problem with all of those apart from Rift was... again awkwardly paced/disconnected/bugged combat coupled with a lack of polish and in the case of the SOE games an extremely "uncanny valley" approach to character models. And add to that the glaring performance issues that plagues EQ2. There has been no western MMO since WoW that has combined this level of polish with a "runs on any toaster" attitude, beautiful art direction, well paced/tuned instance design and spot on combat fluidity. Rift was probably the only game since WoW's release that was as good as WoW, if not even better. The content was extremely well done. The instances and raids were well paced and even better tuned. Combat was.. good and awful at the same time to be honest. I feel they took the macro system way too far. Some classes could get by with one single button, and that should not be possible.

You really have to be kidding... WoW is leaps and bounds ahead of TOR in every aspect but voice acting. 1.) Voice acting is cool, but after playing through it once you skip it for the next few times. It's a gimmick, and one they've relied on far too much for the game's good. 2.) WoW's character models starting with Cataclysm are a lot better than TOR's. Just look at Goblins, Worgens and Pandaren. They're incredibly detailed and have a much more congruent art style. 3.) Please... TOR is just a WoW character creation with a few more (awful) hair styles and more body sizes. WoW doesn't have body sizes but at least you can distinguish each race from others because every race has a unique and distinguishable frame. In TOR your race is only really recognisable if you don't wear a helmet 4.) WoW's guild system is light years ahead of TOR's. Better benefits and a guild calendar for planning events and raids. Hell, I miss that calendar. I hate having to rely on 3rd party sites/tools. TOR can only dream of having WoW's excellent guild system. 5.) I feel WoW's instances and raids are slightly better paced and are better tuned overall. Then again, it's easy to tune instances and raids when your ability/class balancing isn't all over the place... 6.) I've been of the opinion that companions are just a lazy excuse to not have to innovate class design/mechanics for as long as I've known of them. I still believe this is true. While some really make me smile (Blizz) I tend to ignore all others because they're either bland or overly annoying. 7.) WoW's transmute system > adaptive armour for one single reason: In WoW you don't have to spend a gazillion quid on cartel packs in hopes the one super rare armour piece that doesn't look like crap is in one of them. And yes, someone has to buy the packs so they can put the stuff up on the GTN. For me, adaptive armour is a blatant cash grab. If they had the decency to at least let me buy the armour I want off the cartel market. But I hate that every armour has to be a rare find in a cartel pack. And they chuck 5 awful armour sets for every good looking one into every pack of them just to decrease the chance of you getting something you might actually want. Also: Armour you buy off the market does not count towards collections. So I spend 1200 coins on an armour set only to have to spend 1200 coins again for an alt. Only armour found in packs count, and then only if you have the complete set. Miss the bracers? Sorry, no collection system for you mate! So in conclusion, my biggest gripes with TOR (TLDR): 1.) TOR has become a "milk it while it still exists" cash grab. More often than not, "content" is just a couple of new ways to spend more money on packs. I feel very little time actually goes into making the game better. 2.) The UI is awful. So many specs in TOR rely on procs or active buffs/debuffs, yet there is no way to track those apart from staring at your tiny buff bar or the mobs' just as tiny debuff bar. Either of those are filled with multiple rows of buffs/debuffs and it is easy to not notice a proc or a DoT falling off in a real world scenario (i.e. not the target dummy). Just plain awful and straining on the eyes 3.) Bioware would've never had to resort to F2P if they had actually bothered to get combat right in the first place instead of sinking millions into their voice acting gimmick. TOR's combat is a mess. Want a successful MMO? Scrap expensive gimmicks, get your combat straight. Invest in good animations, make combat feel connected instead of detached. Voice acting might attract people, but to be honest the Star Wars IP itself is enough to do that. Fluid combat on the other hand keeps people playing in the long run. Edit: Before people post something like "GO BACK TO WOW THEN!", I'm playing TOR because my friends play TOR. I might be of the opinion that WoW is the better game, but that's kind of useless when your friends aren't playing...

And another +1 for Windows Phone. Love my Lumia and wouldn't voluntarily go back to Android

I think adding bonuses is taking it way too far. What I (and probably many) subscribers want, is a "carefree" package. What I get should be available to preferred customers who choose to pay for select options rather than the complete package. Things I would like to get included with my subscription fee and expansion pack purchases: - Free access to new flashpoints/operations - Free access to newly introduced races on new characters (provided the class allows for the race) - Free access to new quest zones - Free access to new companions - Some cosmetic changes to character appearance (e.g. hair, facial hair, body type) for credits instead of CC Here's a list of what I think should remain CC options for everyone: - Game-changing character modifications (race change, gender change, name change, different face) - Cartel Packs - Optional cosmetic armour pieces and speeders - Optional minipets I don't think this is too unreasonable. Again, I do not want anything a preferred customer would not be able to buy separately. I just want to pay once and not have to worry about additional hidden fees later.

Half-Life was pretty much a game changer for the shooter genre. Due to the popularity of Counter-Strike HL sold exceptionally well. Before HL was released shooters were pretty much enthusiast games. Apart from that, I do not believe the subscription model is dead. What I do believe is that WoW has - directly or indirectly - led to a sort of hiatus. Due to the huge success of WoW, MMO devs can't just go and make a game people might enjoy, it has to be like WoW. And because no MMO dev has managed to actually make a game that is as good as WoW, all MMOs since WoW have pretty much bombed. What gets me most is that a lot of devs don't properly invest in their combat systems. It's mind boggling. This is one of the keys to WoW's success, a fluid and responsive combat system. When I look at the games that I had some interest in in the past years, they were all flawed by an abysmal combat system. Warhammer Online? Awful and laggy combat experience. The Secret World? Awesome atmosphere and story, but painfully detached and overall boring combat. SW:ToR? Basically WAR in space. The reason I'm still subbed is because playing a mediocre game with friends beats playing a good game without friends. It isn't the subscription model that is broken, it's the stale MMO market that either didn't come up with something good enough to earn their subscription fees. But people have become jaded by the umpteenth WoW clone, and by all the other disappointing attempts to cash in on the MMO craze. This is why no one wants to pay for a game that's just something while waiting for the "next big thing" to arrive. And this is why F2P/freemium is the only successful model right now. I guarantee you that people will be willing to pay a sub if you're delivering a quality product. It's just that no dev has bothered to do so since WoW

For a quick run-down, I'd say... (disclaimer: this is a very subjective thing ) 1. Healing FPs (given that you know what you're doing and can work with the rather crappy UI): Operative > Merc > Sorc That doesn't necessarily mean Sorcs are bad, but they're not special by any means. Sort of a Jack of all trades thing. Mercs have huge single target HPS, but their group healing is a bit on the weaker side (nothing that won't get you through any FP mind). And Operatives... well, they have quite strong single target healing and probably the best (small group) group healing of all the healers. 2. Ease of use/quality of life: Sorc > Merc > Operative So, it's reversed here... Sorcs are pretty much fire&forget casters with a huge resource pool so you don't have to worry about resource management too much. Mercs being direct turret healers aren't especially hard to play, but their strict resource management can make your healing life a pain sometimes. Operatives last because... while their resource management isn't as unforgiving as a Merc's, you will still have to closely watch your energy. Also, to keep the awesome HPS up, you will have to work with what is probably one of the worst healer UIs in the history of MMOs. Managing HoT uptimes with that sort of UI can be a bit of a pain in the backside. 3. Solo PvE/Leveling Lowbie Merc > Lowbie Sorc > Lowbie Operative Post-34 Sorc > Merc > Operative Basically, it all hinges on getting to level 34 for Sorcs. Up until that point, all your damage will be single target, and you will take some time to kill stuff (what I did on my Sage alt was to simply go Telekinetics until 34, makes life so much easier). At 34 you will get Force Storm, and after that you're a PvE machine. You will get Ashara around that level as well. Gear her up and use her. IMO she's the 2nd best companion for healers in the game (with Torian Cadera taking the top spot). She's not too squishy and given proper gear can churn out a huge deal of damage. Her downside is that she is really annoying to live with. But if you can ignore her "I forgot I'm not a Jedi anymore" antics, she's really great. Special mention to Xalek, because he's a tank you can give your old gear to. I still prefer Ashara as a solo PvE companion, but Xalek is pretty decent. Which leads us to Mercs... Mercs have a natural advantage in the AoE game, which in combination with their tankiness leads to them being awfully strong soloers early on. Having Mako in early game definitely helps as well, simply because you do enough damage at this point in the game. Speaking of companions, Mercs really get to cherry pick. Want a rogue'ish companion? Gault. He's wicked fun and can do some nice damage. Want a tanky DPS companion? Torian's your man. He has this whole Mandalorian pride thing going on though, so he can be a bit annoying at times, but nowhere near Ashara or Kaliyo levels of annoying. Also, keeping him geared up is really easy, because he can simply use hand me downs from you. And I'll be damned if Blizz isn't the most adorable little thing in this game. Skadge sucks, but since you already have Blizz at this point in the game, who really cares. Operatives. Oh boy. Personally I think they're a mess for soloing. You get no AoE worth talking about until level 48. Your single-target DPS sucks unless you drop into "Poor Man's Sniper" mode. And you're stuck with Kaliyo for a looooong time. And if you (like me) think Vector is too squishy and too creepy, you're stuck with Kaliyo for even longer. I have never met a companion I wanted to kick out of the airlock more than Kaliyo, and I've leveled my Sorc with Ashara and my Juggernaut with Quinn, both of which are already uber annoying. Later on, you'll get Temple and although she needs some time to ramp up her DPS (like most ranged DPS she has cast times for her abilities) she isn't too squishy and like Torian she is able to use your old gear. I've never really used SCORPIO, simply because I was sick of sociopathic Dark Side companions after 40ish levels of having to endure Kaliyo. 4. Class Story Without dropping the spoiler-bomb, I' say: Agent > BH > Inquisitor Imperial Agent has got to have one of the best, if not THE best, class stories in the entire game. Seriously, you have to play it, and if you're not keen on an Operative, at least roll a Sniper for the story alone. While the Merc's story isn't anything to write home about, it's much like the Smuggler, in that its charm lies mostly with the banter and funny lines you get to say. The Inquisitor story is... just awful. You get a few memorable lines here and there, but overall I feel it does not fit the class very well. TL;DR: Mechanics-wise, all 3 are more than viable to handle all content, so it should come down to whatever stly esuits you most. If you want an easy-to-use, easy to live with toon that is also pretty good at soloing, I'd probably go for a Sorc. Mercs are very fun to heal with, very easy to level/solo with (albeit not as much as Sorcs overall) and easily have the best companions on Imp side. Plus, your story involves you saying some outrageously funny things to people. And if you think you're up for the awful solo experience and Kaliyo (*shudders*), go ahead and roll an Operative. They're very powerful healers with a kind of enticing mechanic and have a story you should have played at least once. Also, Imperial uniforms. The ladies dig those.

Because they have the feeling of moral superiority over the unbelievers. They are the bastion that stands strong and "protects" the game from the heathens. Anyone old enough to remember the 'dreds in DAoC will know the type. When Mordred was released, everyone and their dog flocked to the new server. Then the implemented "never and nowhere safe" system backfired and the mass gankings led to an exodus of players who thought a pure FFA PvP server would be fun to mess around on. This was to be expected, since it was a hardcore server for the hardcore crowd. The problem was when the attitude of said hardcore crowd ("if you don't like it leave, we won't miss you!") led to even more people quitting, and the abrasive nature of the people led to people not even bothering to join the server ("We don't want you on Mordred, stay on your carebear servers!"). Then at some point you couldn't find a fight on the 'dreds. And then the crying started. "Where are all the people?" "Where has everyone gone?" "Why don't more people join Mordred?" "Mythic should promote the server more!". Yeah... the PvP crowd had managed to not only scare everyone off the server, but also alienate the rest of the player base enough so they not only didn't want to play on the server any more, but also did not feel any sympathy when the servers were shut down. I feel the mannerism is analogous to what is happening here (within the bounds of the forum rules). It's basically the same "UR NOT HARDKORE ENUF!". And it will just further cement people's decision to leave. Fact of the matter is, if I want to pay for content I play true F2P games. There are numerous alternatives on the market. I pay a subscription each month, and I expect to be treated as a subscriber. A subscription is a flat fee that should deliver me the content as is for free, barring drastic things like name changes or race changes. I am OK with paying for that. I am, however, not OK with paying for a pack of dyes where I don't even know if the ones I will be getting are crap. Paying for unlocking a race that should be part of the package I have already bought. I am not OK with paying for a new haircut (within the already available hair styles) on my character. Oh, and the analogy with the 8-year old? Does your 8 year old pay you 15$ per month so you can give her 5$ allowance per month? We are not crying that we have already spent our allowance, we are complaing that we do not believe we get enough for the money we are giving to BW. Or, not getting enough allowance to warrant paying the parent 15€ each month for it. At this point, every subscriber should be treated like royalty. Because if they just made it to break-even, they can't afford people that use words like "natural selection" when talking about paying customers. If you think belittling (and driving away) their customers will benefit BW in any way, you couldn't be more delusional. Technically, they did. Because they did the exact opposite. Subscription at this point definitely does not feel like good value any more. Even before it was a bit dodgy to be nickel-and-dimed on top of a subscription fee. But 2.1 definitely was the proverbial straw. In fact, I have never felt less valued as a subscriber. So yeah, I still feel they lied.

And to play the devil's advocate... it was quite cheap as far as expansions go. Activision charge you 40€ for a WoW expansion, 8€ for the 5 levels and a new planet is comparatively cheap. Of course, how much is too much is a highly subjective issue, but as far as I'm aware, the pricing was reasonable enough for me. Now, the elephant in the room... the Cartel Coin Market. This is a really major issue IMO. Before RotHC I was pretty content with being a subscriber. I got all the core content I wanted and just lived with the fact that I was too cheap to buy anything off the cartel market except for a couple of gamble packs. A set of armour would take me 3 months of saving my stipend, and for me personally it's just not worth it. So I bought a couple of cartel runner packs (or whatever they're called) and that was that. Now with the new update we get a couple of features, and all of these features are tied to basically spending RL money. The new race? 800ish coins. Changing one of your existing characters to this race? Another 800ish (?) coins. That's 4 months of saving up just so you can actually benefit from the patch. And that's not even counting dye-gambling or changing the appearance of one of your other toons. In my humble opinion at least the new race should be free for subscribers. Yes, free. If any subscriber spent Cartel Coins on the Cathar, give them a refund. Furthermore, with all the new pay-to-get features added, the monthly stipend for subscribers should be upped drastically. Either that or give subscribers substantial discounts so you can actually buy something for the stipend. You know, without it taking months until you can actually afford anything other than the stupid cartel runner packs on the Cartel Market. 500 coins a month didn't get you anywhere before the patch. Now 500 coins feels just pointless. I have always felt that I am content with paying 15€ per month to have a carefree gaming experience and still support the company. Now I feel I am being genuinely ripped off by being sold content that is offered for free by other subscription-based games. And this is the gist of it. As far as subscribers go, you have to treat TOR as a subscription-based game. This means that if you choose to pay per month, you should be able to benefit from all the game's features. Someone has said that this patch will push people towards the F2P model rather than subscribing. The reply (from another user) was that he'd either quit or re-sub. And - as a subscriber - I feel it might just be the former option. Because why should I bother resubbing when I was deeply unhappy with the service I have received before? The implementation of 2.1 was very poor. And a lot of people are unhappy with the way subscribers are being treated. P.S.: I know Eric is not allowed to speak his mind. I know he'd like to keep his job. But I am glad I was not the only one who found his reply very discouraging. It was not an apology. He was just saying that it was all just a misunderstanding, and that if you don't spend your stipend for half a year, Hickman is technically correct, since in time you can afford all the game's features. No, it's not Eric's fault. But I felt the reply was piss poor and further cemented my fears that if there is any change, then it will be for the worse. But as I've said, many people are fed up. EA/BW might just need to wake up and learn to appreciate subscribers quite a bit more. Edit: If you're worried about subscribers buying all the items on the Cartel Market and reselling them on the GTN (and thereby taking away from your F2P revenue)... make them "Bind to Legacy" instead of "Bind on Equip". There, done.

Between the GTI 640 and the Radeon 7750 I would opt for the Radeon. The reason is that while the GTI 640 is technically newer, it is also a low budget card. The Radeon however is an entry-level GPU and only as cheap as the 640 because it has been around for over a year now. It will offer better performance. Keep in mind that your CPU will most likely be the bottleneck in your system then though, so you might think about upgrading at some point. If you're running a computer that uses the 1155 CPU socket, I'd consider an i3-2120 or 2130 (not the T versions though, those are low power laptop CPUs and do not perform as well). Regarding the PSU, don't let people talk you into buying something you might not need. Unless you overclock your CPU to the limit and run multiple GPUs you will not need a power supply with more then 450W. My i5-2500K/Radeon 7870 setup uses 350W at full load. The only reason you should upgrade your power supply is if it lacks the PCI-e power connector cables. Apart from that, you will be completely fine with 400W, even if you upgrade your GPU and CPU. Edit: Well, instead of buying cheap now and investing 200$ in the future, I'd rather buy something usable now and invest the remaining 100$ in a CPU. Overall, that'd be the better upgrade option IMO...

Odd, because Blizz is actually pretty cool for a healer Merc. In a pinch, you can give him your old gear/armorings/barrels/etc. And while he doesn't do Torian's sick DPS, he can hold his own quite well. And, to be honest, even Bodyguard Mercs do quite nice DPS themselves, for leveling purposes anyway. And as icing on the cake - Blizz is just an awesome companion to have around. He's easily the most likable companion Bounty Hunters get, and that alone made me want to use him. Do I still use Blizz as a companion? No, I prefer to go with Torian, since he just shreds through mobs. But Blizz is still a close second! Anyway, regarding the Marauder/Broonmark comment on page 1: On my Marauder I have only ever used Jaesa and Vette. I could maybe use Quinn, but frankly I don't need him. The DPS a Marauder & Vette/Jaesa combo puts out really is enough to slaughter everything the story throws at you and then some.

This. Although since you already basically ruled out all 3 tank son Imp side, and Trooper on Rep side, there aren't too many options left to be honest. With Consular... it depends. Some people actually like the story. But because it is less action driven and takes a more spiritual approach, it definitely is not everyone's cup of tea though. For me, it is a bit too cliché and tries a slight bit too hard. I found the Knight story to be more enjoyable. Generally I would recommend Knight over Consular based on the story, but as I have said, it really depends on your preferences. If you don't mind a slower, more spiritual approach to the story, then you might like the Consular story. Also, I think Assassin/Shadow tanks are a bit more fun to play than Juggernaut/Guardian. But again, this is personal preference.

For me it'd probably be something like this: Imperial Agent: Primal Scream - Some Velvet Morning Sith Inquisitor: Ministry - Scarecrow http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-nULlfJDvk Sith Warrior: Tool - Schism http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UhjG47gtMCo Bounty Hunter: Motörhead - Overkill Oooh, forgot: Jedi Consular: Portishead - Elysium Jedi Knight: FC Kahuna - Hayling Smuggler: Monster Magnet - Space Lord http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x132h5_monster-magnet-space-lord_music#.USx8L1fDWDw Trooper: Garbage - Blood for Poppies

As Chaloss has already mentioned, almost no companion has any affection gain/loss on Quesh, so if you are on Quesh, that might be the problem. Plus Ashara heavily discriminates between genders when it comes to gifts. She really dislikes other girls, so all affection from gifts from a female Inquisitor is at least halved )if not more), from what I've heard.

Since I have leveled all 3 as healers, I'll chime right in Merc: Questing/leveling is a breeze. Your damage output even as a healer is quite decent. Since Mercs are mainly tank healers, you will have no problems keeping your companion and yourself alive even in difficult situations. However, healing Flashpoints is tricky on the Merc. Most difficult healer to play in the game, due to an unforgiving ressource management. Managing heat means "one error and all is lost". Once you learn how to handle your heat Merc gets manageable, but it's nowhere as easy to play as an Operative. Companion-wise, I went with Gault as soon as I got him, right up until I got Torian. Torian is the bestest companion for a healer Merc. I did go with Blizz for a long time, but just because Blizz' personality is pure awesome. Seriously, Torian's where it's at. Operative: for solo PvE it's a mixed bag. Like with the Merc you're basically immortal. However, you don't even get close to the kill speed of the Merc, especially on mob groups. Where Mercs can just AoE everything to bits, the Operative pretty much has to pick off targets one by one. And the single target DPS isn't anything worth writing home about either. For companions, I think Agents don't get anything too useful there either. I went with Kaliyo all the way, since Vector is far too squishy for my liking. Tried Temple for a while, but somehow that didn't work out too well either. And because I'm to cheap to buy/build parts for Scorpio I'm still stuck with that insufferable little Ratataki. Which in turn really doesn't help kill speed. On the plus side, Agents are super easy to heal Flashpoints with. Keep HoTs rolling and add a Kolto Injection every now and then. In your mid-twenties Energy won't be much of an issue either, since you can regenerate quite a bit with Healing Scan. Sorcerer: Sorcs for me are kind of middle of the road. I felt you had to work more to keep yourself/your companion alive than on the Merc or Agent, but the DPS is better than the Agent's. Kill speed is definitely on the good side. In your mid-thirties you will get your lightning AoE and Ashara, making you pretty much a soloing machine. While Ashara is not as good as Torian (she uses Marauder gear), she does pretty awesome damage. For Flashpoints, Sorcs are very straightforward. Huge ressource pool to work with, but once that's gone, it's gone. If you have ever played a Holy Priest in WoW, this basically is what Sorcs feel like for healing. Not the best at keeping a tank going, but awesome for group healing. Which in turn makes Flashpoints a breeze, sicne there is a ton of AoE flying around. Hope that helps.

Empire: Sith Warrior: Sith Pureblood - I don't think this needs to be explained. Sith Inquisitor: Rattataki or Zabrak - regularly enslaved races with a fierce background, known to have potent Force users Imperial Agent: Chiss, obviously. This is a species primarily known for spying and tactical maneuvering and the whole Agent story seems to be built around a Chiss Agent. Although with the whole Human supremacy thing going on, Human might be a contender. Bounty Hunter: Cyborg or Rattataki. Republic: Jedi Knight: Human Jedi Consular: Miraluka or Mirialan. I do like Zabrak Shadows though. Smuggler: Twi'lek. As someone else said earlier, Twi'lek often are not even noticed due to their perceived inferiority. Makes perfect sense in a way. Trooper: Cyborg or Zabrak. Tough and ready for a fight.

Not only that, but the Warrior does not have to fight in order to be recognised as a Sith. He already is respected and seen as a noble. So the Warrior is one that is born to lead out of the box, which basically meant "leading by example" from level 10 onwards for me. E.g. before asking the military to do throw away lives, you spearhead an asault. Also, people are more willing to fight for you if they respect you and are able to look up to you. That means mercy and compassion goes a long way in the long run. The Inquisitor however gets pushed around a lot. On both my Sorcerer and my Assassin I felt I needed to push back hard in order to show people that even a former slave can be a force to be reckoned with. Only later on, when the story transcends ppower struggles, I found myself getting more lenient and political in my decisions. My Juggernaut reached 50 being Light II, both Sorcerer and Assassin were neutral (the Sorcerer was close to Light I however) when finishing their class stories. I agree completely that the SW story makes a lot of sense played as LS. Edit:

It's also for cosmetic reasons. I've seen BHs and Agents roll on Mara/Jug gear because they like the Sith look. I've also seen the opposite. And sometimes it's completely random. I've more than often seen people roll need "just because" (i.e. neither them nor the companions they would have at that level could use the item). Maybe they're used to WoW's fail-safe roll system, so they think that if "need" is not greyed out, they can use the item? No idea to be honest. But yeah, it's disrespectful to roll need on stuff that does not match your current role (or is intended for cosmetic or companion-related purposes) without asking the other group members first.

Weird, I find my Operative to be a lot more boring and less varied than my Sorc. Keeping TA up is not really a challenge given how easy you get them, and the odd Backstab/Shiv/Overload Shot are really not that different from a Crush Mind/Affliction/Force Lightning, only that I'd have to run into range first... Granted, neither of them feel as rewarding as the Merc, but then again I might be a masochist

They're not slandering as such, I'd say they're contributing to it more than anything. The problem is that there seems to be a bit of a miscommunication thing going here. I was under the impression that you wrote Alacrity off as a bad stat for Mercs/Commandos too. Yes, you have mentioned the ressource dilemma it poses, but also that it does not have decent returns due to the Merc/Commando's short cast times. The latter is what Kitru and KeyboardNinja addressed, not the former. I think what we all can agree on is that Mercs/Commandos are ruthlessly unforgiving when it comes down to ressource management. Aside from nitpicking, thank you very much for the guide. This is very helpful information for new players (or those new to the class). I myself have a baby (well, 45) Bodyguard Merc that I want to play, but somehowcan't bring myelf to do it over my Op of the same level. The difference in power at that level is simply staggering, mainly due to how forgiving and easy Op energy is in contrast to Merc heat... The Merc is more fun overall, but the potential for frustration is unreasonably high as well. But yeah, enough whinging. Thanks again for taking the time to write this

Funny, I don't really find any of the Empire companions "hot"... well, maybe a customised Raina for the looks, but I did find her a bit bland/generic to be honest. 1.) Vette... more of a "little sister" thing. She is someone to have fun with, but I feel the need to protect her more than than anything else. 2.) Mako... again, she is more of a person I would feel the need to constantly look after. She is just too adorable, but all in all feels a bit too weak to be considered hot for me. 3.) Kaliyo. If you've had a psycho/sociopathic gf once, you probablydon't want another. And Kaliyo does not even have redeeming qualities in the looks department. 4.) Jaesa I feel there is more of a mentor relationship going on. What can I say, I like my Jaesa Light Side. 5.) Raina... Well, the looks are there, but I don't get any vibes from her personality. Republic on the other hand surely does do hot. Makes me question my choice of faction a bit here Edit: Forgot the worst of the lot! Ashara. While yes, she could be considered cute, her personality just flat out kills it. She is weak, pathetic and constantly blames you and everyone else for her lack of a backbone. Of course you had a choice, you idiot! But I guess it's far easier to just join the Sith than to step up and take responsibility for your actions. Duh.

It's funny you should use that word, because the word itself originates in the Roman practice of killing a tenth of your troops to punish them for cowardice or failure. Anyway, since they're the token bad guys obviously the Sith come across as comically cruel idiots. Lucas said he modeled the Empire after Nazi Germany. What people fail to take into account however is that pre-war Germany was not a bad place to live in if you were just a regular German and did not belong to one of the persecuted groups. This is why the Empire comes across as comically evil, because they treat everyone like crap, including their apparently so beloved Humans. Maybe this is being done so the bad guy always loses in the end... but the real Empire could not have worked for so long on a basis of random cruelty and violence. You have to give people a purpose, something they all unite for. And "if you don't get killed, you can maybe get a bit of power" doesn't cut it. There are so many times where you just cannot believe how little sense a set of choices made. Where the Light side option is the only way out because the Dark choice is just too illogical or plain stupid. And I found the SI story line to be insanely boring to be honest.

That wasn't so true for me... especially as a former slave I felt you have so much to lose, you cannot appear weak. Add to that the fact that basically everyone treats you like refuse, and you have a wonderful basis for an abundance of shocking people to death. However, once I've gone past chapter 1, and even more so during chapter 3, I've felt that I was comfortable with my power. That mindless killing was not going to get me anywhere any longer. In order to get loyalty from people, fear will only get you so far. And "so far" usually means a dagger in the back. Although I am not completely Light Side on neither my Assassin nor my Sorc... more like neutral leaning to Light Side. Sometimes Dark Side choices make more sense than Light Side ones, so I'd rather shock someone who deserves it than choose the "wrong" action just for the LSP's sake. My SW has always been almost purely Light Side. While I certainly did not hold back from punishing those who deserved it, I found it quite logical to be mostly LS. You were born into royalty, you already have your place of power by default. All you can be now is a just ruler, for the better of the Empire. There is no real power struggle, because everyone acknowledges you as a superior anyway. It's sort of a benevolent arrogance, if you will. On the Inquisitors I found I had to "remind" people of my superiority far more often. As an anecdote... On my Agent I had it the other way round from the Inquisitor. Started out all blue eyed and LS (for the good of the Empire!) and slowly found myself taking more and more DS options as the story went along

It's standard behaviour for DPS people though. Since clearly they are not the problem, someone else has to be. And who would make for a better target than those silly healers. Waggling their fingers about without doing anything productive, i.e. killing the boss? Oh and please never let them be capable of doing anything other than fingerwaggling, because then I would feel threatened by them and I would need to create a sharply worded forum thread about how this game's balance sucks. Anyway, it is funny that most of the old games did have more roles and it's only in the post-WoW era that roles have been reduced to just the 3 we have now. Most of the old games also relied more heavily on team work, while the new games cater to the "DPS can solo AND group, while tanks and healers can only group" model. Back in ye olden days at least it used to be "everyone sucks at soloing so you better brush up your social skills".

Not all Rep stories are worse than Empire stories however. Although IMHO the Sith Warrior and Agent stories are top notch, the Jedi Knight story is very good too. Although it's not quite up there with the Warrior, it made me feel heroic and in charge. And the Smuggler is so very hilarious! Even though the story itself isn't necessarily the best, the dialogue options are really great and made me laugh quite a few times. Trooper isn't too bad either, feels a bit like Mass Effect. Bounty Hunter kind of failed to really impress me. The story that has disappointed me the most was in fact the Inquisitor storyline. But as to the "feel" of the factions, I'd have to agree that the Republic just cannot compare to the Empire. The Empire gets the cooler uniforms/armour pieces, the cooler spell effects, more extreme dialogue options. And it's not even obvious stuff like lightning versus pebbles... compare Operative to Scoundrel healing. Operatives fire darts of kolto at people, Scoundrels just tap their wrists and healing happens magically. Operatives have little droids hovering over people, spraying them with kolto for the whole HoT duration. For Scoundrels, the droid appears once, shoots a kolto dart and buggers off again. Operatives just feel a lot more involved due to this. Stuff like this makes people want to play Empire.

So true haha.... unless you get a man's haircut all you're going to end up with is yet another Darth Emo.