STAR WARS: The Old Republic

Account

F2P vs Subscription

For new players, access to levels 61-80 is obtained by subscribing for one month. All expansions and levels 61-80 will be unlocked for all characters and all new characters for the life of the account.

You only need to subscribe for one month to unlock the current expansions forever. If you unsubscribe after one month, you will lose your subscriber perks and status but will keep your expansions and ability to reach level 80. Once you unsubscribe, you will be a "preferred" player - you will have access to more perks than a free to play player, but less than a subscriber.

(source)

Preferred or not

Q: How do I check if I'm preferred?
A: Login screen - right bottom corner (just below the list of your toons) - there is a window that shows your status - "You are a subcriber" or "You are Preferred player" -- Crimsonbreeze

Character Creation

Story vs. Style

• Story: it is about the story. Yes. No secrets hidden here.
• Style: class (which skills you will have)

Jedi Knight Sage vs. Consular Sage

The only difference is the story.

The Jedi knight is the "chosen one" story while
the consular is more "a day in the life of a talented Jedi" kind of thing.

-- littleg333

Healers

• Corruption Sith Sorcerer and Seer Jedi Sage
• Bodyguard Mercenary and Combat Medic Commando
• Medicine Operative and Sawbones Scoundrel

The easiest healer class is sorc/sage

Auction House

The auction house in this game is in fact the GTN or Galactic Trade Network. Each faction has two GTNs, a faction GTN and a neutral GTN.
Your faction GTN is located at the fleet and also at your capital planet. The GTN kiosks located at the fleet and on your capital planet are linked. The neutral GTN is located on the moon of Nar Shaddaa. The faction GTN is not linked to the neutral GTN. "Neutral" in this case means you can buy from and sell to players of the opposing faction.
The Empire capital planet is Dromund Kaas and the Republic capital planet is Coruscant.
Do know that "Galactic Trade Network" is really a misnomer. During beta, there was a GTN kiosk on every planet. Toward the end of beta, they removed all of the GTN kiosks from all planets except the capital planets.
-- BlackRifle