Editor-in-Chief Chris "Pwyff" Tom writes about SWTOR's opening days and how the past week was for this game's launch.

Getting back to my Powertech, when my buddy finally got access on his Sith Assassin (yuck), Wind, I was able to get to leveling in earnest. Powertechs are, in my opinion, one of the best classes for PvPing, and snagging warzone commendations is incredibly easy with the plethora of tools available. By simply playing properly and defending my teammates, I was able to average 7-9 medal achievements per warzone match, which translates to a significant number of commendations for picking up PvP gear. PvE-wise, I'm currently on route to Balmorra and Nar Shadaa, but my last visit to Nar Shadaa was so annoying (lots of running) that I think I might just do PvP to level up so that I can blaze through the story missions.

For crew skills, I decided on the standard combination of armormech and scavenging but, instead of going into underworld trading for blue and purple-quality crafting materials, I went with slicing instead. For any credit-minded players, like me, who love keeping their equipment as up-to-date as possible, slicing is a fantastic choice as it is, almost literally, a credit-making profession. By slicing security boxes found throughout the world, you can easily add a few thousand credits per hour to your questing revenue, and if you work from home, it's fairly easy to sit around on the fleet, constantly sending your NPCs out to get credit lockboxes.

I've already mentioned this, but throughout my past week of playing, it's worth reiterating the fact that the servers have been very stable. Much of BioWare's focus over the past month has been server stability, and this has clearly paid off so far. In terms of actual content that has changed between the closed beta testing and now, there hasn't been much added, although I did spot some quick fixes and tiny convenience changes, like an emergency fleet transport that instantly teleports the player to the fleet from anywhere (I was giddy with excitement when I saw that!). There are, however, a few bugs still present, and most of them are associated, in some way, with the game's somewhat lackluster UI. I certainly hope that BioWare is looking into adding some more UI depth going forward, because healing in a warzone can be a little annoying when my raid frames are telling me everyone is at full health, even though the health bars on my teammate's nameplates say otherwise.

All-in-all, during early access I was only able to get both my Powertech and Sage to level 21, but once these holidays hit, expect me to make my way into more world PvP and, hopefully, some operations; both of which I was unable to participate in during the closed beta testing period. For anyone coming into the Old Republic tomorrow who doesn't have a server in mind, why not join me on either Warriors of Shadow (Empire) or Rakata Mind Prison (Republic)? Alternatively, if you're already on my server and you've played against (or with) me in a warzone with my capslock-on communications, well, I'm just being enthusiastic.

Christopher "Pwyff" Tom, Editor-in-Chiefl.