I love that this thread keeps popping up Vector Hyllis is probably my favorite romance of the game. He's so sweet, albeit a bit strange... which for me only adds to the air of mystery around him. I'm a sucker for tall, dark, handsome and mysterious. (For statistical purposes, actual female gamer here. In my 40's, married for a quarter century )

It's happening with all my characters, any class. Highly annoying. This thing is so buggy, I'm amazed it made it out of test.

Agreed. I've tried at various levels with different classes and the companions are all overpowered, with one (so far) exception: not sure if it's the companion's fault, or if Operatives were nerfed, but I am dying a LOT on my operative with Vector (whereas before it my favorite combination of class and companion, with a reasonable amount of risk). In contrast, with my Jedi Sentinel, I can just stand there doing nothing while Doc keeps me healed and kills the mobs. Things have become very imbalanced with 4.0

I had posted about this before I saw yours. Happens with Vector as well.

My apologies if this has been posted before. Scrolled and searched but didn't find anything relating to this. A trifling bug, but immersion breaking. Was adventuring with Vector at the Starship Graveyard on Hoth. Traditionally, as you know, he fulfilled a damage role. Decided to switch him to tank since I'm a healer operative and, since 4.0, he and I seem very squishy when he's in his old role. The problem: when switching Vector to the tank role, during combat he said a line of dialogue that was Kaliyo's rather than his. "You and me? We're getting good." The "best" part? He said it in Kalyio's (her) voice lol... Funny but extremely jarring and immersion breaking, which therefore makes him currently unplayable as a tank without muting the sound. I don't know how often this repeats because it was the only fight I used him in as tank. Switched him back to damage immediately. Thanks! Screenshot of the bug: http://i.imgur.com/btLovjx.jpg

Taking advantage of the 12x xp boost. Making some machinima. Savoring the experience minus all those pesky planetary distraction quests. Leveled a new Jedi. Now working on my 2nd agent because I love the story so much. I have no intentions of being 60 by the time the expansion is released (nor of making a level 60 character from scratch). I like to ease in to things

"Are voices really that important? " Yes. I'm much more likely to pay attention to the story told via VO. If I have to read, and unless the story is incredibly engaging, I end up clicking through until I can go. Love the voiceovers. Hope they continue with it in future content.

I have several old SWG friends and a few EQ2 friends who subbed. Some of us played together, some not.... by now most have quit and gone back to whatever games they were playing before (EQ2 and WoW, mainly). Also subbed with my two sons and husband. edit: and now I feel dumb.. seems I already answered this!

Tell ya what... if I win it, I'll run a new contest for the thing, open for only people outside the US. You pay shipping though, ok? It can get hefty, just so you know! I wanted to mail a small package (less than 5 pounds and fit within my arms easily) from the US to Portugal. Over $200. About 190 euros. 238 Aussie dollars. That won't be a problem for you, will it? Oh and of course, you'll have to reimburse me the taxes I've paid on it too. There is no doubt a perfectly sensible reason this is only available in the US. Step back, calm down a ponder it a few.

It was a plague. Everyone should potentially be affected by it, ie. infected. To make it all ok, I'd say remove involuntary pvp flags on pve servers from these types of events. People go to those servers for a reason and that reason should be respected by the devs and supported by the game mechanics. Other than that, the event was great. I experienced no griefing (pvp server) I'd certainly like to see more events in the future.

"If 1.3 Isn't Out by May - Will You Unsub? " No.

It didn't always, at least not in my experience. I hate to always point back to previous mmos, but... EverQuest 2 was different, and excellent right from the start (though over the years it's morphed itself to fit the newest trends and is no longer installed on my machine). Gear varied greatly. There were so many different choices in loot, from common to fabled, and crafted options as well. There was no path. You were bound by level, but aside from starter and class quests (which were few). You felt like you were in a vibrant, living world. You were free. Freedom. That is what is lacking now. This new gen of mmos (WoW, Rift, Warhammer, SWTOR) are very much "follow the path in xp, adventuring, and gear. Experiences may not vary." As to the OP question, I am not bored... (much). Following the stories, which are really good. Loving that I'm in a Star Wars world again! Playing an alt on a more populated server (RP PVE US) and enjoying general chat and actually seeing other players, which is non-existent on my other server (PVP EU). Not in a guild on the former, preferring to not entangle myself in a guild there yet. My guild on the latter is a small group of friends from previous games. For the most part, no one in my guild is playing, having gone back to WoW or just hit 50 and never came back (one friend, 49, finished his story. Not into alts so he's done). I'm all that's left except for the occasional weekend when two of them log in to do a flashpoint with me. So, having fun. But... it won't last. There's not enough of that special mmo-something to keep me interested for years. MMOs have always been much more than an xp and gear grind to me. Remove the story, that's what SWTOR is, and very much on a path. Should add, though, that I'm determined to not be bored. I very much want to give this game a chance.

What's worse: doing this completely sober. In my group of friends, if anyone dies or we wipe, someone invariably says, "I blame the healer." It's become almost an endearment.

Do you play other games? Not currently. I usually only devote myself to one game at a time. I have Rift installed, but if I play it I will likely put SWTOR's sub on hold while I do. Perhaps at the end of summer. But I'll be back if I do venture off to Rift for a vacation. Do you have other hobbies besides SWTOR? My other hobbies do not include gaming. The only games I play are MMOs, and as mentioned above, usually only one at a time. I do have many non-gaming hobbies. Yoga. Hiking. I garden. Currently am in the process of moving a ton of river rock around my yard, digging up a brick patio and re-purposing the brick on a hill as a retaining wall, planting trees, growing herbs and melons. I read. I blog. I crochet and occasionally paint Even for those of you who aren't mad gamers and only play 8-10 hours a week... I play swtor perhaps 8-10 hours a week (rather than the 40+ hours in my SWG and EQ2 days); often I'll play less than that. Sometimes I'll go an entire week and not log in at all (also unheard of in the past). This is mainly by choice and partially by SWTOR's design. I limit my gaming time on purpose, but also this game lacks that MMO vibe that keeps me in a game for hours at a time (I call this "downtime within the game"... housing, an interesting crafting system, richly social elements, exploration off "The Path," etc.). Happily, MMOs are back in the realm of healthy entertainment. So, while I can be a little disappointed that the game certainly did not meet all my expectations, it isn't the end of the world like it would have been back when mmos were my world . I should add as an edit that the level of negativity I have felt stems almost entirely from my own lofty expectations, both of what an MMO should be, and ... well... it's Star Wars! I had (have?) extremely high hopes for this game.

I take my sweet time and don't hit max level within the first 6 months or more. I slow it down, avoid "grinding," and make alts from the start. Been playing since early release, highest level is 42. So, if I had a 50 already, I'd do the same. Slow, avoid the grind, play an alt(s).

Bantha.

I buff others. I've had it done to me, both in return and out of the blue. I've noticed it happens way more on the RP server than on the PvP server. Coincidence? I've also had it ignored. Lots of reasons why it may not be returned, aside from the obvious anti-social aspect. New to games? New to games where you can share buffs out of group? AFK? Just not paying attention? In group, yeah I don't get that. I have not joined any PUGs. Been there, done that, not a fan. I group with a few guildies (we go back to EQ2 together) or my husband and kiddos ("Buff!" is yelled through the house if anyone forgets). So, I've never experienced a lack of buffing because we all know the ropes.

I consider myself a "real" gamer since I've been at it for nearly 9 years. I was not a fan of WoW. Tried it twice, in 2006 and 2009. In my opinion, it changed MMOs for the worse, bringing us toward this pervasive trend of super fast leveling, quantity over quality, the golden path, having our hands held, etc.. You can see in my sig my first (and favorite) MMOs. I'm just sorry I didn't get into MMOs prior to SWG-- when people reminisce over older games, it makes me wish I'd been there to experience it. I'm certainly old enough, but I was not yet in the know . It took Star Wars to get me in and get me hooked

LOL that's awesome!

True! I loved going to my image designer friend for a new do every week

I came from Rift too. Good game. Didn't hold my attention, but I'll likely give it another shot. But are you really complaining there isn't enough content in SWTOR? Or is it the nuances of the standard MMO that you're missing?

I think it depends on what your definition of grind is. I played WoW for perhaps a month collectively. Wasn't my thing. I played EQ2 when it was new and for several years afterward. I never felt like it was a grind in the beginning. It was pure fun, every bit of it. I watched it change over the years to become "more like WoW" and at that point, it felt like one huge grind. For example, in the beginning, a certain mob for a heritage quest, the **** Captain my guild called him, was on a timer that could have you camping for days for him. Now... he's always up. Sure it's easier now, but the first scenario created memories. It was great! We don't talk about, "hey remember that time we did that Heritage Quest and all the mobs were right there for us to kill?" So, the waiting, the camping, the socializing during, that was not a grind to me. Oddly enough, the mob being right there is a grind to me. Another example: faction. If faction is gained naturally through the process of the game, it's not a grind, even if it takes a good amount of time. It can be fun because you are just playing the game. This Legacy thing reminds me of a faction grind in EQ2 towards one of the later expansions. It was a grind for more crafting recipes I believe. I don't know for sure because I stopped doing it. It was excessive. It was repetitive. It was an obvious time sink for no good purpose. There was no socialization involved. And more than likely, as soon as one would take a reasonable amount of time to finish that particular faction grind, another expansion comes out. Old goals and rewards fall to the wayside while "new" grinds await. Ugh. Just lots of the same over and over and over again. TLDR So, I don't mind earning things. Not at all. And I don't mind things taking time as long as it feels like there is a good reason for it to take time, if it fits within the game, it if creates memories. If it's just a grind for a grind's sake, I generally avoid it now. I don't whine. I just go without. The most recent example: the plague. Loved it. Very glad BW put it in. I'm a sucker for live and world events. But after I did each quest once, that's enough for me. I won't do the same quest every day when I only have an hour or two to play, not even for a reward. So I repeat, OP, I play an MMO within my own time constraints, and I do it because it's fun.

OP, personally I don't care about the "best" gear, ranks etc. I play to have fun. Regarding time sinks, money sinks, the legacy grind, etc., they are just in place to keep you playing the game, and voraciously, like a hamster hitting the food pellet bar. I choose to not play that way because I don't have the time. I would much rather quest and craft and play in a leisurely style. As a result, "the best" often does not come my way and I'm totally ok with that.. I am almost 40- years old. I have 2 dogs, 2 kids, a husband, a house to look after, food to cook, errands to run, hobbies outside of swtor and rl friends. I don't have the time to devote to MMOs like I used to. We all have to grow up at some point but that doesn't mean we have to give up one of our favorite things. Regarding having everything handed to you, I agree. Games these days cater to that mentality. Leveling is ridiculously fast in this game (so endgame is handed to you). Gear is handed out like candy. I would rather those things be MORE difficult. However, these useless sinks- 600k for a guild bank, for example, or the prices of switching mods or training for skills-- that I find to be a relatively new invention in the mmo and I am not a fan.

Yes I love doing this.

I have heard a few times that end game is the only game. OP, you state that most MMO gamers feel this way. Sorry but I must disagree with that statement. I don't know where you get your ideas about most gamers (from the forums?), but every single gamer I know wants a rich MMO experience from beginning to end and beyond. Personally, story/lore is very important to me. The journey is the most fun for me. When I reach "the end," even in a game with excellent endgame content, I feel the wind go out of my sails. I prolong the journey as long as I can. To that end, since leveling is ridiculously fast in swtor, I have: 1. a level 41 imp op dps 2. a level 14 imp op healer 3. a level 26 assassin 4., 5, 6. some low level sith and a bh and on another server 7, 8, 9, 10. a few jedi padawans and a lowbie smuggler waiting for my attention. I do agree this alt push by BW won't work for long for many people, but not because the endgame is the only game. It will fail because many people like to focus on a main character. I'm the same, actually. I love alts, but as a side amusement. I attach myself to my main as we embark on our several-year long journey (not month long journey to the endgame). Cut leveling times and focus only on endgame... why bother with leveling at all? Why bother with an MMO at all?? For you TL/DR types: To have a game be successful longterm, it can't rely solely on alts to keep people occupied. However, beginning middle and endgame are equally important.