Swtor is becoming a fashion show

Looks and nothing else? I dont think so.

Yes, theres looks for all of those who care, but theres pretty much else aswell. End game operations are still where its at.

This, very much so. One of the main things that kept me playing that game (although there were many reasons), was that if I could come up with a concept for a character, I could pretty much make it. I made a better version of one of my D&D characters in that game than I've ever been able to in any fantasy MMO. I made an X-Wing pilot, Jedi knight, and Luke in a "blast shield down" outfit that all looked better than anything I've been able to make here. I had robots, an ape police officer, a plant man, a demon, a mime, and so much more. I had servers full of characters that I never actually played, but that I just had to make when I got the idea (when you make a gun-toting jester and call him the Pun-isher you just know he's going to get generic'd the instant you get him out into public). Heck, just the other day i was a little saddened because I came up with an idea (Peter Parkour) that will never see the light of day, and this morning a friend e-mailed me saying he wished CoH was still around so he could make Tony Starch, Ironing Man.

I don't know how I'd feel about customization in this game if I'd never played CoH. There are games that are worse (looking at you, Neverwinter), but most of what they do here could be done so much better.

Stop harassing me!

Remember the Rainbow Troopers? Purple Gloves, Red Leggings Green boots..... The Grand Army of the Republic never looked so Nauseating......

Nothing makes me not want to play a character more than crappy looking gear. Yes my stats are awesome but the game don't work too well in first person view. Personally I like this "character sandboxing" I can make my toons look perfect for their roll and it inspires me to play more. There are also some really interesting looks that others have tome up with. I especially like the Marvel Themed Characters.

JG to whoever created the Hulk/Juggernaut.

I think you mean barehanded fighting, scoundrel scrapper, fat Miraluka wearing nothing but purple pants and covert armor, spamming "seething with rage" between fights.

Everybody wants to look awsome and make others jealous. Because often it's hard or impossible in the real life for many of us

The original reason for the visual progression thing was strictly technologically based. There were only a few possible "looks" per type of armor because of the limitations of hardware and bandwidth.

And like everything else MMO, it was in Everquest so it ended up in every other game.

Fixed it for you.

Star Wars has always been about looks.
SWTOR has always been a fashion show.

I mean... other than WoW dressed up in nice 2005ish graphics (rather than 1999ish for WoW), nice Star Wars visuals, nice Star Wars stories, and all that - what is this game?

Well, the visual progression model was common in most MMOs up to about 2 years ago or so when it started to wain as casuals began to dominate the market from what I have seen. F2P really came into it's own about the same time.

In my experience, there are certain things that casuals care and do not care about. This is not a complete list, just a few items I have become aware of...

Casuals care about

Appearance
QoL features
Convenience
Animations
Sound
Story content
Events
RP support
Alternate game progression and play features
F2P and markets
Achievements
Housing and decoration
Crafting
Pets, vehicles, etc.

Casuals generally do not care about

PVP
Ranked play of any kind
Endgame content
Gear (other than appearance or convenience)
Min/Max
Visual progression
Balance

I think we will see more focus on the former and less on the latter as time marches forward and traditional hardcore players leave the market for greener pastures. Note that the "generally do not care" list does not mean that those are things that casuals oppose, only that those things are not of high priority compared to the prior list.