No not at all! Whenever you click / press an ability your character automatically stands up and performs the ability, it is no different from standing except you are immobile ( if you move, you lose cover ).

Agreed

Yes, you'll stick your nose out while casting, channeling, and performing abilities, it is just as effective and grants the same defensive buffs.

To lay it out simply... Gunslingers have the superior DPS by far, and can put out extreme amounts of damage if played right, sadly they lack a lot of mobility. Scoundrels, which have a stealth mechanism, are mobile and very good at burst DPS. The Scoundrel class, if played right, can stun lock their opponent and put out crazy bust DPS, killing the target ASAP. Sadly, however, they lack the sustainable DPS of a Gunslinger.

Cover is not hard to use at all! As a Gunslinger or Sniper (Heavy Cover Usage), you can simply deploy your portable cover screen by pressing the "F" key. If targeting an enemy, green silhouettes may appear, prompting a roll into cover with the "F" key. If you don't want to roll into cover, you can simply press "Shift + F" to go into cover where ever you are standing. The Gunslinger has three different builds to choose from, Sharpshooter - Heavy Cover usage. Most abilities in the rotation require cover usage. Saboteur - Medium Cover usage. Some abilities use cover but there are a few exceptions that provide mobility. Dirty Fighting - Small Cover usage. Barely any abilities will require cover, but it is still a necessary element. As a Scoundrel or Operative (No Cover Usage), your relevant abilities will not require cover as you are standing almost all the time. No matter what build you play, cover will not be necessary as you have no deployable cover and must roll into the environment with the "F" key.

I agree. It would be nice to be able to view my fellow level 50 guild members duke it out on a flash point or operation.

I'm sorry to hear about how much people don't enjoy the smuggler. I just recently got my smuggler (also my first character) to level 50 and I loved everything. I loved all of the witty one liners and how my gunslinger could put out more damage than Darth Vader on Kashyyyk (Force Unleashed Reference). I loved the Han Solo story arc and I felt the companions were perfect. I hope you can find a class you like and stop badmouthing the one I personally love.

Thank you for the input and update, I have filed a complaint with torhead.

EDIT: THIS INFORMATION IS FALSE!!! I HAVE LEFT IT FOR HISTORICAL REFERENCE PURPOSES For all smugglers who want a second pistol to dual wield or need to reacquire the A-300 Heavy Sonic Needler, According to: http://www.torhead.com/item/bCTZ4OQ/a-300-heavy-sonic-needler#. The A-300 Heavy Sonic Needler is available as a smuggler reward for the [HEROIC 4] The Mandalorian Terror quest available on Balmorra. I've seen this as a reoccuring problem around the smuggler world and would like to address it upfront. If the information from the above website is false, please confirm, post on this thread, and file a complaint with torhead, thank you. -- Major details colored in RED. Have fun!

EDIT: Nevermind, after running a thread i have learned that the information previously written here was false.

The story for the smuggler expands with companion conversations. Try raising your affection with companions and engaging in conversation to learn the story of that companion. Also, romancing a character is always fun and entertaining. I paid more attention to my romancing story that i did the actual storyline. You can find out which characters are romance-capable in the companions section of the holonet. -- Major details are colored in RED. Have fun!

Your reward for chapter two is hidden. After you complete chapter two you now have the ability to max out your affection with most of your companions and be able to engage in all of their conversations. I know i had raised my companions affection to about 7000 without any conversation options until i finished chapter two, then through conversation i was able to gain that last 3000 affection, also the conversations (when many are done at once) give you massive amounts of experience. I'm guessing that you don't worry much about affection for companions or that your affection is not over 3000. My advice would be to go invest 50,000+ creds in companion gifts like i did to raise their affection so conversations become available. This basically is the chapter two reward as you can get many many experience points if you do many conversations at once. You can find out which companion gifts please certain characters the best in the companion section of the holonet. -- Major details are colored in RED. Have Fun!

The only way to change the color of any armor is by the unify colors option in the customization menu for your character, and that only changes colors to match your chestpiece, otherwise no, there is no way to manually change item color.