As I've had difficulty posting on other, older threads about this subject I decided to write my own.
Switching between advanced classes is an interesting option that could be available to players in SWTOR. Unlike other MMO's where classes have completely separate story lines, in SWTOR an Advanced Class is mostly for combat play style and has no or little effect on the story line. Choosing a Sith Warrior: Juggernaut for instance still plays the same Sith Warrior story line as a Sith Warrior: Marauder. As the Advanced Class is mostly an aesthetic choice in relation to the story, along the lines of but more fundamental than gear, changing the Advanced Class later in the game should be an option.
As previously mentioned, an Advanced Class does not change the story line for the Base Class. Playing my Sith Warrior as either a Marauder or Juggernaut is identical in regards to cut scenes and story line. I would in fact love to see my Marauder pull both light-sabers during cut scenes but in most cases he only pulls one light-saber, exactly the same as for the Juggernaut and triggering no different conversation options (that I've seen) than the alternate Advanced Class.
Since it is now possible to change a characters race it is not inherently much more difficult to change an Advanced Class. Some basic things that could happen upon confirming the change is that all of a characters gear would be removed into their inventory, their talents would all be refunded as 2 of the 3 talent trees would change and perhaps the player would get a free piece of gear. For instance, upon changing my Juggernaut into a Marauder I would get a free, level appropriate light-saber for my off-hand as I can now dual wield. Even without the free piece of gear (not so free as its cost could be wrapped up with the cost of the Advanced Class change), leaving all of the gear issues to the player, changing the Advanced Class would still be a rewarding experience as the player gets to experience a slightly new play style without losing levels or story line.
Many people, including myself, take at least 10 levels or more to determine if they like the play style of a given Advanced Class. A casual player, as most are, could spend two weeks trying out a Sith Warrior: Marauder before deciding that they would happily pay some Cartel Coins to switch to a Juggernaut. Spending two weeks on a character, only to have to spend another two weeks working on the same Base Class with a different Advanced Class to get to the same point in the story line, repeating the same quests, can be very tedious and lead a busy person to switch Base Classes or take a break from the game and possibly return at a later date.
For those who dislike the idea of players being able to change their Advanced Class the issue becomes rather personal. Most dislike the idea because of players that play their current Advanced Class poorly in Group Play and expect the same player to do even more poorly upon switching Advanced Classes. Unfortunately or fortunately there is only one way to test this and that is to enable the option and see what happens. It is entirely likely that players who want to switch Advanced Classes are playing poorly because they are not happy and when they switch and (sticking with the Sith Warrior analogy) get to pop out their new second light-saber or switch to a single saber and don heavy armor they become excited and play better because they are having fun.
All of these reasons are good reasons to enable this option for players and while there are those who a very opposed to the idea, they of course don't have to use it. For those excited by this idea, as I am, I think I speak for most of us in hoping that this option is available soon and that frankly it doesn't cost too much on the Cartel Market.
