Did you do the boni included in many quests (destroying or finding items, kill mobs, etc.). They give a lot of XP. I was always ahead of the recommended level. I even started to leave quests intentionally after Alderaan as soon as I finished the Classquests on each planet (except I needed additional commendations).

I think, I would rather rate different parts of the story than the whole as one. Korriban and the first Chapter (except the end) were very weak. I had a few ***-moments where I couldn't believe what just happened, including the situation where the SI gets his lightsaber I leveled with a friend and somewhere after Alderaan he started to mock me because I had to get a relic on every single planet! But after all, hes jealous of me because of the end of the SI-Story...

Do you get off your speeder before starting quest-conversations? If you start it while being mounted, the companion does not participate, ergo no affection.

Apart from your argument, I noticed that the SI earns much less DS points than the SW. A good friend and I play a SI (me) and a SW (him) parallel. We both choose DS options when offered because frankly, weak scum doesn't deserve to live We are lvl 38 at the end of Taris. I think the SW reached Dark IV already on Alderaan, while my SI didn't even reach 6k DS points yet (6750 are required for Dark IV). Of course it is just some sort of title-thingy, but nevertheless I wonder...