For any in SW:TOR

[jbazzrea1]

On harbinger server the Republic Paragons welcome any former CoH players with open arms.

We have teamspeak 3 setup at jackiped.redirectme.net

We have a guild website up at http://republicparagons.guildlaunch.com

Website has a forum and the guild is also expanding into games like guild wars 2 and others can be added to the website should you have suggestions.

In game contact Zutharan or Hagimond republic side or Peregrin-noir and Gyrok imperial side.

If you hop on teamspeak someone will likely be on there to help you get added to the guild.

[Adrenalin]

It's a shame I'm already well established over on Begeren or I'd join up. Maybe if they EVER get actual server transfers working. 

[srmalloy]

[dwturducken]

I have no idea what server I set up on, then I got a server merger notice the next week. Therefore, less idea what server I'm on. I think Positron tweeted that he was on Begeren, though.

[jbazzrea1]

Actually posi is on harbinger...we have friended each other...

Any of you are welcome to join us...we have casual players, dedicated players, soloists and group players for pve and pvp.

[BobMc]

I'm there on Harbinger with a smuggler type.

Liking the feel of the game in the very early stages, very good Star Wars feel.

Loaded up Teamspeak for the first time in years and got that sorted out too, and joined the website.

[dwturducken]

Hpw do you tell what server you're on, and how do you change?

[jbazzrea1]

Yes Bob, welcome aboard...glad to have you! I saw your application on the website and it looks like Kevin got you added to the site. If you start any imperial toons let me know...I will invite them to the guild imperial side.

Dw...

When you login to the game and your characters are up on the main screen, in the bottom left corner are a set of buttons. There should be one that says back, and when you back out the top server listed is the one you were on, if you go to another server you can start new characters on it. Let me know if you're on harbinger or want to come to harbinger, we can get you setup.

[dwturducken]

I am about to have a full-on snit! Everything has to update!

[Opilion]

What classes would you need?  I've been playing over on Shadowlands since the closure, but haven't really grown roots yet.

[faith.grins]

The absurdly-limited amount of personal-appearance customization, even within the "you look like your gear" MMO standard.

I suspect that I'm going to be comparing games to City of Heroes and finding them lacking for a long time to come...

That's sort of something I hold against many games, and I don't just mean video games in this regard.  Style should not dictate substance, and yet in so many game systems it does.  SW:TOR does better in that regard than most, in that some blaster types can heal, and some cloth-y types can tank, but it is still the case that how you want to play determines how you look and what you wield.

This is something that Champions Online is actually slightly better than CoH with regards to in that there exists in CO the fabled "ranged tank," who can look like pretty much anything you want, and can utilize any of some 60 powers to be a good tank.  (OK, yes, your slotted passive needs to be one of three things.  You're limited in that.  But that's mostly it.  It's also highly recommended that your primary Super Stat be Constitution, but even that is somewhat negotiable if you're willing to be a pseudo-tank for the first 20 levels of your life.)

It's something that Dungeons and Dragons is horrible at.  If you want to be a tanking type in D&D3.5, you either have to play a Crusader from the Tome of Battle, you have to be a Cleric, or you get to suck at your role and pray your GM plays his monsters as stupid.  If you want to play a sword-and-board character, you will be a tank, and if you're not a Crusader you're still going to suck at it.  If you want to play a Cleric who wears cloth, instead of chainmail, you are degrees more vulnerable than if you just wore the armor, with no effective benefit for wearing cloth.  If you want to wield a bludgeoning weapon, you will deal less damage on average than if you wielded a similar piercing or slashing weapon.  Et cetera.

Honestly, the best game at letting you be whatever the hell you wanted and still function however the hell you wanted to function was Mutants and Masterminds, which no one in their right mind would ever be able to translate into a video game.  But it's great at that; if you want to be a shapeshifter whose powers change with your form, you can do that.  If you want to be a hero made of electricity who contributes to party efforts by gathering information and making everyone else super fast or teleporting heroes around the city, you can do that.  If you want to be an inventor who has no intrinsic powers but can jury rig whatever device the team needs in 30 seconds, you can do that.  If you want to play a teenage kid whose psychic powers make him capable of lifting cars and shrugging off bullets, you can do that.  If you want to play a US Army General who, due to a weapons project gone wrong, no longer has corporeal form, you can do that.  And all of these things will be useful to the party.  (And if your GM's good, everyone will feel like they're the MVP.)

[dwturducken]

Huh. On The Harbinger, the name "Rikti" has already been taken. Weird.

[OzonePrime]

Am on Shadowlands. Sith inquisitor, Jagan.

[jbazzrea1]

Paid server transfers coming with rise of the hurt cartel expansion.

Any and all classes welcome...a good thing to have would be more healers though...

[srmalloy]

That's sort of something I hold against many games, and I don't just mean video games in this regard.  Style should not dictate substance, and yet in so many game systems it does.  SW:TOR does better in that regard than most, in that some blaster types can heal, and some cloth-y types can tank, but it is still the case that how you want to play determines how you look and what you wield.

Then there are the various disconnects between the gameworld background and the actual gameplay. All of the jumping puzzles to get to datacrons -- you have Jedi and Sith that can force-leap more than a hundred feet to attack someone, but they can't jump on top of a ten-foot-tall shipping crate? And while it's entirely within character for Sith characters, the premise that Jedi -- espousing an ethos of peace and justice -- advance in level by going out to attack and kill people (preferably with surprise). Or how the Imperial Agent and Trooper classes -- actively in government service -- not only have to pay for their own equipment and its repair out of their own pockets, but pay for it by scavenging off the bodies of the people they kill and selling what they can't use themselves -- and because you're outfitting yourself with what you buy and what you take off your victims, the concept of 'uniform' goes right out the window (which may be acceptable for an undercover agent, but not for active military personnel). And even though the Empire/Republic is too cheap to supply uniforms and gear to its personnel, they've got enough spare starships on hand to give you one of your own -- although you do have to buy fuel for it out of your own pocket.

Even more curiously, the ship my Trooper got has an armory room full of weapons -- none of which she can even pick up, much less use, Also, despite all the room in your ship, if you want to modify your weapon or armor, you have to land somewhere and find a modification station if you don't want to perform a field modification and destroy what you already have slotted in your gear, even though there's plenty of extra space in your ship to have put such a station aboard. You also have to leave your ship to find a terminal to check your email; you can't simply check your email from your ship's comconsole, even though your ship's holoterminal lets you have real-time conversations with someone halfway across the galaxy.

There are just so many 'WTH?' things about SWTOR that I have to shove aside when I'm playing the game that it sometimes feels as if Bioware didn't do much planning when they were designing the game...

[jbazzrea1]

You only need the modification station to add an augment...you can rip armor/mods/enhancements/crystals without a station...it's always been that way. Once you've added your augment slot you can change those out without a station too. Just make sure you rip the old mod first...if you put the new one in on top of the old one it does destroy it. To take it out just open your inventory and right click the mod you want to remove:)

Through your legacy you can buy upgrades to put an email and a gtn and a vendor Droid on your ship as well.

[Ampithere]

What restrictions are on f2p players? I've been getting mixed reports of that. I'm moving into a new house and the budget is a bit tight...

[eabrace]

Well, the TLDR version would be simply: They seem to have confused the terms "trial" and "free to play".

Here's what I've encountered since going F2P:

* If you had more than two quick bars, you'll have to unlock the third and fourth using the Cartel Market points to get them back.

* If you want to unify your colors on your equipment, that's another purchase (but can be bought for all characters on your account instead of per character if you want.)

* F2P is limited to 2 character slots per server, but if you already have more slots in use on a server, you can still log all of those characters in.

* No fleet pass for non-VIP

* Although the number of crew skills is supposed to be limited to two, my characters who already had three crew skills still had all three.  You can still send your companions out to run missions on those skills without any limitations.  It wasn't until I went to actually scan something in the environment that the game made me choose which two skills to keep.  (You don't lose progress on a crew skill when it becomes inactive.)

* F2P accounts cannot send credits through in-game email.

* F2P accounts earn XP at reduced rates compared to VIPs

* F2P players get five free medical probes to revive you in the field. After that, you have to buy more from the market. Subscribers get unlimited probes.

* You cannot select a title for your character without unlocking the ability to do so in the store.  (Not even my "Founder" title.)

* PvP and flashpoint participation are limited for F2P players.  (I never got into the PvP, so I'm not that familiar with the limits.  I believe flashpoints are two per week or something like that.)

* When a quest provides a lockbox of any kind as a reward, F2P players can not receive it



And not directly related to F2P:

* there have been a few rounds of server consolidations, so you may have to rename some characters

[Mistress Urd]

After playing SWTOR for two weeks, it makes me want to play CoH again. Nice to visit to see that the grass is in fact not greener.

I can safely say this game does not pass the CoH test or EvE online test.

[Lily Barclay]

Well, the TLDR version would be simply: They seem to have confused the terms "trial" and "free to play".

Here's what I've encountered since going F2P:

* If you had more than two quick bars, you'll have to unlock the third and fourth using the Cartel Market points to get them back.

* If you want to unify your colors on your equipment, that's another purchase (but can be bought for all characters on your account instead of per character if you want.)

* F2P is limited to 2 character slots per server, but if you already have more slots in use on a server, you can still log all of those characters in.

* No fleet pass for non-VIP

* Although the number of crew skills is supposed to be limited to two, my characters who already had three crew skills still had all three.  You can still send your companions out to run missions on those skills without any limitations.  It wasn't until I went to actually scan something in the environment that the game made me choose which two skills to keep.  (You don't lose progress on a crew skill when it becomes inactive.)

* F2P accounts cannot send credits through in-game email.

* F2P accounts earn XP at reduced rates compared to VIPs

* F2P players get five free medical probes to revive you in the field. After that, you have to buy more from the market. Subscribers get unlimited probes.

* You cannot select a title for your character without unlocking the ability to do so in the store.  (Not even my "Founder" title.)

* PvP and flashpoint participation are limited for F2P players.  (I never got into the PvP, so I'm not that familiar with the limits.  I believe flashpoints are two per week or something like that.)

* When a quest provides a lockbox of any kind as a reward, F2P players can not receive it



And not directly related to F2P:

* there have been a few rounds of server consolidations, so you may have to rename some characters

If you have been a subscriber in the past you get six slots per server. The language in the patch notes lead me to believe that of you have more characters than that, you will retain access to all existing characters. My sub runs out on Monday, so we shall see.

You also get 4 quick bars as a former subscriber.

A lot of the unlocks can be bought for credits on the gtn, although some will be above the credit cap for free players. (cap is 150k freem 350k preem)

A lot of these things just went into effect with the patch this week. F2P is a lot more tolerable now for former subscribers.

[dwturducken]

Also, TOR does have Sprint. You get it at level one with a sub, but F2Pers have to get to level 15 (which I have yet to do).

[Lily Barclay]

Also, TOR does have Sprint. You get it at level one with a sub, but F2Pers have to get to level 15 (which I have yet to do).

It used to be like that for subscribers, too. It comes faster than you think it will.

[eabrace]

You also get 4 quick bars as a former subscriber.

Interesting.  That wasn't the case for me.  I had to unlock the last two in the store.

A lot of these things just went into effect with the patch this week. F2P is a lot more tolerable now for former subscribers.

I don't expect it, but it would be interesting to see if I have credits refunded for anything I had to unlock that is now provided to former subscribers by default.

[Knightslayer]

Then there are the various disconnects between the gameworld background and the actual gameplay. All of the jumping puzzles to get to datacrons -- you have Jedi and Sith that can force-leap more than a hundred feet to attack someone, but they can't jump on top of a ten-foot-tall shipping crate? And while it's entirely within character for Sith characters, the premise that Jedi -- espousing an ethos of peace and justice -- advance in level by going out to attack and kill people (preferably with surprise). Or how the Imperial Agent and Trooper classes -- actively in government service -- not only have to pay for their own equipment and its repair out of their own pockets, but pay for it by scavenging off the bodies of the people they kill and selling what they can't use themselves -- and because you're outfitting yourself with what you buy and what you take off your victims, the concept of 'uniform' goes right out the window (which may be acceptable for an undercover agent, but not for active military personnel). And even though the Empire/Republic is too cheap to supply uniforms and gear to its personnel, they've got enough spare starships on hand to give you one of your own -- although you do have to buy fuel for it out of your own pocket.

Even more curiously, the ship my Trooper got has an armory room full of weapons -- none of which she can even pick up, much less use, Also, despite all the room in your ship, if you want to modify your weapon or armor, you have to land somewhere and find a modification station if you don't want to perform a field modification and destroy what you already have slotted in your gear, even though there's plenty of extra space in your ship to have put such a station aboard. You also have to leave your ship to find a terminal to check your email; you can't simply check your email from your ship's comconsole, even though your ship's holoterminal lets you have real-time conversations with someone halfway across the galaxy.

There are just so many 'WTH?' things about SWTOR that I have to shove aside when I'm playing the game that it sometimes feels as if Bioware didn't do much planning when they were designing the game...

You forgot to point out how there are endless amounts of enemies cluttering zones, how the whole world isn't covered completely in corpses from all the mobs the players kill, etc... 
And some of those options, like mail (and auctionhouse) on your ship are available on your ship through the Legacy system unlocks.
Lack of interactivity in the world is a problem that all MMO's share due to technical limitations.
As for Jedi gaining xp from killing people, part of being Jedi is being peacekeepers - it's the whole reason why they train the usage of offensive powers to begin with - while dreaming of a world where everyone can live in peace alongside each other, they are also not naive enough to take a pacifist stance while there are things like the Sith out there (not to mention all the other nasties and entire species that see war as a way of life).
Did Luke go out of his way to ensure not a single Stormtrooper was injured? Anakin? Obi-Wan? Any of the multitude of characters from the SW novels out there?
The reason they don't force a uniform on Agents and Troopers is probably because doing so would likely result in the same backlash that Cryptic/Paragon had to endure with the SoAs and Widows ATs - players screaming that they don't want something crammed down their throats.
I personally haven't played the game since shortly before update 1.3, and I'm perfectly fine with someone not liking it - but bashing the entire thing over things that are very common in all MMO's, including CoH, seems a bit unfair...

What restrictions are on f2p players? I've been getting mixed reports of that. I'm moving into a new house and the budget is a bit tight...

F2P seems rather limiting, but then again, if you played a fresh CoH account (without Paragon rewards) the limits were pretty harsh too - including some rather annoying chat restrictions, no salvage or recipe drops, no IO's whatsoever, no Incarnate stuff...
AFAIK the story content and such is completely free, but you are restricted in how many Warzones (PVP) and Flashpoints (PVE instances) you can do in a week (or in a day?) in addition to some of the other limitations mentioned above like 2 quickbars (which goes up to 4 once you spend 5$ and become a prefered/premium instead of a true freeb).

[Lily Barclay]

Interesting.  That wasn't the case for me.  I had to unlock the last two in the store.
I don't expect it, but it would be interesting to see if I have credits refunded for anything I had to unlock that is now provided to former subscribers by default.

It just happened on Monday or Tues. They've been saying for a few months they were going to do do it though, as well as open 6 slots for former subscribers. I'm not sure if they are giving refunds or not, my guess is not and you will just have six instead of four like subscribers get now. Not that anyone needs that many. I have not even been able to fill up 5, even with legacy emotes and stuff.

[Knightslayer]

It just happened on Monday or Tues. They've been saying for a few months they were going to do do it though, as well as open 6 slots for former subscribers. I'm not sure if they are giving refunds or not, my guess is not and you will just have six instead of four like subscribers get now. Not that anyone needs that many. I have not even been able to fill up 5, even with legacy emotes and stuff.

That would be my guess too, or their system could be glitchy and you have to petition it =/
It's nice to see they are actually improving the F2P system based on feedback though.

[dwturducken]

It used to be like that for subscribers, too. It comes faster than you think it will.

I'm pretty sure it would come faster if I played the game more and didn't delete characters after a few levels to try a different "build."

[dreadshinobi]

I ended up playing SWTOR. I was originally going to go there when it released with my raiding guild from Rift, but I opted out of it. Then I heard about it going f2p and I had a few friends still playing it and I joined up with them on the Shadowlands server.

I was originally only going to play the game because it was f2p and my friends were there (minimal interest in the game or genre itself), but the f2p model is by far the most restrictive f2p model I have ever seen, to the point where I would call it unplayable.

The big things for me were:
-Starting at lvl 10 your xp gets absolutely gutted. You get about half as much as you would normally and you dont get any rested xp. If you wanted to level with a friend that was subbed it would be impossible
-You can only do 5 pvp matches and 3 space missions per WEEK.
-You don't get sprint until lvl 15 and speeders until lvl 25, this further guts your leveling speed and enjoyment of the game (theres alot of running around)

And also not related to being f2p,
-the game has nearly no character customization. Especially when it comes to your gear.
-pvp is horribly balanced. Crowd Control abilities are essentially I-win buttons because the only defense against them is a 2 min cd which doesnt offer a period of immunity (meaning if you get CC'd then pop your "break free" you can get CC'd again immediately after)
-Combat uses a global cooldown system which can make combat flow horribly for some classes with long gaps in between attacks.


Really, I could go on. It's a pretty terrible game, and even worse if you're f2p. Regardless I got a 2 month sub so I could play with my friends, but I will definitely be done with it by the time that is up.

[Septipheran]

I ended up playing SWTOR. I was originally going to go there when it released with my raiding guild from Rift, but I opted out of it. Then I heard about it going f2p and I had a few friends still playing it and I joined up with them on the Shadowlands server.

I was originally only going to play the game because it was f2p and my friends were there (minimal interest in the game or genre itself), but the f2p model is by far the most restrictive f2p model I have ever seen, to the point where I would call it unplayable.

The big things for me were:
-Starting at lvl 10 your xp gets absolutely gutted. You get about half as much as you would normally and you dont get any rested xp. If you wanted to level with a friend that was subbed it would be impossible
-You can only do 5 pvp matches and 3 space missions per WEEK.
-You don't get sprint until lvl 15 and speeders until lvl 25, this further guts your leveling speed and enjoyment of the game (theres alot of running around)

And also not related to being f2p,
-the game has nearly no character customization. Especially when it comes to your gear.
-pvp is horribly balanced. Crowd Control abilities are essentially I-win buttons because the only defense against them is a 2 min cd which doesnt offer a period of immunity (meaning if you get CC'd then pop your "break free" you can get CC'd again immediately after)
-Combat uses a global cooldown system which can make combat flow horribly for some classes with long gaps in between attacks.


Really, I could go on. It's a pretty terrible game, and even worse if you're f2p. Regardless I got a 2 month sub so I could play with my friends, but I will definitely be done with it by the time that is up.

I've been playing SWTOR as a free to play'r regularly for about a month. So far I have a level 29 Sith Juggernaut and a level 25 Jedi Sage. I agree that the game isn't perfect, but the F2P restrictions have really been sensationalized by some disgruntled gamers imo. I wanted to clear a few things up.

No sprint until level 15 isn't as bad as it sounds. There are unlockable speeders that will take you between "neighborhoods" of zones. It's a little annoying, especially at first if you're used to ChO/COH travel speeds, but you get used to it after a week or so.

You can't get a speeder until level 25, but it really doesn't take that long to get there. It reminds me of "no travel powers until 14" or whatever it used to be in COH, just timed slightly differently.

No customizing your appearance... This just isn't true. The game has tons of "orange" gear with no real base stats, so you can wear what you want and use mods to properly enhance your character. My Jedi Sage has been my favorite character... He's supposed to wear a bath robe and a dunce cap. Thanks to orange gear, I have him wearing normal Jedi clothes and a very discreet headband that's mostly covered by his hair. You can even customize the color of your lightsaber, along with its combat attributes.

The XP nerf. This is another thing that's annoying at first, especially if you played the KOTOR games. You know how in KOTOR, you could skip all the side quests if you wanted and not fall behind the main quest line? Well in SWTOR, the side quests are kind of mandatory. If you do all the quests on every planet, excluding the heroics, you should be able to stay within at least 1-2 levels of your main quest at all times, which makes it completely doable.\

 If for some reason you fall too far behind and all your quests are more than 2 levels higher than you, que up and do some flashpoints. They're fun, the community is generally cooperative and good to play with and the XP is decent too. Don't forget to go back to your fleet to turn in the [group] quest after you finish a flashpoint though- you will get extra XP for doing so.

The limit on the space missions isn't something that I really find troublesome. They're really novelty rail shooters anyways... I think 3 a week is about my fill before I get bored with them, so it works out well for me. I'm not a big PVPer so even if I had access to more warzones I more than likely wouldn't take advantage of it.

There is, however, one EXTREMELY TERRIBLE thing about SWTOR's free to play. Possibly the worst F2P restriction I've ever seen: You're limited to two power trays. This is ridiculously annoying, since there are a lot of powers in this game. If you spend a few dollars, you get 2 more trays forever, so I'm probably going to do that soon.

It's also pretty unnecessarily vindictive that they increase the vendor prices for F2P players, but meh.

[MindBlender]

A quick note on credits through in game email... My son has a sub for the game (he was a CoXer) and he was able to send credits TO friends that were f2p. He also stated that he was able to start racking up credits once he got past level 15, got a ship and went space cowboy. 

[jbazzrea1]

Also...for f2p players....you can buy 1-3 hour 25% XP boosts through the gtn.

Pvp if you don't mind it also gives good XP...though I would recommend a sub if you're going to get into that very far because most pvp gear worth anything is artifact grade.

Edit: LOL @ bath robe and dunce cap...I know exactly what you mean...I had to find some gear that looked decent for my consular shadow!!

[crayehal]

Here are some notes for F2P players and money-making based on my play time.  So far, I made the most money selling crafting materials and mods on the GTN (market). 

At level 25, it costs 35,000c to learn the speeder skill and at least 10,000c for a speeder.
At level 30, it costs 150,000c to learn speeder skill 2.

Crafting Materials
F2P are limited to 1 crew skill, so I suggest taking scavenging.  There are a lot of scavenge piles on the map and you can scavenge from defeated droids as well, even those someone else defeated.  With 2 GTN slots, I earn an average of 30k a day from sales and sometimes as high as 75k on a weekend. 

Item Modifications
Sometimes Heroics reward purple colored gear, an item mod or a piece of gear with mods.  I suggest selecting the reward in this order:
1) Purple colored gear - F2P can't use it without buying the authorization.  However, it can sell for a lot on GTN
2) Gear with mods - if you can't use the gear, you can take the mods off for use in other gear. 
3) Item mod - if you can't use it, sell on GTN

Getting to the GTN
Republic:
Coruscant, Senate Commercial District, beneath the Senate Plaza, along the back.
Fleet, Carrick Station, quadrant labelled Galactic Trade Market, along inside wall

Empire:
Dromund Kaas, east and upstairs from main city square.
Fleet, Vaiken Spacedock, quadrant labelled Galactic Trade Market, along inside wall

Neutral:
Nar Shaddaa, Lower Promenade, two sets of kiosks on opposite sides of the area near faction trainers.
Tattooine, Outlaws' Den (PvP area) between Jundland and the Dune Sea

Another trick is to use the shuttle for a flashpoint.  This saves time running to your ship and loading times.  For Empire:
Balmorra, Gorinth outpost->Imperial fleet
Tattoine, Outpost Varath->Imperial fleet

Warning:
F2P is limited to 200,000c and 20 commendations.  Before you claim credits from mail or accept commendations, check your balance.  You may keep 1 reward option pending, but you may be blocked from completing a Heroic until you claim your reward from a previous Heroic.

I "store" money on an alt by having the alt put a medpac for sale at 50,000c and then my main buys it from the alt.  The money is kept in the alt's mail.

[eabrace]

I suggest taking scavenging.  There are a lot of scavenge piles on the map and you can scavenge from defeated droids as well, even those someone else defeated.  With 2 GTN slots, I earn an average of 30k a day from sales and sometimes as high as 75k on a weekend. 

I would also highly recommend Slicing and Treasure Hunting.  Unlike other skills, Slicing and Treasure Hunting provide you with the option to send your crew members off to find Lockboxes.  When they return with the Lockbox, you open it and receive credits.  No materials to sell at all.  And Slicing allows you to retrieve Lockboxes from the game environment.  Again, no materials to deal with, just pure credits.

My Sentinel has been living purely off of Slicing since before F2P and she's never had an issue with being short on cash.

[crayehal]

send your crew members off to find Lockboxes. 

I thought Lockboxes were pay to open (with cartel coins) for F2P?  If that is the case, and without access to the lockbox, the cost of sending out a member may end up about the same as the leftover reward, so it is not as useful. 

[Knightslayer]

-pvp is horribly balanced. Crowd Control abilities are essentially I-win buttons because the only defense against them is a 2 min cd which doesnt offer a period of immunity (meaning if you get CC'd then pop your "break free" you can get CC'd again immediately after)

I think it's also worth noting that the more you get CCed, the more resistance you build up to it (you see it as a small, grey/white bar above people's heads) - if it gets filled completely they become completely immune to CC until it goes down again.

[eabrace]

I thought Lockboxes were pay to open (with cartel coins) for F2P?  If that is the case, and without access to the lockbox, the cost of sending out a member may end up about the same as the leftover reward, so it is not as useful.

Quest reward lockboxes (the ones that contain random gear) are inaccessible without spending points if you're F2P.  I've had no issues with the ones you obtain through crew skills.

[Knightslayer]

Quest reward lockboxes (the ones that contain random gear) are inaccessible without spending points if you're F2P.  I've had no issues with the ones you obtain through crew skills.

Yep, tried and confirmed this too.

[Lily Barclay]

Careful with trying to make money with the gtn on a free account. You WILL bump the currency cap. Odds are you will bump it  lot without trying. So unless you're spending, too, I don't advise it. You can get crew skills unlocks on the gtn. I want to think that the per character one was under the currency cap for f2p or at least preferred. The account wide one was not.

[jbazzrea1]

The speeder piloting costs are what they used to be for subscribers. Now SP 1&2 are MUCH cheaper for subs but SP 3 is still 125k credits or whatever...

[Back Blast]

I'm on Harbinger but hooked up with a guild from the CoH Livejournal community. When I finally get around to making an alt, perhaps I'll look you up.

[damienray]

Does anyone know what the max level difference allowed is for teaming ? Mamma has a 47, and I only have some lowbies. Can I team with her if I can get to her planet/missions ? Is there an "exemp" type mechanic in SWTOR (like the old 5 level diff that CoH had) ?  Thanks for any guidance on this.

[eabrace]

I don't recall ever actually running into a max level differential when I was running in a group.  There might be one, but it's pretty large if there is.

That being said, if you're high level running with a lowbie, you're not going to be getting any significant amounts of XP.  And if you're a lowbie running with a high level, you're going to get creamed.  SW:ToR has no system similar to sidekicking or exemplaring.

[Graphite]

The Titans of the Old Republic on Ebon Hawk have just recieved a major reboot just in time for the new Hutt Expansion.  We are a family friendly guild with an RP central focus hoping to keep the spirit of Paragon City alive within the realm of Star Wars.  As a City of Heroes Refugee Guild everyone here is more than welcome to join up with us.  Please check out our Facebook Page, new Website, or whisper me in game as Wudan if interested.  Cheers and have fun!

[eabrace]

Also:  If I read it correctly, it seems they're doing 2x XP weekends this weekend and each of the next three.

[crayehal]

Does anyone know what the max level difference allowed is for teaming ?

Any teammate 7 levels or more to your level will affect your XP.  I play 2 accounts and have noticed that the amount of XP the lowbie gets is affected by the difference in levels.  For example:
You (lvl 10) with Player 2 (lvl 16) kill Elite and get 200 XP.
You (lvl 10) with Player 3 (lvl 17) kill Elite and get 160 XP.
You (lvl 10) with Player 4 (lvl 50) kill Elite and get 50 XP.

If you want to play together, you will have to be +/- 6 levels from each other's levels if you are teamed.  I have gotten around this by not being in a team.  My level 50 is not teamed with the lowbie but can 'assist' the lowbie with heals and buffs if the quest is outside.  The 50 can team for heroics that are inside but the the lowbie will get reduced XP for kills.  Before the lowbie turns in the quest, the 50 quits the team to avoid the XP penalty.

As far as I can tell, SWTOR has deliberately designed the game to make players follow a certain progression and not skip content.  The only other way to level up without doing content is to PvP or do flashpoints.

[srmalloy]

Also:  If I read it correctly, it seems they're doing 2x XP weekends this weekend and each of the next three.

It doesn't make the missions drag any less, but you do ding a lot faster. I took my level-20 Sith Sorceror on Balmorra to 22, then did the last class quest ('into the Pit', a putatively level-19 mission with an annoying elite boss and add spawns that will chew you up if you don't hoard your AoEs), then did the bonus missions, getting 23 and about 3/4 of the way to 24 before departing to Nar Shaddaa. Then I switched to my level-18 Jedi Knight on Taris and got her to 24 and a bit in the middle of the bonus series before hanging it up for the evening Sunday night (play sandwiched in around baking bread). I find, though, that I get a lot more mileage out of characters with Stealth (my 26 Jedi Shadow and 30 Sith Assassin) than I do out of the straightforward 'boom in and start laying down the hurt' classes; I would start an Operative or Scoundrel for the stealth, but I still prefer ranged to melee combat; I'll probably get around to it at some point.

I'm still not particularly happy with the game-balance issues that restrict ranged combat to 30 meters -- except for the extravagant extra 5 meters on snipes (in the face of the dozen people with confirmed sniper kills beyond 1,250 meters), or some of the wierd disconnects in the game:

• The datacrons scattered across the landscape appear to be molecularly-bonded to where they're sitting, forcing everyone to go through annoying jumping puzzles to get to them, rather than the first person to find one carting it off so no one else can benefit from it (Imperial) or taking it to put someplace where everyone can get to them easily (Republic)
• Despite being able to leap up to 30 meters to enter combat, Jedi and Sith are unable to jump on top of a 3-meter-tall storage crate. Unless there's an enemy on top of that crate they can leap to attack, in which case they can leap 30 meters up or down without a problem.
• The skill of climbing is apparently utterly unknown in both the Empire and the Republic, despite some ambushes where the mobs abseil into position around you, allowing the devs to channel your movement by the simple expedient of putting in barriers at least ten feet high. This is one of the biggest letdowns after CoH, which actively removed obstacles to your character getting around zones to poke into odd corners.
• Line-of-sight handheld energy weapons with the range of a thrown baseball, while fixed-mount weapons appear to have unlimited range.
• Characters who are active members of their faction's government forces (Trooper/Agent) who nevertheless have to pay for equipment repair out of their own pocket and either pay for new equipment out of their own pocket or scavenge it off the dead bodies of their defeated enemies. And I can understand why a bounty hunter or a smuggler would be wearing gear assembled from a bunch of different sources, but there's a reason they're called "uniforms" -- NPC government personnel wear uniforms, but the PC government personnel wear whatever they can get their hands on.
• Whether a particular action awards light-side or dark-side points seems capricious at times. In one of the Sith missions on Korriban, for example, you recover the body of a Sith Guardsman's son and bring it back to him; in your conversation, if you admit that he was killed in the entrance of the tomb, before he ever got inside (reaffirming the guardsman's impression of his son), you get dark-side points, while lying to him that his son died bravely (because it might make him a little more well-disposed to you, which could be useful later) earns you light-side points.
  

And that combines with the various game-mechanics annoyances -- mission levels are hardcoded, the aforementioned lack of any sidekick/exemplar capability (which works to hinder people bringing in friends to start playing the game with them), the ongoing aggravation of people ninja'ing open-world mission goals (or just clearing them, in the case of mobs -- I did the series of missions in Station 5 on Taris that felt like the Great Tsoo Winnowing the day that Icon opened, what with all the dead or missing rakghouls), the limited variability in characters and NPCs (sometimes I think that there are only four or five NPCs of each gender and they just change costumes offstage), the repeated re-use of the same gear models for different equipment (and how the models are class-specific, so that the same piece of gear can look different when you wear it compared to when your companion wears it), the fact that you can't just go back to your ship (in my case, for the GTN kiosk I bought) without having to take off for orbit...  The list goes on.

All that said, the game is still enjoyable, or I'd have stopped playing it some time ago. But each time I log in, I keep running into things that City of Heroes did better, and how much SWTOR sometimes feels, for all the chrome of the setting, like WoW after someone did a global search and replace on all the nouns. And then I look at some of the incidental visual bits, like the rolling terrain or the eddies of windborne dust on Tatooine, and imagine how much the Paragon Studios could have done with it to make a second-generation City of Heroes that much more impressive without losing the things that made it what it was.

[damienray]

TYVM for the info crayehal ... never even dawned on us to try the disband before turning in mission option. At least that takes some of the sting out of reduced XP.  Managed to make a decent amount of leveling over the past weekend.  Still drives us both crazy when we end up leaning on that ole spacebar to get thru mission dialogues we've seen 10+ times.  Not very alt-friendly.  God I miss CoH.

Side note - I SO wish they'd add a darn barber or costume shoppe for facial/hair/body style changes. With all the swapping of armor we do, I can't imagine a shave & a haircut would kill the game... but then again I'm no game coder.

[crayehal]

I find, though, that I get a lot more mileage out of characters with Stealth (my 26 Jedi Shadow and 30 Sith Assassin) than I do out of the straightforward 'boom in and start laying down the hurt' classes

Stealth is especially handy for quests that just require clicking and not killing a boss.  For example, on Belsavis, the Heroic 4; Breakthru can be completed in 3 mins for 22-25k XP just by clicking 3 glowies.  To click a glowie without getting caught:
< mob > [glowie] (( pillar ))  <--- you

Be behind an object and zoom out to max.  Then position the cursor on the glowie and slowly inch forward until the hand turns from gray to yellow.  Click glowie.
 
Villains, recognize this trick?  Yes, it is the same trick as getting the codes in LRSF in the Vindicator base to unlock the door to Ms. Liberty.  CoX skills in SWTOR...  >:3

Amazingly enough, I met some SWTOR vets that didn't know this trick and were quite dumfounded when I showed them.  One of them even said, "Maaan, that makes me want to play my Assassin..."

Even though you don't kill anything, you still get the quest XP which is a good hunk compared to a kill.  For example, 1 minion kill is 200 XP but the quest XP is 20,000. 
If you don't have much play time but want to level fast on a stealth toon, try to do quests where you can click items rather than kill N of something.  Quests that kill N of something take about 15-30 mins while click items can take around 5-10 mins.

[dwturducken]

As far as I can tell, SWTOR has deliberately designed the game to make players follow a certain progression and not skip content.  The only other way to level up without doing content is to PvP or do flashpoints.

This comment and Matt's/Posi's column from last month kind of brought a point into sharp focus for me. What we complain about in most games with regards to scale-ability in missions appears to be a result of the writers and developers on games being a little bit too in love with their own creativity. By forcing players to play "a story," those of us who came up in older games, like CoH, WoW, Everquest, on back, lose interest quickly. Essentially, what we have is Baldur's Gate or Freedom Force (a linear game with limited replay potential) writ large, probably due to a rush to market. Maybe they're sacrificing storytelling to give the game more flash or put in more "mechanical" flexibility.

To my mind, the greatest strength of WoW is the different starting area for each race. Having four different starting areas in SW:TOR gives some incentive to try different "builds," but, with the ability to have two characters per server on a free account, I have no incentive to build more than four characters, on force user and one blaster of each alignment. You essentially have four stories, and that's it. (I've not played this game beyond the mid teens on any of those builds, but it does seem to open up a bit once you leave your starting zone; it's more a general observation of the larger trend)

I know that, whether or not it was explicit, this was a concern in the formation of both Plan Z projects. The only thing I see as a possible way to fight the trend is to do everything we can to make either or both of those projects succeed and hope that the greater industry takes notice.

[ukaserex]

Hmmm...thus far, I've only just created my character. The game, thus far, hasn't suggested I visit the store --which is good. However, I find it odd that a smuggler, that's introduced as being a character with style, can't have a different costume, nor even a different colored one. Did I miss something?

[eabrace]

Hmmm...thus far, I've only just created my character. The game, thus far, hasn't suggested I visit the store --which is good. However, I find it odd that a smuggler, that's introduced as being a character with style, can't have a different costume, nor even a different colored one. Did I miss something?

Your character's costume is entirely dependent on the gear you are wearing.  The most you can do is coordinate the colors of all the other pieces with whatever you equip on your body - but that's a feature you have to unlock either through the store of by having at one time or another been a subscriber.

[Graphite]

Titans of the Old Republic on the Ebon Hawk (RP-PVE East) Server now has Voice over IP (VoIP).  While we are more than a CoH Refugee guild, any and all CoH players are welcome.  A new expansion is coming out, so why not check us out?

http://totor.enjin.com/home

[downix]

I'm on The Shadowlands server, but rolled a new guy on Harbinger as there seems to be a sizable population there.

[srmalloy]

Hmmm...thus far, I've only just created my character. The game, thus far, hasn't suggested I visit the store --which is good. However, I find it odd that a smuggler, that's introduced as being a character with style, can't have a different costume, nor even a different colored one. Did I miss something?

Everyone in a class gets the same starting gear, and there is not as yet a way to recolor any of your gear  (despite that request coming up again and again in the suggestions forum). There is also a strong thread for "Why can't we have these NPC outfits in game?"

As for not suggesting you visit the store, the constant presence of the Cartel Market icons on the main screen and on your inventory are a nudge in that direction, and the "you can't do that unless you buy the unlock in the Cartel Market" messages if you try to do something that straight-up f2p players can't do, like use the companion customization you get with your first companion, try to equip a piece of purple gear, join a flashpoint or warzone group, etc. are less subtle about it.

[Rust]

I gave TOR a shot, got up to Level 47 with it, but the more I played it, the more I felt like the game was really marketed wrong.

It's not a MMO at all. Outside Flashpoints and PVP, there's zero reason to group as even the Heroic Quests can be done solo if you save them for the very last thing you do on the Planet. It's a Single Player game with Multiplayer Components and would have been a RPG worthy of the ages if it had simply ditched the MMO trappings and allowed for another companion to join you.

Keep the PVP as a Multiplayer component and boom! You've got the recipe for the newest "Classic" RPG - a story in eight parts with unique decisions to be made in each of them.

But as an MMO? The story structure is nice, but that has to make things difficult for future content because our character class goes through a definitive arc and once that's done it can't be easy to "continue" the story. Customization options seem limited, but once you get into Orange Gear territory that opens up immensely.

I dunno. TOR was a good game, but I feel there's nothing there to justify anything beyond the initial purchase price. The fact F2P and even Premium are relegated to obvious "Second-Class Citizen" status also didn't endear me to it when it went F2P.

[Dollhouse]

Jumped in yesterday to hook up with some long-standing (from many years of CoH) friends who have landed there. We've been playing mostly TSW, but some of that crew are taking a time out waiting for more content. I tried to herd them back into Fallen Earth (real targeting, y'see...), but that was too hard a sell, I guess. 

It's not a bad game. Movement physics seem clunky and old-school, and the overall combat system is uninspired, but the writing and cutscenes/voice acting are good (really good if you've never seen TSW). The game captures the feel of the IP quite well. Not sure if I'm going to stick with it (playing TSW, FE, and Defiance...not a lot of gaming time left over for another game), but SWToR isn't the trainwreck some online reviews may have led people to believe.

[Shenku]

Just started playing this game again a week or so ago after a few month hiatus, and while it's fun, and I'm enjoying the story driven missions/quests, it's quickly becoming boring playing an MMO by myself... (Was never one for easily making new friends in new games, and the RL friends I started playing with don't seem to play anymore...)

So, is anyone still playing this, or better yet, still playing and on The Ebon Hawk server? Usually playing my (Currently Level 25) Jedi Shadow, named Midrala...

[damienray]

Still on Shadowlands here... anyone have a CoH guild established already ? Or maybe 2 others that want to join w/ Mamma & me to make a guild (hate that u need 4 to start).

[crayehal]

The Imperial guild on Harbinger is called Pentacle Coalition.  Join the CoH LJ channel at lv 1 if subbed, or at lvl 10 if f2p/preferred:  /cjoin cohlj
Then ask for an invite.  Hopefully, one of the overlords are on.  If not, send mail to Yamamaya and I will try to get in touch with someone who can invite.
If you are interested in Imperial side FPs and OPs on Harbinger, join the United channel:  /cjoin united

@damienray - I have 2 accnts, so if you need help making a guild on Shadow, I can hop over and make it with you.  But since I'm helping run a guild on Harbinger, I won't be able to play my Shadowland alts as much.  Are you Imp or Pub?

[srmalloy]

The Imperial guild on Harbinger is called Pentacle Coalition.  Join the CoH LJ channel at lv 1 if subbed, or at lvl 10 if f2p/preferred:  /cjoin cohlj
Then ask for an invite.  Hopefully, one of the overlords are on.  If not, send mail to Yamamaya and I will try to get in touch with someone who can invite.
If you are interested in Imperial side FPs and OPs on Harbinger, join the United channel:  /cjoin united

I'll make a note of this; all my characters are on Harbinger -- tilted from a balance of red/blue when I started a Gunslinger yesterday afternoon after getting the last of my characters off Tatooine in the double-XP flail. Tatooine must not be a popular world; I don't think I saw more than about 50 people per planetary instance for either 2XP weekend, while the fleets -- on the few times I went there -- were always over 150.

[Shenku]

I'll make a note of this; all my characters are on Harbinger -- tilted from a balance of red/blue when I started a Gunslinger yesterday afternoon after getting the last of my characters off Tatooine in the double-XP flail. Tatooine must not be a popular world; I don't think I saw more than about 50 people per planetary instance for either 2XP weekend, while the fleets -- on the few times I went there -- were always over 150.

I just got off Tatooine during the double-XP weekend myself on Ebon Hawk(it was fairly empty there as well, aside from a bunch of Imperials that were hanging around to gank the Republic side, which I unfortunately logged into on one day, and almost immediately died...), and I was so aggravated while I was doing all the missions there for several reasons(level falling behind because I don't pay for the priviledge to gain experience at a normal rate, constantly dying to mission bosses, exc....), but mostly I was peeved because right when I was going to leave, a mission contact appeared by the space port to inform me, "Yo Jedi, you ain't done here yet... Go. Hunt. Kill Sand People." The planet's a giant boring dust ball, of course people don't want to stay there.... I was literally like "Just let me leave already!  "

It's almost like the Independence Port of the Star Wars universe... The area is too big, there's nothing really important or interesting to see, there's a giant tentacled thing looking to grab and eat you and any other poor sap who comes along, contacts keep insisting that you have to go there, and there's lots of Freaks monsters and corporate thugs who want nothing better than to kill you just for being there... Wow, thinking about all that, it really is a lot like Independence Port, only without the water...

[Rust]

Tatooine has nothing on Hoth in terms of sheer, mind numbing grind.

Hoth was the world I realized "Just because you can add planets from the movies into the game doesn't mean you should."

[srmalloy]

Tatooine has nothing on Hoth in terms of sheer, mind numbing grind.

Hoth was the world I realized "Just because you can add planets from the movies into the game doesn't mean you should."

And, of course, just because you're running around on a world that's oppressively hot, that's no reason for you to give up your heavy black robes, or not run around on a planet that makes Siberian winters look balmy dressed in nothing but a cantina-dancer outfit...

[JRVthatsME]

I've been wondering lately if some of the stuff that existed in the pre-combat upgrade version of Star Wars Galaxies would work well in SWTOR. like if for example on planets if outside of the standard story & mission areas there was large open unpopulated space where there could be faction PvP and players could place buildings and even make their own cities like they could in SWG. being able to get a variety of ships and even decorate them inside would be nice. Mainly I've been thinking if an adjusted (to be compatible with SWTOR game mechanics) version of the SWG pre-CU skills http://www.swgcharacterbuilder.com/swg-cb.php could work alongside the character classes in SWTOR so that players could level up in their chosen class but could also learn other skills and abilities separately from their class so they could learn to use different weapons or a selection of non combat skills etc. Clearly there would be some kind of licensing issues with doing this but I think maybe these could work well in addition to the SWTOR content and it would be nice to see since the devoted SWG players did loose their game too just like us.

[JRVthatsME]

Faction swopping was something that Bioware had intended to have in SWTOR and perhaps it's just because i'm only recently started playing the game that this finally dawned on me but something like the alignment system from from City of heroes would actually work perfectly in the SWTOR setting. With a similar system in place a member of the republic could become a separatist, a separatist could join the sith empire, a member of the sith empire could become an outlaw (much like Han Solo did since he used to be an imperial pilot) and an outlaw could go straight and join the republic. The kind of alignment missions and faction missions that existed in CoH (but done in a star wars style) would fit in perfectly with Bioware's goal of putting story first in it's content as a way from players to change factions. I'd really appreciate it if someone from the CoH community who has membership in SWTOR could post this on the SWTOR suggestions since as a non member I am not permitted (which does suck to be honest).

[crayehal]

It also sucks if f2p spammers post their ads in the official forums en masse. 
I haven't heard of an unofficial forum for f2p folks like CO had.  It would be nice for f2ps to have their own forum. 
I will try to post your suggestion.

[JRVthatsME]

That's a good point and thanks. There is a forum on mmorpg for swtor that anyone can use too. http://www.mmorpg.com/gamelist.cfm/game/367/view/forums/forum/893/General-Discussion.html

[JRVthatsME]

This is what I came up with for an adaptation of the CoH alignment system for SWTOR.

I remember back what SWTOR was in development that things like falling to the dark side and being redeemed where meant to be part of the game. At present the alignment system is only for getting access to certain items depending on your light side or dark side rating. The faction swapping system that existed in City of Heroes could be adapted to SWTOR and would suit well with making a story out of how you came to join a different faction but would require a little expansion on the City of Heroes system to take the players light side or dark side rating and class into account. The way faction swapping worked in City of Heroes is that you had the 2 main factions which were Heroes and Villains, then you also had 2 hybrid sub-factions which were called vigilante and rogue. Sometimes when you defeat an enemy they would drop an item called a tip which could be used to get an alignment mission http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Alignment_Mission and depending on what you choose to do in the alignment mission you would receive a point of fame related to the faction the fits the choice you made. When you have earn 10 fame for the same faction through alignment missions you would then receive a tip item to start a morality mission http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Morality_Mission. Depending on what you choose to do in the morality mission you will either change faction to the one you have earned 10 fame in, or reaffirm your alignment with the faction you are already in and gain a buff that last for 1 week real time. Players could not go directly from being a hero to being a villain and if you were in one of those faction you would only get tip items to start missions that would give you the opportunity the become either a vigilante or a rogue. Vigilantes and rogues were able to go to both hero and villain areas and do missions in both, but certain missions that were specifically hero or villain faction only and when it came to joining supergroups (guilds) vigilantes could only join a hero supergroup and rogues could only join a villain supergroup.

Adjustments to make to this system that I think would make it better suit SWTOR are as follows.

1. Change the name of the alignment missions to tip missions and the name of the morality missions to loyalty mission since the primary  factions in SWTOR are about major societies in the galaxy and the light side/dark side rating is the players alignment.

2. Have three hybrid sub factions that are aligment based. Separatist (dark side), Deserter "those who leave to get away from the war and fighting" (Light side), outlaw (any). Players would only get tip mission items for separatist missions if they are at least tier 1 dark side and will only get tip mission items for deserter missions if they are at least tier 1 light side.

3. Choices made during tip missions and loyalty missions will also effect a characters light side/dark side rating.

4. Loyalty mission items for the empire faction will only drop if your character is dark side tier 3 or greater. Loyalty mission items for the republic faction will only drop if your character is light side tier 3 or greater. Loyalty mission items for the three hybrid sub factions will not have this restriction.

5. Classes that completely cross over to the opposing faction will count as being the equivalent class in that faction while a member of that faction for the purpose of content, story missions and equipment. i.e. A jedi knight who joind the empire would count as being a sith warrior.

6. The random loyalty missions a player can get will be class specific and also relevant to the hybrid sub faction you are joining/leaving and will provide the reason why the character changed factions. i.e. how it came about that a trooper deserted the republic army or how a smuggler was recruited to work as an imperial agent etc.

7. Players who are members of the republic or the empire can't get tip mission items for the opposing faction but players that are members of any of the three hybrid sub factions can get tip mission items for either major faction and either of the other two hybrid sub factions.

8. A player who is a member of a hybrid sub faction can't get access to any class story missions but can go to any empire or republic area and do the non class mission there. Members of the hybrid sub factions can also get spontaneously attacked by groups that either oppose  or prey upon those sub factions. i.e. local law enforcement may recognize an outlaw and attack, pirates may attack deserters and republic troops may attack separatist.

9. Separatist can only join empire guilds and deserters can only join republic guilds. Outlaws can create their own outlaw guilds which can act as either an ally or enemy to republic or empire guilds.

[srmalloy]

Faction swopping was something that Bioware had intended to have in SWTOR and perhaps it's just because i'm only recently started playing the game that this finally dawned on me but something like the alignment system from from City of heroes would actually work perfectly in the SWTOR setting. With a similar system in place a member of the republic could become a separatist, a separatist could join the sith empire, a member of the sith empire could become an outlaw (much like Han Solo did since he used to be an imperial pilot) and an outlaw could go straight and join the republic.

The alignment is only one aspect that has to be considered as part of the in-game mechanics of side-switching. Remember that each character winds up with five companions by the time they reach level cap, who have their own personalities and motivations. Take the Republic Trooper class; your class storyline has you chasing down members of the unit you worked with on Ord Mantell who defected to the Empire; how is Aric Jorgan (your first companion, and a Republic loyalist) going to react to your deciding to defect to the Empire as well? Or the Sith Warrior companion Malavai Quinn, who's an Imperial patriot, if you decide to go over to the Jedi? The issues of dealing with your companions and how to handle someone who changes sides while still having unfinished class storyline missions (the latter leading to a suggestion that it only be available to characters at the level cap, which seems overly restrictive), seem to be the primary stumbling blocks to implementing faction change.

[primeknight]

HI,

I just logged back in to the game and I'd like to join your guild.  (I didn't see the two individuals you mentioned online.)  Is there another way to contact you guys?

Also, 

I played in the beginning back before there were major changes to the trees, and my level 50 Focus speced Jedi Guardian is in need of setting up all his skills again.  Are there any good level 50 specs?  All I'm finding is level 55.

[srmalloy]

I played in the beginning back before there were major changes to the trees, and my level 50 Focus speced Jedi Guardian is in need of setting up all his skills again.  Are there any good level 50 specs?  All I'm finding is level 55.

Look on Youtube for SWTORDominance; he has a number of videos up that give builds for the various classes and specializations. The builds all go up to 55, but he presents them as a level-by-level plan (i.e., step by step choices), although within a given level in your primary tree you can juggle points arount if a particular item suits your play to get earlier. I've been using his builds for a while, and they're working pretty well for me, although I don't have anyone over 34 (or off Alderaan) yet -- except for the Operative who just hit Tatooine (and level 28) yesterday, they're all 30-34 and on or headed to Alderaan.

I still wish that weapon range hadn't been sacrificed on the altar of Game Balance in SWTOR; it feels wrong to have a Sniper who has a special ability to give all of her ranged attacks an extra five meters of range, giving her longest-ranged attacks a range of (@whee) thirty-five meters. At that range, with a scoped sniper rifle, she should be able to pick which freckle she hits on her target. It all seems kind of lame after my AR/NRG Blaster that I tricked out for "reach out and touch someone" -- with Boost Range, she could drop an LRM into a spawn from more than five times as far away as my Sniper can in SWTOR (and her Snipe could do almost as well). Hell, my Blaster could uncork Full Auto with Boost Range up and cover a cone twice as deep as the Sniper's best single-target range -- and the 'spray-and-pray' cone attack Agents get only has a 15-meter range. And that must be a really heavy flash grenade if my Operative can only throw it ten meters.

[Dollhouse]

Great point about ranges, srmalloy. "Sniping" in TOR is grotesquely mis-named. It's "slightly less point blank than everything else," really.

I wish there was a legitimate sniping option. I understand that it's generally been the case that "real" (as in shooter game style) sniping presented some technical problems for MMOs. The need for detailed position rendering out to even semi-realistic ranges is a big server load if it gets crowded, etc...  But I think those limitations are falling away (Defiance, an MMOTPS, has excellent sniping, even when it's crowded as hell), so it may be time for MMO devs to re-think this combat mode a bit.

[Night-Hawk07]

And that must be a really heavy flash grenade if my Operative can only throw it ten meters.

Heh, I was playing my Smuggler earlier trying to get him off Ord Mantell, and discovered the lack of range on the flash grenade. I might as well have been cracking a cascarones egg over the target's head.

[crayehal]

I just logged back in to the game and I'd like to join your guild.  (I didn't see the two individuals you mentioned online.)  Is there another way to contact you guys?

Which server?  There are guilds on Ebon Hawk (see pg 3 of the thread), Bergeren, Shadowlands and Harbinger.
I have characters on Shadowlands and Harbinger, but my main is on Harbinger.  On Shadowlands, Imperial side, join the dkdestined channel: (join at lvl 10 if f2p/preferred)
/cjoin dkdestined

If asked who your alt is, say you are a CoH refugee and that Voltez referred you.

On Harbinger, Imperial side, join cohlj:  (join at lvl 10 if f2p/preferred)
/cjoin cohlj

The Harbinger CoH guild isn't as active as the Shadowlands one.  To ask for an invite to the casual guild that I belong to, join gso:  (join at lvl 10 if f2p/preferred)
/cjoin gso

If you joined on the Imperial side, you can say that Rin referred you.  I'm not as active on the Jedi side, so they won't know me.

[primeknight]

Which server?  There are guilds on Ebon Hawk (see pg 3 of the thread), Bergeren, Shadowlands and Harbinger.
I have characters on Shadowlands and Harbinger, but my main is on Harbinger.  On Shadowlands, Imperial side, join the dkdestined channel: (join at lvl 10 if f2p/preferred)
/cjoin dkdestined

If asked who your alt is, say you are a CoH refugee and that Voltez referred you.

On Harbinger, Imperial side, join cohlj:  (join at lvl 10 if f2p/preferred)
/cjoin cohlj

The Harbinger CoH guild isn't as active as the Shadowlands one.  To ask for an invite to the casual guild that I belong to, join gso:  (join at lvl 10 if f2p/preferred)
/cjoin gso

If you joined on the Imperial side, you can say that Rin referred you.  I'm not as active on the Jedi side, so they won't know me.

I've got mainly lightside characters on The Harbinger.  And as of yet I've only reactivated my level 50 Jedi Guardian: Will'yem
I'm also just a free-to-play, preferred at the moment, and I foresee myself staying that way for the near future. 

I never joined a guild back in the day, so are guilds Republic or Empire only?  And is the Republic guild you mentioned the CoH one?

[primeknight]

On harbinger server the Republic Paragons welcome any former CoH players with open arms.

We have teamspeak 3 setup at jackiped.redirectme.net

We have a guild website up at http://republicparagons.guildlaunch.com

Website has a forum and the guild is also expanding into games like guild wars 2 and others can be added to the website should you have suggestions.

In game contact Zutharan or Hagimond republic side or Peregrin-noir and Gyrok imperial side.

If you hop on teamspeak someone will likely be on there to help you get added to the guild.

What is the code for whispering? Or contacting specific people.  (it's been way too long since I played)

[srmalloy]

What is the code for whispering? Or contacting specific people.  (it's been way too long since I played)

It's just "/w name [message]" -- like the CoH tell, but without the comma after the character name.

[crayehal]

  And is the Republic guild you mentioned the CoH one?

I'm primarily Imperial player, so none of the CoH guilds that I mentioned are Republic.  The only rep guild that I am in is the Great Jedi Order and they aren't CoH refugees.
Your best bet is to try Republic Paragons via teamspeak.  Teamspeak is free so if you can't find the contact, get on teamspeak, and introduce yourself.  If you don't have a mic, look at the names, then do a search of a name.  Typically, the name in teamspeak and the name in swtor are about the same.  Send tell:
/t name hello coh refugee looking for g invite

Good luck!

[primeknight]

What is this "teamspeak" you speak of.  Is it another program like ventrilo?

[Shenku]

What is this "teamspeak" you speak of.  Is it another program like ventrilo?

Pretty much, though I think Ventrilo has some features that Teamspeak doesn't have. For the most part, they're pretty similar though.