What were the devs thinking??

Opinion, not fact, OP.
Companions do have unique backstories, how you didn't think of that as unique I don't know.

Your choices do actually matter, they just don't change battles or anything. They add more to your character's personal story.

Combat actually is heroic. You can charge into combat, attack foes with advanced attack strategies and powerful weapons. You can win battles, skirmishes, and duels alike, filled with incredible animations and intriguing abilities.

I won't presume to try and change your mind, but this is where I stand. The Devs said the game would be everything it is now, and that, my friend, is my opinion.

Completely disagree with almost every point made by the OP.

I understand the linearity. I understand why combat is the way it is, so we don't have Jedi one-slice-killing people left and right, and so other classes have a chance. I understand some of the time sinks and credit sinks. I like my companions in all of the stories so far, etc.

Unfortunately, it won't be everyone's cup of tea.

I fully support the idea of making the post-50 planets non-linear, and providing a lot more room for exploration and diverging from the "beaten path", but I totally understand the 1-50 game. I think they did a superb job.

SWTOR has introduced many unique aspects to the MMO world like, story, the legacy system, companions, and more. Unfortunately, the game has its many flaws that drag the game down to an extreme disappointment.

1. The story and planets are extremely linear

2. Even though the devs did say most choices you make matter, the fact is they dont.

3. Pointless quests and travel time kill the story

4. Lack of companion use

5. Combat is not heroic one bit

6. Finally, the game uses a lot of stallers

How can there be 1,000s on the dark council? 1,000s of Emp's wrath? It does NOT make sinse! Are the characters and players meant to be soooo dumb they don't see or know anything else but them and their companions in the whole universe? And before the "But your not meant to know everything about everyone else" kicks in, the answer to that is: I have a sorc and a Assassin AND a warrior and a Mar, so they don't know that each other is the same as them? Lol. The DC chambers must be the size of Cowboys stadium!

I wouldn't say that I'm extremely disappointed by the game. On the purest level, I enjoy playing. The combat is fun, I enjoy my character, and I like improving her: getting new armour, tweaking skills, and so on. I like the Warzones and Flashpoints a great deal. To me, the community takes away from them. I hate queuing up for Flashpoints and then having to do the "quick runs" where everyone speeders around all the enemies, skips bosses, and avoids the bonus stuff. However, I'm also just not really an MMO player and have come to terms with that.



This is MMO influence. BioWare has to make things relatively consistent to make sure the constantly living world isn't complete nonsense. You follow the track until you get to the end and everything's the same because there's someone right behind you doing the same thing. You can't really have an option to blow up an Imperial base because there's another leader of Havoc Squad coming to do the same thing and that would just be silly.



Some of the choices do matter. Finish the Trooper story and you'll see. Some of those choices are pretty intense, emotional, and have some effect on the end of the Trooper story.



More MMO influence. MMOs are almost purely built on time sinks, so BioWare added time sinks. MMOs operate on a subscription pay method, so MMO developers want you to take a long time to do anything. Part of the development process is to find the "sweet spot" between it taking the player a long time to do things and the point where the player is grinding too much. This doesn't exist in Mass Effect because it's a single purchase.



I agree.



I find the combat to be quite heroic. I can jump towards a rancor, throw a Sticky Grenade at him, and then Gut him. Pretty awesome.



MMO

The OP shouldn't be playing MMOs at all. You could copy and paste that post into the forums of virtually any MMO out there.