SWTOR's Dark vs Light event: three months later

In my post SWTOR's Dark vs Light event and why it is ill-received by the community, I voiced my disappointment with how this event disregards oldtime players and lacks new content. I still stand by this, but the post came off more ranty than usual. That's what I get for posting it in the heat of the moment without proofreading, I guess (it was late and I just wanted to go to bed). Perhaps this is why people have reacted surprised when they hear that I have created two Dark vs Light characters. Although if they'd have truly read the post, they should not:

"I don't mind casually rolling a couple of characters to level them up through PvP (...). I might go for some of the lower tier rewards (...), but if LOTRO's raid turns out to be good and I can find some people to battle them with, I'll probably head over to there instead."

- Me

And that's exactly what I've done. Yes, I'd have rather seen a new flashpoint or a new raid than this event, but that's no reason to be sulky and sit in a corner doing nothing. I love group content, so that's what I've spent most time doing this summer, but I did find some time to create two Dark vs Light characters I love. So how did I do? (Spoiler: prepare to be not amazed.)

Name: Ravadis
Class: Assassin
Level: 26
Valor: 1
Flashpoints completed: The Black Talon, Hammer Station, Athiss
Featured in: Fashion Friday: evil sith inquisitor

I often have ideas for characters long before I actually buy an additional slot and create them. Ravadis is an extreme example of this: I think I had her appearance in mind for about two years! I've always wanted to have a truly evil inquisitor, because the female voice acting is just perfect for it. All other inquisitors I created looked too cute, though, or followed a neutral path. Ravadis is a natural in the dark side, though. I'm playing her together with Marinka, who also rolled a dark side inquisitor. It's hard to find time we can both play and that's probably why Ravadis is just level 26, but it's totally worth it for the fun we have on voice chat over particularly evil story choices. And because we both haven't played a dark side inquisitor yet, it's even new for us in a sense.

Name: Ravaline
Class: Guardian
Level: 36
Valor: 21
Flashpoints completed: The Esseless, Mandalorian Raiders
Appeared in: Should you start playing SWTOR anno 2016? The game from an endgame perspective

Sometimes characters just don't click with me. I had one such moment with my first guardian, one of the first alts I made back in 2012. The frustrating thing was that I couldn't tell what I didn't like about her - I knew I loved her in the character creation window - and I ended up deleting her in favour of my current guardian, Ravalyn. Ravaline is a re-creation of that first guardian character, and now I know what didn't click. First off, the name didn't fit with the character. I love "Ravaline", though, so that's no longer a problem. Secondly, I couldn't find her a fitting light coloured outfit at the time. She wore an outfit that looked great from the back, but was way too revealing from the front. I cringed each time I saw her in a cutscene. Remember, this was back in 2012, when we didn't have the <3 outfit designer <3 nor did we have dyes. Ravaline's outfit problem was quickly solved with the sporty robe you see above. I'm completely happy with the character now - and then to think I had it drop randomly from a cartel pack.

Progress

I spend most of the summer split between SWTOR and LOTRO. I've dedicated most time to the latter, gearing up my lore-master and playing the new tier 2 instances, which are actually quite challenging and fun. I also farmed the new raid on tier 1 until I got bored of it. Next to that, I've been logging in to SWTOR twice a week to raid. We've geared up our new guildies and are going to start on nightmare modes soon. In between all this, I managed to complete Heroic level (reach level 25) for the Light vs Dark event without making an effort.

Writing this blog post makes me think about the event, though. What do I want from it? I'm not terribly interested in the cartel market cosmetics, the title, or the overpowered legacy gear (the game is easy enough as it is). The answer is: the companion. Having played SWTOR as my main game for so has made me a bit of a completionist. Although I don't expect too much content attached to the character, I'm still curious at what she'll be like.

Unfortunately, this means I will have to put a serious effort in. At least Legacy level should be done soon: just three more flashpoints and I'll probably be level 50 at that point from doing those and PvP. But then I'd have to do the Revan storyline plus all of KOTFE. Not super hard, mind you, but it will take some time. I'll have to finish all missing flashpoints, recruit five alliance alerts and do the Eternal Championship. I'll also have to get to level 65, but I'm not bothered by that. Leveling goes swiftly these days.

The real question is: how much time do we have left? The Dark vs Light event is supposed to end in autumn, but we don't know anything specific. It is autumn now. I suspect that it will continue until Knights of the Eternal Throne will be released, because it's used as an obvious content draught filler. Problem is, the only thing we know about the new expansion is that it's "coming fall 2016" as well. Either way, now is probably the time to put a real effort in if you're after any specific rewards.