Returning Sin' coming back and trying to gauge if I still want to play my character or keep with my BH (which I'm enjoying). One thing I didn't really like was my Sin's dependance on Maul. Is it still like that (I'm planning on speccing to Deception) at end game?

I'm just returning also with a lvl 36 Assassin and man do I feel lost. My goal when starting out was to try a melee class since I've always been ranged guy in previous MMOs. Is the Assassin as viable in PVE as say, a Maurader? I've heard conflicting opinions about both. Also, I was previously heading up the Madness tree but would like to try Deception since it seems to offer a bit more burst and doesn't require as much management. Can someone point me a link to a good Deception spec? And what's up with the free gear exactly? When I logged in I noticed I had Cartel coins and all that. Not sure about much else. Any basic level info people can throw my way would be super helpful. Thanks in advance,

The game never really "came to" anything. It was designed this way from the very beginning. Which, as many of us are finding out, was the problem to begin with. IMO, Bioware's strategy was just flawed from the get go. Instead of creating an MMO with some unique features, or doing something more ambitious, they set out to slightly improve all the little things we'd come to know from MMO's (i.e. WoW). Voice acting replaces text. Choreographed combat replaces wildly swinging/shooting. While all that was fine and dandy, it's the things like the Legacy system that are just blatant, shiny object-type distractions that, once their novelty wears off (in about 10 minutes) leaves you with the same old things we've been accustomed to. I was one of the staunch Bioware supporters early in the game and during development that rebutted people's "It's WoW with sabers" argument by pointing out that there are universal elements of an MMO that transcend games and genres (EQ had many similar things that WoW had, that Guild Wars had, etc.). But it's become clear after playing for six months now that this game, is just OLD. It feels old. It looks old. It plays old. And the smaller things they've done to make us forget that it's old just haven't done the trick. At least not for me.

Of course an MMO should have content. I think that's pretty price-of-entry for any game that takes 5+ years to develop. I've just always played MMO's because they have a little bit of depth beyond themepark-based content. Or at least, they should.

The game is absolutely devoid of any social aspects IMO. Again, this is something, despite the combat mechanics and other bugs, that SWG absolutely crushed. Go into a cantina, and there were 50 random people chatting, talking, etc. That's what I loved about SWG. It never felt like a "game" to me so much as an experience. This game, like WoW, is very much the opposite. It's all shiny objects and other distractions, but they never work (or last) to make me forget that I'm playing a game. SWG was like an alternate reality. IMO, that's what a good MMO should be. SWTOR at this point is just a decent single player game with other people around.

This. And there's basically no disputing it IMO. Everything about this game feels old. The model is just one we've all grown tired of. Sure, the story and all that are intriguing, but it only sugar coats what are some real fundamental issues with the game. People can bash SWG all they want. It certainly had its problems. But you can't say the game wasn't ambitious as hell. I feel like SWTOR is on the other end of the spectrum. They just played it too safe and expected that massive play zones (planets), dialogue and a couple of other shiny objects (legacy system) would distract everyone from what we already know ---- that this game is WoW with sabers.

The other spec I was thinking (sans recirc) was this: http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#200McMcZhZfrcRr0krc.1 Just because I'd love to have force speed available more often.

Why would lowering the cooldown be useless? Seems like you could get off more discharges that way. Boy, that sounded dirty.

I just got to Nar Shadda at level 23. I did pretty much every quest on Balmorra which got me there.

Greetings, I recently started leveling up the madness tree and really enjoy the diversity I get from the playstyle. However, I'm wondering what endgame madness hybrid spec would be best for mostly operations/flashpoints (don't pvp that much), etc? I've seen the 0/13/28 spec on SithWarrior.com that most allude to these days. But it seems a bit odd that no points are in thrashing blades. Or even Charge Mastery for that matter. I was thinking something along this spec might work. Thoughts? http://www.torhead.com/skill-calc#200Mc0zZhMMZcrcRrMkrc.1

Either that or weather effects, too. Although, I'm not sure if those are in.

True. There's definitely room for improvement. I think like someone else pointed out, that the environments could use a bit more subtleties to add some immersion. I thought I read a preview about a month or so ago that said there were small conversations taking place between NPC's that they really liked? Either way, something like that would be nice.

Good way of putting things, IMO. http://www.10percentnerd.com/reviews/item/1211-review-star-wars-the-old-republic