As MagikFingerz said, the main benefit will be the mount. Keep in mind that there are also mounts you can get on the GTN for relatively affordable amount of in game credits that will scale to your level and you can unlock for other characters. These mounts may not look as nice (unless you want to spend more credits) and will still require cartel coins (which come from subscription allowance or real $) to make them available for all your toons. It basically comes down to whether you want to spend a little real $ or spend some time grinding in the game to get something comparable. I didn't buy it and personally wouldn't recommend it, but then again, I'm cheap.

IMO, a tank with healing companion is the best for soloing. As long as you're decently geared, you can take on a lot, it just might take little a bit longer to win the fights. Some say being a healer with a tank comp is better, but I've always found companion healers to be much better at healing than companion tanks are at mitigating damage and managing aggro. As far as tanks go, I think that Vanguard/Powertech are the simplest and most forgiving to play. Shadows/Assasins have a bit more DPS and stealth, but IMO they are trickier to learn and play well.

Just because one pays money, doesn't make it a "Pay to Win", IMO. There are a lot of games where there are two tiers of equipment, the higher of which can only be accessed by paying real money. That is "Pay to Win" because those who don't pay will never be equal to those who do. SWTOR game does not have this set-up. In this game the best equipment is earned through playing the game. What can be bought in SWTOR that gives one an advantage over those without money? Even if you have all the money in the world, you can't equip gear that is higher than your level. With times of boosted xp being an exception, one can typically keep themselves outfitted with the best gear by using planetary comms and spending very little money. I've leveled multiple characters and the only times I've used money from "rich uncles" is to buy luxury and cosmetic items. IMO, SWTOR is a "Pay to Look Pretty" game, not a "Pay to Win"

For the most part you have to go in order. You don't receive the next class quest until the preceding one is complete. There are some exceptions, most notably Nar Shaddaa and Taris(Pub)/Balmorra(Imp). Nar Shaddaa is higher level than Taris/Balmorra and it is possible to go straight to Nar Shaddaa, but you will still need to go back and finish the other planet before you can proceed with your overall class story.

I agree that buying fake money with real world money isn't a long term solution to keeping your in game bank account full. That said, giving yourself a little boost to start out with isn't a big deal if you don't mind spending the $. I disagree that buying credits is a "pay to win" approach though. Extra money in this game might allow one to obtain slightly better gear a little bit earlier than someone else but it's not game-breaking. IMO, it also doesn't cause you to not learn your class as you still have to put in the time running missions to earn experience and level up. The primary culprit for people not learning their class are all the extra XP boosts and not the amount of money someone has.

You'll find an intro quest at the holostatue near the stronghold vendors on the fleet. You can run this with each of your toons and each time it will give you a bucket of free furniture.

Not only will you be able to choose between medium and heavy, but you'll often get to choose between a heavy piece that emphasizes strength and heavy piece that emphasizes endurance, allowing you to mix and match as needed.

It applies to all yer toons.

No you don't. You just have to travel to the already purchased stronghold. It is good to complete the quest as you get free furniture each time.

Items from the cartel market are almost always BOE (Bind on Equip) so as long as you don't equip them, you'll be fine. I won't say they're all BOE as I'm sure there's an exception somewhere that I'm forgetting. I don't do it much myself, but I've always heard that selling unopened cartel packs is the way to go. That said, keep an eye on the GTN to see what various items are selling for. When playing the GTN, the most newest items are typically in the highest demand and will sell fastest. That said, the supply of them (and as a result the prices) are highly volatile and will swing up and down. Older or embargoed (no longer available from cartel market) items tend to have much more stabilized pricing, but there is also lesser demand, meaning they will take longer to sell.

The standard class trainers provide all the schematics you need to get to 450. I've recently done it myself. That said, things do get a little goofy as you get close. For example, the levels at which new schematics become available change. IIR, from 0-400 you get new schematics every 20 levels. After 400, this pattern changes, so check back frequently for new schematics. In addition, the points you get per crafted item tend to diminish between 400 and 450 requiring a little bit more effort. Edit: Also make sure that you're crafting the colored items or you won't get more levels. You may have to craft a non-desired item, just to get to the next level.

You're missing the point. No one is arguing that there isn't a way to do it now, just that a legacy bank would be a lot more convenient. Legacy storage is a hit for the very same reason.

They could make it a subscriber-only perk.

This exactly. Tactics, target selecting, and timing make all the difference. I've had multiple times where I wipe against a couple mobs, revive myself, and then take them down with barely a scratch to myself. I won't speak for others, but my main mistakes tend to be in the following areas: Not using interrupts properly (or at all) Not using CC properly (or at all) Not coordinating damage with my companion Not managing aggro properly between self and companion Improper target prioritization

If you're not doing this already, make sure that all your gear uses the Strength attribute. All other primary attributes (Aim, Cunning, Willpower) are pretty much useless to you. In the same way, make sure that your companions are using gear with their primary attribute as well.

This would still give people with the extra companions an advantage as they could put 6 on crew skills and still have one by their side. People with the base companions would have to sacrifice the one by their side and fly solo.

So basically, the tier 2 guilds will repeat the previous week's conquest, but they'll just get to choose a different planet to conquer? I'm concerned that unless there are additional rewards and achievements for defending, there will be no competition between the tier 2 guilds. They'll just rotate the planets to not compete with one another. For example. guild A conquers planet 1, guild B conquers planet 2, and C conquers 3 in week 1. In week 2, all the other guilds will move on to planets 4, 5, and 6. Guild A decides to conquer planet 2, B conquers planet 3, and C conquers 1. As some has mentioned, this places a burden on the tier 2 guilds as the tier 1s will be able to move on to new planets, but the tier 2s will be stuck with the same set as the previous week. By the time the aforementioned guild A returns to tier one, planets 7, 8, and 9 will be up for grabs and they will have missed the chance at 4, 5, and 6. It also seems that the same issues will still occur. While the top 4-5 mega guilds on a server may be somewhat mitigated by this plan, it may not be long before an additional 4-5 large guilds fill the void behind them and create the same problem. I apologize if these concerns were addressed already. I read all the posts but it was hard to stay focused with all the back and forth.

The primary stats (aim, cunning, willpower, strength) do not affect crew skills in any way. Each companion has bonuses to certain crew skills that will allow them to either perform the tasks faster (efficiency) or have a better chance at getting a critical (critical). In addition, increasing each companion's affection for you will boost their critical rate.

How about providing schematics for a new set on the Cartel Market rather than the set itself? This would breather more life into the crew skills and provide more end-game crafting. I'm not suggesting all set become craftable, but only some.

How about adding a casual looking hooded jacket? All the hoods we have now aligned towards robes or jedi/sith style gear. I'd love to have a hooded jacket for my smuggler. I got the idea watching last Friday's community stream. Around min 39, Pokket pulls her hood up. Something like that would be pretty cool to have in game. http://i.imgur.com/ZV5AAJF.png?1[/img]"]http://i.imgur.com/ZV5AAJF.png?1 While we're on the topic of using Bioware employees as models, a basic t-shirt like Tait is wearing would be interesting as well. There are some casual long-sleeved shirts but I don't know of many short-sleeved ones. It'd be nice to have some more casual gear that doesn't involve the toon being half naked. No offense Eric, but your outfit wasn't inspiring. Try again next time!

Eric, can you comment as to whether there will be a cooldown for the stronghold instant-travel and what that cooldown will be?

Yes. I was thinking that if the cooldown to the stronghold is shorter or nonexistent, then one could go stronghold to fleet and not be concerned with the fleet pass cooldown.

Has it been stated if there will be a cooldown timer for the Strongholds (similar to fleet and quick travel)? I remember seeing the places you can go, but don't recall mention of cooldowns. I'm trying to determine whether investing in quicker travel cooldowns for my legacy is a wise decision. If there is no cooldown for the stronghold, that will remove all incentives for investing in quicker cooldowns for other travel methods.

As for the speed of the blasters, I chalk that up to it being a movie and there being no good explanation. It's wonderful fun to watch the blaster bolt travel and see it dodged or deflected. It's not as much fun to see an invisible energy beam vaporize something almost instantaneously. It doesn't make any logical sense why the people in the movies use blasters, but I absolutely love the fact that they do. As for not using projectile weapons, the explanation I've come up (I have no clue if this matches up with the official lore) is based on two things: 1) Jedi can control matter with the force. If a person were to fire a project weapon at the Jedi, couldn't they deflect or stop the bullets with the force a la The Matrix ( ). 2) Shield and armor technology. Is it possible the the personal shield generators and armor of the Star Wars universe are more effective against projectiles than energy?

I'm a newb and just got my first toon to level 55. I'd like to start doing endgame FPs and OPs and am looking for advice on the recommended balance of stats for my gear. I started doing the Oricon quest line. My previous gear is orange gear filled with Makeb Mods (lvl 140). On that set, I prioritized Shield and Absorption above all else. The Oricon gear (lvl 156) I'm receiving now is heavy on defense (as well as accuracy which seems to be near worthless). How should I balance defense, shield, and absorption? Is it best to evenly balance all, or to go heavy in one direction? The vendors seem to sell complete pieces of gear (for comms) but not mods. Is the GTN the only place to get endgame mods? Feel free to point me to an existing link or post. I realize this has probably been covered before, but all the info I found is a couple years old and I'm not sure how relevant it is anymore.