Thank you everyone for your responses. I figured I was SOL, but - as one person had mentioned - maybe I will try customer service, and hope and see what they can do.

ROFL. True, all of my emails from SWTOR are usually "sub by such-and-such and get so-and-so" ... or ... "here's your complimentary Cartel Coins" Still, I have room for more "brainless companions" Thanks, I guess I'll see.

Long story short: - Been subbed since 1/1/2012. - I just put one of my CCs on account, and forget I pay for a sub. - Been too busy with irl stuff for most of this year, so no time to play. - Logged in a little while ago, and discovered I am "Preferred" ...and I'm like "*** is this?" - Somehow, sometime in early Oct 2016, my CC expired. - Re-subbed earlier this month with renewed CC, but read that Shae Vizla is for subs active on Oct 25, 2016. I did get an email for the Shae Vizla companion, so I thought, "well cool, I've been subbed since forever, so that'll be a nice add for when that new expansion lands." But, I think this will be the first time I will miss out on a bonus. lol *smh* So, I'm out of that companion, right? No way to back-pay last month's sub, or some other way to get it, right? Heh... I guess my main beef is, why didn't SWTOR send me a "your sub expired," or a "we miss you, please come back" email to remind me to re-sub?

Sorry OP...what? ... Your point is ... moot now? 'cuz levels are technically irrelevant. ...And you are arguing about... what? Leveling up too quickly when you get level-sync'd down anyways?... Ooookkaayyyy...

This is true. I just recently did the Belsavis Dailys for the first time in like 2+ years, and it felt the same (difficulty-wise) as it did back then - when I was dec'd out in all the best gear at the time. It kind of made me nostalgic. lol

100% .. no 1,000,000-flipping-% agree with the OP!! The companions, being as strong as they may seem, make the level-syncing system tolerable. At first, before 4.0 launched, I was like..."what? why?" ... Now, I'm okay with this. In fact, this companion thing is one of the two saving graces of level-sync (and ofc homogenizing unique companions abilities -- i.e. HK-51). The other is my Heroic Moment on a 5 minute CD, and each HM ability being able to be fired off twice per HM CD. These two improvements have re-justified my faith in BW, and make me feeling a little sorry I had ever doubted them. To tell the truth, I was scared ****less about this update and that I'd be thrown off my bike every 2 f'n minutes by mobs that are technically 30 or so levels below me, but, so far, I haven't yet. More testing I will need to do in order to see if this holds true. But, so far, so good. What is also cool is being able to go through all the dialogue on all my comps on all my lvl 50+ characters. So, finishing off my legacy for those last companions that I just couldn't be arsed to affection up to the 9's with gifts / bribes, before now, is really helpful. I still miss my oldskool god-mode one-shot AoE death walks in the Tython park, however ... but, as long as BW doesn't nerf our companions and Heroic Moment, then I can live with it. All-in-all, I'm very pleased with 4.0, and the improvements it has brought so far!

While those are some good points, there are, however, some flaws in your arguments there. - "have good gear" ... Maybe, but your gear gets sync'd down, btw. To what extent we just don't know, so you really can't say for sure yet, now can you? - "less power gap between players in pvp servers" ... That implies it will magically solve OWPvP griefing. It won't. It'll still happen. If anything, it will likely exacerbate or encourage it; because, it won't seem like griefing 'cuz "level-sync hurr durr" .. and PvP kills will count across all levels for achievements then. As it is now, lowbie PvP kills don't count - thus making it pointless to grief (except for epeen derpness). - "wasting your time" ... My time is gonna feel wasted if I'm max level and level-sync is forced 100% down my throat all the time ... And, I need to go from point A to point B on a lowbie world, and I'm getting getting ****ed off my bike by every *********** mob and his cousins' pet hamster along the way.

Not exactly true: It's the end of god mode on lowbie planets. Right now, today, I can go to Tython and just walk on by some mobs... and, all of them around me, simultaneously, drop dead from my footsteps, flake apart and scatter in the wind. I am the God of Creation and the God of Death: the alpha and omega. And to the common rabble (the lowbies), I am known as Deus Ex Machina. Tomorrow, I will have my godhood bereft from me, and fall to the ground as a meager vassal of my former self: a peon, like the common folk -- cannon fodder to the mobs I had so enjoyed harassing. To be honest, feeling like God was the only reason for me to return to Tython at max level. I will never have that feeling again So, goodbye forever Tython.

Here's a downside: getting one-shotted while @ 60 - 65 by base defenders, on lowbie worlds. Especially, when this mechanic is misused to lure/pull/push hopeful PvPers of the opposite faction near an enemy base. Can you say "broken" or "griefing?"

Why? Because it's Free. It's the reason any of us drop 700K on mats to level Biochem on our mains. Plus another 100K each on the reusable stim and heal -- if we can't grind out the purples that is. That's a non-issue either way: we can do that already with just one biochem. Not true: it's the time and money not spent on re-crafting reusables that is the significant ROI in this case. That's right. Not having to remember to send comps out to craft while we are in PvP derps, or having to gather/buy the mats. It's convenient and extremely useful while doing dailies and grinding FPs. The only reason you need that extra "8% - 10%" better stats is maybe while doing OPs. ------- Honestly, I must've missed this change in the blogs. If this is true... just wow. As a high-level soloist player (as in soloing content, or doing things, that most players consider outright impossible), level-syncing alone was going to be a hard enough pill to swallow as it is .. but now this... a loss of a QoL for no good godsdamned reason? ...just wow. With the kinds of vast swaths of changes coming -- not all of them as I see as desirable or pleasant -- I'm starting to think there might be some truth in what the CU/NGE panic-button-pushing tinfoil-hat naysayers are saying. If the total costs from this 4.0 patch out-weigh its perceived benefits ... I might have to reconsider some things. To tell the truth... for the past few months now, I've been deliberating which MMO I'd be looking to cancel my sub on -- as I just don't have the time for all that anymore. Honestly, SWTOR had never made that list ... until now. Once 4.0 hits, time will tell how I make my decision.

Never heard of a tunnel diode? I know... It's old tech, but yeah... So you have a build using a Zalman heatsink cooler? I had a build with that too. Had the same temps as yours and a bit on the OC side... Stable and all that -- just like yours. It took me about a month to get the OC just right ... And lasted me about 2 years before it started to suffer from gradual degradation of stability -- due to electromigration from heat, and tunnelling on near PN junctions. The next build I made, I used liquid, and has been running well for over 3.5 years now. As with my current build. I've not looked back since: liquid made me a believer in stability and longevity.

Did the joke escape you? lol ... I don't advocate or suggested running without cooling. The video links I posted are to demonstrate the kinds of crazy temperatures CPUs are capable of producing, and highlighting the importance of proper cooling. So, you are cool with dropping hundreds of bucks on a shiny new CPU, but skimping out on legit cooling ... only to have it throttle itself down during your intense gaming moments? ... mm'kaaaayyy... The 9590 is, for example. Many (esp. in the overclocking community) lament on the 9590 as being little more a repackaged OC'd 8350. Stability issues arise on its 5GHz turbo mode, for example: it's a specified speed, but unstable. So, overclocking methodology is needed to run at its full advertised capacity.

Not sure if trolling or not getting how MTTF (mean time to failure) works. At around 70°C+ is the ceiling temperature of modern CPUs. When they get that hot, unless you intentionally disabled the feature somehow, the computer shuts down to prevent damage due to thermal expansion of doped PN junctions and electromigration. But before that, depending on your setup (and again unless you disable the feature), at around the mid 50s, the BIOS throttles down the CPU speed, and may, in some configurations, shut off some cores to mitigate poor heat dissipation. The AMD FX processors run hot. This is true. Some of the FX-series chips are factory OC'd by default. It is also true that some of the 9000-series chips come shipped with a liquid cooler. Liquid cooling is the most efficient means of cooling that is widely available on the market. My 9590 did not ship with any cooler, as I didn't opt for it; because, I was going with the biggest OTT AIO liquid cooler money can buy. While you may feel comfortable running your CPUs hot, reducing their MTTF, and having to swap them out much sooner than if you ran them at a normal/cooler temp, I prefer not to. And, instead, prefer to invest on the cooling, keep my CPUs running as cool as possible, and lasting as long as possible. Bottom-line: The last thing you want is quantum tunneling (or a similar effect) in the reverse direction of semiconductor material that is supposed to only allow current to flow one way (think blown piston rings) ... 'cuz you cheaped out on the cooling. The important take-away here: The FX-series CPUs are performance and enthusiast chips. They are marketed as such, and sold as such. They are like your twin-turbo'd engines running 23lbs of boost on race fuel. ...And, if you don't keep that **** as cool as possible and the timing just right in your tune, you risk detonation. Here's some fun videos to show you why I like liquid cooling... And for some delicious recipes that you can try with your computer... And to be fair... Yum... Tasty. -------- Back to the OP... While stock CPU heatsinks are quite viable for computer activities such as web-browsing, facebooking and watching DVDs. they fall short for anything performance-related (i.e. gaming). If you are going with a 3.5GHz - 3.6GHz CPU, I'd highly recommend going with an entry-level to low-mid-range AIO liquid cooling solution. In my experience, for anything above 3.2GHz, it's the best solution for a number of reasons: 1) It's about the same money that you would need to shell out for a proper heatsink/fan air cooler. 2) It runs quieter. 3) it won't cause your computer to throttle your speed down when you're on heavy load. 4) the torsional weight of the liquid cooler's pad is much less than an air cooler's - which will reduce the risk of warping your mobo due to the uneven stresses.

Stock cooler?!... on an AMD FX... wut? ... Hey man... Can I have some of what you are smoking? ... I think my eyes are still a bit too white. lel Especially on an AMD FX ..you absolutely NEED liquid. Air is absolute **** and will burn out your CPU at anything past 3.2GHz. I have the biggest baddest frickin car-grade radiator in my computer, and the CPU can still get a bit on the warm side (like mid-30s). No matter what, never let an AMD FX CPU get hotter than 38 deg. Celsius. Also, if you ever see the package temp run close to 55, you are doing it wrong.

My newest rig is an AMD FX9590 4.8GHz (OC'd by a mere 100MHz --- still trying to OC beyond 5GHz) 8-core power hog on an ASRock 990FX mobo w/ 16GBs DDR3 @ 2400. GPU is a $150 okay-tier Gigabyte NVidia w/ 1GB DDR5. P/S is a 760W platinum Corsair. Of coarse the cooling on the CPU is an over-the-top liquid cooling AIO solution to keep it chill (Corsair on that too) ... But I did cheap out on the case (whatever could fit in a 4U rack space). Price all in: $1500. But... it was never meant to play games -- just to run **** really ****in' fast. So, to play SWTOR, I have to clock the DDR3 down to a meh-tier 1866. All settings to max... no issues, and looks great. The funny thing tho is... on my 3-year old WinXP game rig with an I5 3GHz meh-tier and 4GBs of ram and an ATI Radeon w/e the f*** GPU, it's just as good on a bigger screen on the wall @ 720P. LOL ...Again, no issues,. So, for running this game... w/e you want to get out of it will depend on what you invest, but it really doesn't matter : meh-tier h/w will get you quite far -- especially if you build your own, and steer clear of ****ty bloatware.