I'm just wondering if there's an agreed-upon "standard" transfer currency or item. I'm thinking along the lines of old-school Diablo II, where money was too inflated, so people traded in SoJ rings as a sort of "stand-in" currency item. If I purchased a large number of Cartel Coins, but I'm much more interested in purchasing top-tier items on the AH (GCN? I've been gone awhile...), what is the most efficient and dependable item to purchase from the Cartel that I can sell on the GCN or GTN or whatever it's called? I saw (and tried) experience boosts at about 49k/each, but I saw items listed at a much higher coin-to-credit ratio - however, I couldn't tell from seeing them if they actually sold at that rate...

Wow - you're AWESOME! I wish this forum had something like karma points I've been reading around in places, looking at other forum posts by other people asking similar questions - even read a very long and involved forum argument over Revan's class (and was probably going to settle on Sentinel; the reasoning that he built a droid is flimsy, but it seemed like the best compromise if otherwise unsure). But I kept coming back to this one, on my bookmarks bar, to see if someone answered, and had assumed it was buried. This is *extremely* helpful, and you've contributed nicely to a good chunk of my near-future spare time! Especially great is getting the pictures from TOR that I hadn't found before, and since I'm looking to wrap everything up into the neatest ball possible, consistency between my KOTOR looks and TOR's renderings will be great. The book advice is great, too, since I don't want to read a library, but would like to (a) get a big picture (Revan), (b ) get the backstory to TOR (Deceived), and © as a bonus, get more info about Vitiate, since he's both fascinating and so mysterious in TOR so far (Revan). So , sweet, I'm off to the races. KOTOR 1/2 on my laptop, books on Prime from Amazon, and TOR on my desktop. Now we'll see if my girlfriend sticks around for my nerdfest

Is there a newer version of this thread, did the issue get resolved, or did it finally get buried and die?

Half-true. He ran out of "voices" after that and was only "technically" alive, left in a deep slumber (IIRC). Canon says he's dead by 69BBY, around the start of Episode 1. His will and its effect certainly waned by that time. Still, considering the numerous wars and battles he "presided over," in some sense, and the amount of galaxy-changing and thoroughly canon-defining events and periods of his heavy influence, I don't see how anyone could make an argument that he isn't the most powerful Sith of all time. How are we defining "most powerful," anyways? Is it a measurement, like how far can they see with the force, how much can they lift with the force, how much of the force do they influence actively or passively, or is it "who would win in a fight"? Or are we trying to use a very generic form of subjective "power" as total influence, whereby a great enough fighter to take on an army "equals" a great enough sage to mind-control an army... Or are we getting more philosophical? No matter how you phrase it, if we're looking at the "big" or philosophical or equivalence-based measurements, then Vitiate, able to control such a massive sphere of influence (temporally and spatially), is undoubtedly the winner. If we ask who could win in a fight, I find it much less interesting - probably Caedus or the Exile... Or the Hero of Tython makes the most obvious sense at that point, probably. It seems silly to me that the fighters win the "powerful" idea because it sidesteps the notions of the power of charisma (e.g., political or other control) and the power of knowledge (e.g., sagacity or immortality). Vitiate oversees a dozen major wars over millenia, and some Jedi comes and stabs his last puppet in the eye... that Jedi doesn't get more power points in my book, regardless of how saber-flashy the stab was.

I would really appreciate some guidance from lore-knowledgeable fans in an endeavor I've decided to undertake. So after playing an underwhelming first chapter of the "canon" story (LS JK), I read up a bit on wookipedia about Revan, Vitiate, and Malgus. I realized, first, that this underwhelming story as it is so far, would eventually touch on or move through several topics I find very interesting; second, that, wow, I've forgotten a lot from the KOTOR games! Also, I forgot how much more interesting the Old Republic era is to me than any other in SW canon - so I want to explore it properly! So I proposed to myself a lore project. First, I want to play all three games in the most lore-friendly, canon, story-filling way possible. The question, then, is: What gender, role (warrior, consular, etc.), powers, main companions, etc., would be most appropriate for each game? If KOTOR2 isn't as covered by a canon storyline, I assume that a grey consular would mesh best with Kreia (she is one of my favorite video game characters, ever - I want to milk the most/best dialogue from her possible!). Yes, I'll be downloading the extra content mods to re-add subtracted content. But I need to know how to build my character and at least a few RP guidelines (when do I "fall," is Revan good before a certain story point, what are some main story branches that I need to take, what is my character like in canon, etc.). I don't mind basic spoilers for that purpose. Second, I need to fill out the story and background. I feel lost, often, in the sea of Old Republic information and setting. A book leading me into KOTOR with good background and setting would be hugely helpful, but I don't want to get caught reading a series. I hear the the book "Revan" bridges 1 & 2 very well - or is there something better for that? Finally, something tying 1, 2, and TOR (3) together, or bridging 2 and 3, would be helpful, as well. Perhaps even a last one wrapping it all up afterword, though I couldn't find a central book covering Vitiate. If I'm looking in the wrong direction, a "best of" list of a few important Old Republic era books. I can do it all in order with the games, too; I'm in no hurry. Third, what's the best "other" path in SWTOR, besides LS JK, to fill out the story, setting, and characters? I've heard that despite the poor storyline, the consular intersects a lot of setting characters - I'm thinking a Kreia-esque "philosopher-sage" force-wielder, a la a grey SI or JC, whichever is going to work better for the character idea (SI or JC for consistent and satisfying greyness?). Thanks so much for any help

I want a "wise" force-wielding "sage"-type character - someone like Kreia from KOTOR2. She strikes me as almost pure grey, taking into account the *whole* of the force, both Yin and Yang. But she's certainly Sith, if only by default (Sith being more amenable to bending dogma). Grey on the whole, though, seems to work more as LS Empire or DS Republic. So I figured LS SI for a Kreia-type character, and I heard that the female voice for SI is very good, too. Is this more fitting and more *satisfying* to play than a DS Consular? (I definitely like lightning over rocks) I want a "whole force," "own path," wisdom-based character who can play towards the greater good without being sucked into dogma or ego. Do either paths (Repub/Empire) offer this if played right? I wouldn't mind a sort of evil/dark bent (Kreia still fits, there), but I like the idea of really filling out the force sage idea.

Someone hasn't played the Imperial Agent storyline! In general, the complaints I'm reading here about LS/DS only working for one side (LS for repub, DS for empire) are only true for certain classes. LS SW, LS BH, DS JK (done smartly), and DS Smuggler all work... I really wanted to play a Kreia-esque Jedi Consular - one not bogged down by dogma and self-restrictions. But I think after reading this thread, I'll have to try a LS SI to get there :/

It's an *easy game*. That means that for "ease of leveling," the translation should simply be "speed of leveling." By far and away, my marksman sniper with Vector Hyllus (Melee DPS with ridiculous DPS when geared purple) can out-perform any other class/companion combo. I mow through a strong or two and a few trash mobs in probably 3-5 seconds. Despite the lack of heals, mobs die so fast (2 level above me at my level 40) that neither I nor Vector take damage. The "uptime/downtime" argument for companion healers has zero relevance since it seriously takes a couple seconds to heal us to full if we do take any damage, and I've timed the difference for taking on 15 mobs: with a healer companion out, I never rest, but 15 mobs takes almost 1.5x as long as keeping both me and the companion on full DPS. There's no reason to worry about AoE, either, when my ambush, snipes, followthrough, etc., generally take out trash mobs in one hit and strongs in 1-3 hits. Elites melt before Vector gets to half health, in less than one full rotation of my abilities. This game, for solo PvE, gives no reason to heal, aoe, or tank anything. Just burst through and keep moving - everything else is wasting time. And the between-fight heal-up is faster than in-fight healing, even if it seems annoying (and if you have to do it more than once every three or four fights, you're not doing enough DPS).

IA, hands down. JK and SW tie for second. The rest, meh. Trooper and Consular are outright awful. IA is so good that you'll want to play it twice, back to back. You'll get through the end of Chapter One, think "Holy crap, that's some good video game C&C," and be too curious to see how the different story branches differ to ever roll another class Fun, too, is taking the JK and SW and playing the reverse of the expected role (Honorable LS Sith Warrior / Renegade DS Jedi Knight).

I think when someone said "creating a storyline," what was meant was the whole process, not just the pencil-and-paper novelization of dialogue you seem to be envisioning. You could NOT singlehandedly handle the coding, voicing, questing, etc. This game cost $200 MILLION to make, across nearly a decade and many teams across several continents. They will not be going back to the drawing board. For boredom lulz, sure - I like your ideas Not trying to say you shouldn't get on the forums (ignore the trolls) and share your brainjuices, just don't say silly things like it would be easy - or even remotely feasible - to actually implement...

I did the IA storyline fully-dark and the JK storyline fully-light. Though they were very good, I felt a serious lack of satisfaction about riding on the "rails," like I was playing a linear story when there were actually other actions. So, of the healer classes (I want a PvE Healer char, preferably one with good early companions for the playstyle), which has the most satisfying reverse-alignment (or grey) "feel" to the storyline/dialogue? LS/Grey Inquisitor or DS/Grey Consular? I want my decisions to feel like they make sense and congruently affect the reactions, story, and dialogue in general. Bonus points if I can somehow pull off a "full force" (ie, true wisdom has both yin and yang) -style force user like Kreia from KOTOR II. Is it the DS/Grey Consular or the LS/Grey Inquisitor who will feel more like a fully-realized rebellion to the main story thread? I would love to be able to subvert either Council or really follow a divergent path.

So... yes.

Ah, that's more like I expected in an MMO forum. "My class sucks" "You think YOUR class sucks, my class DOUBLE-sucks." "Oh yeah? The devs came to my house personally and told me they hate my class and to stop playing."

Are any hybrid specs viable? Part pyro, part healer, maybe? Arsenal high enough for just basic tracer missile as an option (just not a one-hit-wonder)?

Awesome - perfectly what I needed to hear. Sounds like I'd much prefer the IA storyline, but equally prefer the BH playstyle, so I'll probably go BH, since more time is spent killing/collecting than in talking... But that really does sound awesome. My worry about the IA, from playing about eight levels, is the whole idea of cover + snipe for each trash enemy. My also-low-level BH just runs in, blows everything up, and keeps going. IA seems to suck against groups of trash mobs - does that change? I would also go sniper for the distance, probably leth or eng. But your "flavor" analysis was spot on. I love getting that kind of response on forums instead of pages of flames and arguing about devs screwing up balance, etc. ("Yeah, pick BH if you want a bunch of broken abilities and for devs to hate you cause you're a hybrid..."). Looks like I might like the community here, too