There are a few (very few) talent choices in WoW these days that are almost equally good... but again, that's *almost*, meaning the true min-maxers are always going to go for the one that gives them that 10 dps increase or 2% more survivability. And, like I said, there are so few of them I could count them on one hand. So overall, I think I agree with you: in an MMO, choice is always going to be an illusion, at least for those who aim to play at the highest level of content. If you're just messing around, you have a lot more leeway.

After reading how long OP's break was, I can't help but wonder if it's really just a case of culture shock more than anything. Four years is a *long* time to go not playing an MMO, even one as slow in the development department as SWTOR is. ETA: People are always complaining about the "dumbing down" of skill trees, and they seem to forget that all that choice was really just the *illusion* of choice. If you wanted to perform your best, you took X, Y, and Z skills. Period. Yes, even if you were going for a hybrid build. And I say this from experience: I played both WoW and SWTOR in the Before Times when they had those trees.

Early March and this bug still exists. :\ Considering how old the content is, I doubt we'll be seeing a fix any time soon.

So recently I rolled an alt Inquisitor just so I could see the romance between him and Khem Val. After playing through the base Inquisitor story to make sure I still had him, I then decided to skip straight to Jedi Under Siege (since I don't really care about this alt beyond Khem). Now, I know full well that starting Ossus will auto-complete all previous stories with the "default" choices. They warn you about that at least three times before you start. I accepted this. HOWEVER. It's extremely jarring to see my Light-aligned Inquisitor sitting at Light II, and yet he straight up murdered a ton of people, betrayed allies, and executed some of his companions for their transgressions rather than forgiving them. So my suggestion is this: Since we can set our alignment now, why not make it so default choices are based on that alignment choice, rather than our class? Since it's obvious that right now, the game assumes all Imperials are evil monsters and all Republics are pure as the driven snow, and that just isn't true.

For some reason several times when I've accessed the SWTOR website lately, it's been redirecting me to the European sites. The other day it was German, just now it was French. I actually had to get to the English forums via Google just so I could post this. I haven't changed anything, nor am I using a VPN. Anybody else getting this, or have any idea what's going on?

The BH is the one who removes Grand Chancellor Janarus from power, either by killing him or just forcing him to step down, thus leaving the seat open for Saresh. Not as impactful as killing the Emperor, maybe, but definitely still very important to the later overall story.

I definitely recommend playing through the Bounty Hunter story as well, since that one ends up having far-reaching consequences for the Republic.

I just said I just got through Rise of the Emperor, which comes after Shadow of Revan; it's the interval between SoR and KotFE, remember? My question is specifically about starting KotFE, not SoR, and the disjointed feeling of having to select each chapter individually.

I just got an alt of mine through Rise of the Emperor and got the mission "Prelude: Knights of the Fallen Empire", which told me to use the mission console on my ship. I did, assuming I'd pick up the mission for Chapter 1, but the only mission there was Day of Dread, for Oricon. With 5.0 and the new replayable chapters system, is picking the chapters manually from the Chapters menu now the only way to start KotFE (and KotET)? That sort of ruins the flow of the story, doesn't it, since it kicks you back out to your ship or the fleet every time you finish a chapter?

During the Trooper story quest "Public Relations", when visiting Port Raga, there is a bonus objective to kill "treacherous Republic forces". Trying to mouse over the marker to see how large the objective area is results in a CTD, every single time, whether I'm trying on the minimap or the main map. I say it's specific to this quest because I haven't run into another quest yet with a range indicator for me to test if the issue is game-wide for me. Edit: after further testing, the issue does seem to be game-wide for me. I just tried to mouse over the marker for the Taris story quest "Reclaiming What's Ours", and had the exact same crash.

The Nar Shaddaa heroic mission "Hunger of the Vrblthers" is currently bugged and almost unable to be completed. The first task is to loot various items from the vrblthers in the area, but looting them doesn't give credit for the quest. But since they're mission items, they can't be dropped to try again. I've tried resetting the mission three times without success. http://i.imgur.com/dpTQKcE.jpg In the screenshot I linked, you can see I have the Primary Coupling in my inventory, but the mission log still says I need to loot it from Alpha Vrblthers. Trying to loot it again just results in a "unique item limit reached" error. This also happened with the Battery Pack on my first attempt at the mission. I was finally able to complete the mission on my fourth try by killing mobs individually and looting the items as soon as I saw the yellow marker, before combat was even over. I don't know if that was the trick or if the mission just suddenly decided to work.

But where does everyone else fit into all this? The Imperial spies, the gunrunners, the Republic military, the Mandalorians? SWTOR isn't like KOTOR, which specifically told the story of a particular Force-user. SWTOR isn't about Jedi and Sith; SWTOR is about the galaxy as a whole, and how major players -- Force-sensitive and non-Force-sensitive alike -- shape it. Writing a story that focuses entirely on Jedi and Sith leaves everyone else without much to do but be extras and sidekicks. In addition, it seems to me like a big theme in SWTOR has always been how there's more to life, and the Force, than the simplicity of white and black, Light and Dark. There's a whoooole lot of gray involved, even if you happen to be playing the galaxy's noblest white knight Jedi or its most depraved Dark Lord.

I was one of those who wasn't pleased with a mandatory level sync at first, mostly because I assumed it would mean every mob on the planet would aggro me as I traveled to my destinations. But after playing for a few days and giving it a chance, I've noticed... well, basically no change at all. I'm still way more powerful than even elites, and not even champions have given me much trouble (part of that is in thanks to my companion, of course, but I digress). I still look cool because level sync doesn't suddenly make you appear like you're in starter gear. And, to be honest, as I'm questing around for my Alliance, I only really remember I'm synced when I glance down at my portrait. Even the aggro hasn't been bad. In fact, to my pleasant surprise, I've found level sync actually increases immersion for me... which I suspect is part of the point, since you're revisiting all these old planets; Bioware wants those revisits to mean something, as it were.

I have been dying for a Manaan stronghold ever since I first visited the planet. Please make it happen!

I believe this has something to do with all companions now being able to fulfill all roles and thus getting new vocalizations (such as previously dps-only companions now having healer-specific comments). The Imperial Agent companion Vector has been using comments from Kaliyo's library, and they seem to be specific to when he heals me. The specific ones that keep showing up are "You and me? We're getting good."; "Rise and shine."; and "Make me look good." I noticed when using Kaliyo on her companion quests that she uses the same comments when healing me. When he's just dpsing like normal, Vector uses his correct quotes.