Chat placement and movies make for unsocial play.

*isn't sure if serious*
You like... click on it, and drag it to a different location... o.O

Again, see the original post. I'm speaking about the DEFAULT position. Not where I could change it to.

The DEFAULT position is not conducive to easy chat. It's literally the worst place you can put a chat window.

Just because I can move mine doesn't help the fact that other people have it at the DEFAULT position. So, the socialization suffers because of this.

You're sure right about the movies. I jokingly refer to SWTOR as "that game where no one talks to each other." Guild chat has never been so quiet because everyone is so busy watching their interactive tele (aka cutscenes), though I imagine this will all change when we get to 50 and there's no more cutscenes outside of flashpoints.

Send a tell. It makes a noise...

I do hear you though... My friends and I blast long messages at each other at times when we get on to get the person online's attention... Not kidding, we'll send each other...

"Hey, I am online now.............................................
.................................................. ..........................
.................................................. ...........................
.................................................. ..........................
.................................................. ..........................
Ley's go kill Jedi.............................................. ......."

When your whole text box fills up with pink dots, it gets your attention even in cinematics...

Chat isn't under utilized. I see folks chatting inanely on general chat all the time. I use chat to answer questions or to look for groups. While I agree that I turn chat off unless I'm grouped, that is a personal choice. It helps with immersion. Moving the chat window a round won't help. Lots of folks seem to be doing the same thing. There is absolutely nothing wrong with that. People have the freedom to chat or not.

Indeed. This is the core problem, yeah? The fact that you have to mega spam your friends to get their attention is a real problem. And, they accept that because they are your friends. Doing that to a stranger is pretty much unacceptable.

Do the movies pause while you're typing a chat message? I haven't checked yet.

OK OK, quibbles aside, I generally agree with the OP anyway.

SWTOR seems to be designed in a way where player communication took a backseat to single player gameplay. And I HATE the lack of UI customization.

A list of antisocial features?

Class Quests
Spoken Dialogue
SHARDS
Poor UI customization + no macros + no mods = a lot less ways players can custom tune their communication.

Heheh, I've made a LOT less friends in SWTOR than I have in other MMOs because of the above.

Now THAT was rude... :P

Nope, and if you miss something, you have to hit 'esc' and start over from scratch and since this is a story driven MMO, it's easier to just minimize chat.

The window goes dark without activity, and lights up when there's activity. Differently colours highlight different types of information (chat vs item pickups vs whatever).

THAT'S what makes the window a functioning chat system. It's placement on the screen has little or nothing to do with it. It's the fact that its in your peripheral vision and changes. The human eye is drawn to movement/change. Not position.