Just don't become a Jedi or we will have to kill you. 

So i've been looking online via google(SWTOR forums search feature still not available) and asking in game, but nothing much definitive. Does anyone know what [Prototype] items are? Such as these:

And even though i'm synthweaving I can reverse engineer these(i did not make them, got them from a container bought with commendations). Any ideas?

They mean that you can modify them.

sigh.....although I have my main character (level 42 sith warrior) on another server with our now 100+ member guild I guess it's time to create an ALT on the Kaas City server.  Too many of you nubs playing there to be ignored......hehe     I'll post my character name as soon as I get that done.....

I think I might try to be on Kaas tonight.  

Nod, that's obvious. Some things I've read online seem to suggest you can get a schematic if you re-engineer them.

If it's got mod slots, you can mod it. In my experience you only get Synthweaving patterns from REing items if it's something you know how to make. Could be unlucky in terms of prototypes, don't know. But I don't think thats how it works anymore.

I would expect that you can get a schematic for anything that you can reverse engineer. But you need the appropriate crew skill, of course. I could be wrong though.

It is extra weird to me because I have gotten Prototype boots, but the word wasn't in parentheses. Maybe it is a snafu from beta? 

AFAIK you can only mod orange items. 

BTW, anyone still stuck on Quesh like me? Least favorite planet so far. 

You can modify any item with component slots. Orange items are the most common of these, and their level is based entirely on the armor/barrel/hilt that you put in them. They'll have equivalent armor rating or damage to an item of the same level and quality as that "core" component you put in them, so you can upgrade them all the way from 10 to 50.

Purple items can also have slots, but the armor/barrel/hilt piece is permanent (and hidden). These are better than normal purples, but they'll still eventually outlive their usefulness.

Any crafted item can also have an additional augment slot if the crafting crits.

Yep, the only way to learn some high-end schematics at all is by REing raid drops.

I didn't like Quesh at all when I was playing my Jedi.  Luckily the Quesh stuff was really short.  Don't know what its like on the Empire side since I'm only level 31 there. 

It will be difficult to find good information on this through a keyword search, as "prototype" is also one of the terms the game uses for rarity.  My best guess is that there is a prototype rarity (blue) item called "Indignation Boots" and an artifact rarity (purple) item called "[Prototype] Indignation Boots", which would mean that the "[Prototype]" in the item name is there to make it distinct in the database.

Also, there are plenty of things you can reverse engineer that have no chance of giving a schematic.  For example, an artificer can RE augments, but I'm pretty sure can't make them.

Alright, finally went Imp! Started a Sith Sorceror on Kaas City, name is Qualkech (yep, random named it, but I'm sure I'll have 5 alts starting with Qual in no time), hope to see all you guys in there.

bonscott: yes, you have to be the same (either Republic or Imperial) to group, or hell, even to speak with another person.

Hoth is my new favorite world. I loved Taris for its concrete jungle cityscapes but nothing is as beautiful as a white maw base loading up ice crawlers with supplies as I sneak about their massive base looking for soft targets. It is just a wonderful place to walk around in. The first time i have really felt alone in the wastes. Kind of wish some other Lords of Hyperion would come join though. 

I was just on Hoth, It was fun.

I be sure to head back next time Im on so we can play together.

And I agree, Ive only played with one guildmate. That doesnt seem right   Im gonna try extra hard to team up with people over the next few weeks. Be forwarned.

First time I have ever heard someone else say that. I agree, it had that tortured half dead world feel to it. Like it had been pummeled from above by some malevolent being.

Nar Shaddaa is by far my favourite world.  I mean come on...........NEON LIGHTS and HOLODANCERS......what the hell else does the galactic man need!?  hehe 

played several heroics with karl on tarsis tonight.  I can see how important a healer is now anyway... not quite as fun as other roles, methinks, but its ridiculously important. 

Understatement of the year.

I think Operative is the most fun as a healer. It just feels right to sit behind cover and provide tactical support for the team. Sure I throw in the odd poison dart or concussion grenade, but mostly I am there to observe. What I really like is when the team loses a few people right at the end and I have to get in close and flashbang the enemy and start backstabbing them for the final kill. 

It does bother though, that at this point most tanks don't get an AoE taunt so I have to enter the battle late just to avoid getting the attention of the rear enemy with blaster rifles. Sometimes my tank gets to 25% before i can even start healing. That makes things alot harder. 

Well from my perspective as a tank, the lack of generating high threat til you get your mastery tree maxed and get some hight lvl generating skills its really hard to hold a groups aggro.

I could be doing it wrong. But I have one AoE taunt. 50% after the taunt wears off they go back to their orginal targets which isnt me. Usually the DPS or healer.

Another thing Ive notices but Im not sure If its something 100%, whoever gets first hit on the target generates high threat to it. So, as usually in my case...one of the DPS starts blasting X baddy. It takes me forever to regain threat to get it forget about the DPS.

SO....do your Tank a favor, dont shoot till he/she is in the thick of it. Focus firing is also a bonus.

1) Don't worry about tanking weak/standard mobs. It's the DPS's job to kill them first, then move to the stronger mobs that you are tanking. If it's not silver or higher, generally speaking it's not your problem. Most pulls have only two or three mobs at most that actually require tanking... leading to the next point:

2) Most classes have a 60-second CC; use it. If you're up against multiple controllable elites (anything without the boss immunity buff), you shouldn't be fighting (or tanking) any more of them at once than necessary.

As an additional point of reference, taunts in SWToR don't work as in WoW. Rather than moving you to the top of the threat list, they only force the enemy to target you for the duration of the taunt. If you are not able to generate enough threat in that time to regain the lead, you will lose aggro again.

I'm still following this thread but I'm holding off on purchase right now.  This may be a game I pick up in 6 months to a year from now with an expansion or two included for the price.  Hopefully they will also come up with a free trial as well.  Could either do a timed trial (free 10 days) or level (free up to level 5 or so) to give people a chance to try it out first.

rebel scum.