Well, they could of realized ahead of time that certain servers would draw more of one faction than the other. You have to expect that a server called something like "Darth Malak" will end up with a much larger Empire/Sith population, while Republic/Jedi players will be attracted to servers with like Jedi Covenant, or Wall of Light. While there may always be a bit of an imbalance of more empire than republic players, I think the imbalances are made worse by having server names that appeal to a specific faction.

That doesn't mean that every time someone can't see it that it is due to the bug, nor that the OP's problem is due to a bug. Those other answers are accurate. They are factors in why someone would not see a comparison for their companion. It makes far more sense to check those other possibilities first, before writing it off as a bug. I do believe that there is a bug, but so far, for me, it seems to be specific to certain items....Like the item is not listed properly in the database. When comparing other items, at the same time, the tool tip works fine.

Yes, this. You could experiment with the other skill trees, but the biggest factor would be to work with your companion's strengths. If you feel squishy, use a tank companion, and let them tank. Make sure that you keep their equipment updated, and they are using a shield. I'm not familiar with the Knight's companions, but I imagine that they have a defensive stance that will increase their defense while generating more aggro. You can focus on damage and crowd control. They will likely also have an ability to reduce aggro if you need to take it off of them to keep them alive. Become familiar with there non-default abilities, and change them to suit your needs.

In the lower left of your screen, there is a grey circle where your companion's portrait usually is. Left clicking anywhere in that circle will summon your companion. Optionally you can open your crew window by pressing the "N" key, and summon them from there.

Well, you can DPS spec a Sage. Comments that you heard may have been for a healing spec'd sage. I honestly don't think you will have a problem with any of of those AC's. Mostly it's about using the right tactics, and working with your companion's strengths. I solo with a healing spec'd Operative. I don't really have a problem with elite's. I would get my butt kicked if there were more than one, and I have no doubt that I could take them down quicker if I was spec'd for DPS, but it really doesn't take me that long to take them down. If you spec DPS with any of those classes, you should have no problem soloing.

No, it is not in the game. Yes, it is something that is definitely needed, and has been brought up a lot. Hopefully it will get added in the future.

I can't say, that would require a response from someone who has skipped a lot of flirt options and then decided to pursue a romance. In single player Bioware games, avoiding flirt options was a way to tell the game that you weren't interested in romance, and you would eventually enter the friend zone, with no option of going back. It makes sense. If you avoid 5 or 6 flirt options, that would indicate that you aren't interested, and they don't want to keep forcing it on you. However, being an MMO, they may not have it keep track in such detail, and it may be purely based on affection rating, and any flirting opportunity could lead to romance. <shrug>

What Selina said. You will never be in a spot where you have no idea where to go, unless you missed a mission somewhere (barring some kind of bug, obviously). If you completed your class missions on Tython, your master would have given you a mission to take the shuttle, if you didn't get that, you likely missed something.

Yeah, just open your map, and select the "trainer" radio button on the left hand side. That will show you where your trainer is.

I can't say for sure, but I would assume that they would get XP based on the difficulty for the higher player, so you would get less XP than if you killed the MoB yourself....possibly no XP. I doubt that would affect quest turn in XP, though.

The same way that WoW, and most other MMORPG's, let's you choose to create a Warlock without you ever getting a chance to try their options. You have to play it and figure out if you like it. If you don't you reroll a new character. You don't get to decide that you don't like playing a warlock and suddenly change it to a Priest. You start over. Someone suggested a one time only switch before level 20. That would be OK. I would never want to see an unlimited AC respec.

Pretty much proves the OP's point. The game has flaws, yes, but it is far from a horrible game. i fail to see the distinction between "horrible game", which you use, and "your game sucks", which you consider whining. Constructive criticism is one thing, bashing is something else completely.

No, it's not just the instances, though those do have to go. It is silly to have multiple instances and only seeing a handful of other players running around in a zone. The world is less populated than it was in beta. It feels so empty. All the instances still share chat, so that isn't a factor in not being able to get groups, or there hardly being any chat going on. Some planets are like ghost towns. I had the same situation as the OP. I started early access on one server, but with 30+ minute queues every time I tried to log in, I had no choice but to try another server. Unfortunately, that server population seems to be waning. I ended up logging off last night because it is no fun playing in such solitude, and not being able to do group content. Everyone complained about them not adding enough servers during early access, but this is what happens.

I think they are harder than they need to be because you have no control over the ship. Not just the fact that it is just a rail ride, but I hate that your are controlling the cursor rather than the ship. I constantly lose the cursor and pass targets before I can retrack the cursor and get a shot off. I'm sure that it would get better with practice, but I just don't find the current state enough fun to bother with.

Yes, it is based on when you complete your class missions. It is completely independant of level. If you do a lot of side quests and group content, you will be a higher level than if you were to skip all the side quests and only do class quests (there is no real benefit to doing that, by the way). Typically you will be between 15 and 18.