Drat.

I think the passion so many people have had for this game they created for so many years contradicts you adequately. Even were this game to devolve into something completely different than it began as (see the Combat Upgrade in SWG), it wouldn't make sense to say they failed to do it.

You could post them here as a start. If there's somewhere better to discuss it we'll point you in the right direction!

Romance conversations progress based on how far you are in your class story, and how high your influence is with the companion (at least influence used to be a factor). She may just not be "ready" yet. Trek about the galaxy some more with her and you'll start to see the options appear.

I've played since the game's original launch, with a couple of breaks, and I've never felt the community was poisonous. I don't spend much time on the forums, admittedly, but I can't imagine what you're talking about here.

My Consular had been a Sage healer since launch. Recently (less than a month ago), I switched him to DPS. On the server I'm on (Jung Ma) finding groups to heal is painfully slow or impossible, at least at the hours that I play, and while it's *completely* doable to PvE as a healer and have your companion do all the heavy lifting, it's much, much slower. I miss being an awesome healer, but I don't miss spending twice as long to dispatch a group of enemies alone because of it.