Okay, I've been gone from SWTOR for about two years, and when I quit, the Legacy thing had just started so I never learned a whole lot about it. I looked it over and saw that you can make all your alts related or something, same last name ? How does that work and do you have to have the last name visible ? Is the last name the same as the legacy name ? Basically, I just need a down and dirty run through of what Legacy does for my characters in the practical sense. The tutorial on it really didn't cover a whole lot of the nitty gritty info I'm looking for. Any advice or help to flesh the legacy thing out would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

Welcome back! The "Story and Lore" forum isn't really the best place to get answers to a game-mechanics question, but I'll take a crack at it to see if it helps you:

 

The first time you get a character on any particular server to a certain point in the Story (I believe the end of their "Prologue") you'll gain access to the Legacy tab and be prompted to create a "Legacy Name". So, for example, you make a Sith Inquisitor named Dominicus, get him past the Dromund Kaas Class Missions, and will then be able to make the "Saxon" Legacy.

 

From that point on, every character of yours on that server, including both existing ones you had already created before you chose the "Saxon" name and any new characters you create going forward, will be part of the Saxon Legacy.

 

Under the Legacy Tab (for any characters, even those who haven't yet finished their Prologue) you will then be able to unlock all sorts of bonuses. Some you can unlock through certain achievements (for example reaching Dark Side V and Level 50 on a single character will unlock the "Sacrifice" ability for all characters in the Legacy) and others by purchasing them with Credits or Cartel Coins. Some of these unlocks are "Character Perks", that only apply to the current character you are unlocking them for (such as the XP boosts), but the rest are unlocked for all characters in your Legacy (such as getting a mailbox on your starship).

 

By default (I believe, although you may have to toggle it "On") the Legacy name will display as a surname for all your characters. So "Dominicus" will then display as "Dominicus Saxon" and if you create a new Jedi Knight character named "Anglo" he will start right from level one as "Anglo Saxon".

 

There is an option, either on your Character Sheet (press "C" and click the little icon right next to your character name) or under the Preferences Options (press "Esc" and I believe it's under "Nameplates" section from the "Preferences" -> "Social" options), to toggle "Off" the Legacy surname for any particular character (So "Domincus Saxon" can go back to being "Dominicus" if you want, without affecting how the name is displayed on "Anglo Saxon" and vice-versa.)

 

Having the Legacy surname toggled on or off doesn't limit your ability to display other "Titles" you've unlocked, so once he's unlocked the "Lord" title, your Dominicus character can be either "Lord Dominicus" or "Lord Domincius Saxon", whichever you prefer.

 

Through your Character Sheet name options, you can also chose a "Legacy Title" to display (these are unlocked across the whole Legacy, Anglo unlocking one of these titles makes it available to Dominicus, etc), and one of the options will be your legacy name as "The Saxon Legacy". Displaying your Legacy name that way is mutually exclusive with other Legacy Titles you can unlock through Achievements and Reputation grinding. So you have to chose between:

Lord Dominicus

The Saxon Legacy

-or-

Lord Dominicus

Hero of Section X

 

The "Family Tree" option under the Legacy Tab has no influence on anything in the game, it's just a little thing you can throw together for you own amusement to sketch out how your different characters are connected, if at all (including things like "Rival" or "Ally" so not just "Sibling" or "Child").

 

Hope that helps.

See, that's what I get for clicking the arrow RIGHT NEXT to the General Discussion tab ... sorry this went into the wrong forum. I've re-posted it in General Discussion and put DarthDymond's reply there as well. Dymond, you have a ton of great information and I appreciate it. It really cleared things up for me. If it helped me, I'm sure it will help other new players too.

 

Anglo Saxon, that made me laugh out loud here in my office ... now the boss is whispering to security. Wonder what that's all about ...