Incoming Wall of Text.
Alright, I'll take a stab at impressions. Apologies if I jump around a bit in my thoughts. I will try to keep it as coherent as possible.
To set the baseline of where I am coming from: I played WoW, warhammer, Aion, AoC, Everquest II, Guild Wars, etc in regard to MMOs. I may make comparisons to some help better illustrate a point.
How It Looks:
Graphics - The gameplay vids that are up on the site, and the class previews they have done are pretty close to what the game looks like if you take into account the lower resolution. So, take the gameplay vids, crank up the res a bit, and it looks good. Think KOTOR, similar art style. I like that they did not go for the hyper-omfg-super realistic with the look. I think it gives the game additional longevity, and the art style makes it unique from other MMOs that are coming out here shortly. It should be noted that AntiAliasing is not currently enabled in this build of the beta, so the look will only improve I would imagine. Regardless, I think it looks great.
UI - Eh. I am more of a minimalist when it comes to an MMO UI. I prefer it as condensed as possible, while still giving me the needed info so I can maximize my screen real estate. I think TOR does this well. They combined the default action bar, and hp/mana(or energy or force) for you and your target to the bottom center of the screen. Additional indicators of target stats are to the right of the bottom bar. Chat is top left, minimap bottom right, top right is your quest tracker. From what I have found, this is NOT adjustable. You can add an additional action bar to the bottom, left sidebar, and right sidebar. My one gripe with the bars is that the secondary bar is added underneath your main. Which, from what I am used to is counterintuitive. For other, it may make sense. However, reassigning keybinds is easy to do.
Environments - I have liked all of the environments I have seen thus far. The Republic side of things feels a lot more linear in its envrionmental design. I like to be able to explore a bit, and not be forced to run down road A to get to path B - so this detracts from the experience a bit. Empire is more spread out in the starter zones. You still have some lineararity, but no more so than I have experienced elsewhere in other MMOs. That being said, I like the look of all of the environments. There is a fair amount of pleasant aesthetics to look at when you are running from point A to point B, to curb the dullness of running. Also, if you crank up your settings, there is a lot of ground cover detail, which is a welcome change from the standard "stretch texture 72 500,000 times to create ground". The feel of the environements is pretty spot on as well. Desert landscapes feel like deserts, temperate-temperate, city-city, etc. This may be a 'duh' for some, but I have definitely experienced some games that miss this concept.
Combat:
I have seen mixed reviews on this within the testing forums, usually occompanied by the expected WoW comparison. "Combat feels sluggish, too slow..." blah blah blah." I don't know what version of wow those fucksticks played, but it's absolutely retarded. Comabt doesn't feel slow IMO - it feels smooth. The ability chain together well, and from what I have seen, there are much less abrupt actions. Maybe thats what they mean when they say "slow". Terribly sorry my character doesnt completely ignore physics and stop mid swing to execute an attack in the opposite fucking direction. Is it guaranteed to be smooth 100%? Of course not, but they did a good job meshing the abilities. A couple little things to note are that the animations for abilities are not always the same. It changes based on te state of battle that you are engaged in (moreso in melee combat), which is a nice touch. For example, if I am going to fininsh off a target with my next ability, the swing of my lightsaber/weapon will be more final in nature (like and overhead downward swing to 'end' them). The death animations of mobs also change based on the ability used as well. If you use an across the body swing for the final blow, the mob may spin before falling to the ground; an overhead swing will generally send them to their knees before falling over. Little things, but nice touches.
I want to note that I started with a trooper, then Imp Agent, then Bounty Hunter, THEN Jedi/Sith Warrior. I wasn't too excited about saber combat. Now that I have tried it, I am fucking hooked. The deflection/parry aspect in the game is awesome. For example, the vast majority of the PvE combat you do will be against groups of enemies (their "Heroic Combat" goal). As a melee char, you are standing in the middle of the group using single target abilities, but when you are not attacking you are deflecting other enemies attacks. Lets say you run past a blaster user to engage the stronger melee enemy. He is behind you firing and your char will deflect the blaster bolts by reaching around his back before initiating the next strike. It feels awesome. Not to mention you actually parry other melee abilities as opposed to a parry popping up in combat text and there is no animation.
Overall, I love the look/feel of combat. It just works. And saber combat is fucking sweet. I am so torn over what to roll at launch...
Alright..what's next? PVP?
There are currently 3 battlegrounds in this build: Alderaan, The Void Star, and HuttBall. Honestly, I enjoy all 3, and they are all 3 different types of play. A little info on each:
Alderaan - Your classic capture and hold map. There are 3 points (gun batteries) that you want to capture and hold. Think Arathi Basin in WoW, or Nordenwatch (sp?) in Warhammer. As you hold the batteries, they fire on the enemies ship, reducing its HP. Once the enemy ship's HP reaches 0, you win. Compicated...I know. Anyway, it is very similar to Arathi/Norden as there is a capture time on the point of which you must channel to take control. Any damage will interrupt the channel. Respawning is instant, but you must hop on a speeder to get back to the battlefield - and you will have a speeder for each point you currently control to allow choice in where you re-enter the fight.
The Void Star - Very similar to Strand of the Ancients in WoW. You may set an explosive on one of two doors, and then prevent the opposing team from disarming it. once it detonates, you move on to the next area and do the same. there are 3 areas to set explosives (2 options at each area), and then you must access the main computer to steal the data (blah blah story). Once one team is done, they switch roles; fastest time wins.
Huttball - A variation of capture the flag, mixed in with some pigskin. The ball starts in the middle of the arena, and the goal is to grab the ball and take it to the opposing teams goal line. The respawn points for each team (again, respawn is instant) are above their goal lines, so getting the ball across the goal line becomes harder as you get closer. You also have the ability to throw the ball to another player,o but this is an AOE targeted This is the most intense out of the maps. You get a lot of whole team vs whole team battles that you really dont see on the other maps, which adds to the excitement I think. Also, if there is a tie in terms of goals scored, then the winner is determined randomly.
Class Balance in PvP:
From what I have seen so far, each class brings something different to the table which aids balance. I play a Sith Marauder mainly (dual-saber wielding melee dps) in PvP. I can tear apart certain classes, and I get torn apart by others. I can say that normally I just try to run away from Jedi Consulars (Republic caster dps/heals). They have enough knockbacks/slows/ranged damage to tear melees apart. Other ranged dps classes do well against them though. That seems to be the norm between the classes. Certain classes do well against some, poor against others. Since the bg's focus on team matchups, it has not proved to be a big deal.
BG Balancing:
You can pvp from level 10 on, and all levels pvp together. The inconsistencies in stats are compensated with bolstering, similar to what we saw in Warhammer. I have noticed some problems with higher levels having additional control abilities compared to the lower levels, which can yield an advantage. Is it game breaking? Not at all. The way the queue system works is it tried to match those at a similar level first, before putting together a mixed level matchup - but we see the mixed most often in beta simply due to the lack of population.
Questing:
Every quest is presented in a fully voiced cinematic. THIS is what Bioware was talking about. I have to say, it is damned impressive. Some people will skip them and rush through the reqponses willy-nilly, but I really enjoy developing my character. **NOTE: I AM NOT A ROLEPLAYER** I don't run around town acting out my chosen path, yadda, yadda. I do enjoy trying to maintain a consistent theme with my character though. You recieve light side/dark side points based on some of your responses. Points are really only awarded for pivotal decisions, not every choice you make. You can also gain "affection" with your companion character based on your responses in convos. I will talk more about that later. It should also be mentioned that 'space bar' skips the current dialogue and brings you to the next required response, and 'Esc' will end the conversation to allow you to restart it. Both light side/dark side and affection points are not final until the conversation is complete. So, you min/maxers out there will have opportunities to "redo" your decisions should you want to.
As a result of everything having a story behind it, you can't help but feel more involved in the quest. The quests do include your normal kills this many, collect this many, deliver this, etc; but there are also a fair amount of other types. Some quests are simply conversations in themselves that require no action other than speaking - kind of like playing a part in a cinematic (I thought it was great to watch some action unfold and get xp for it). Also, the stories behind the quests are not your normal "I don't like rats...go kill me some rats!". There is more to it than that.
Some people say that due to the story telling, the game feels more like massively single player game. I can see where they are coming from, but only if questing is all that you do. For some people, that is enjoyable, and I definitely have days where I just want to quest alone. However, you can do all quests in a group if you so choose, and the other player will be in the conversation with you - with an equal likelihood to respond (it is handled by a dice roll). You also have flashpoints (or instances) that you can do starting at level 10. They are a ton of fun from the ones that I have experienced. I will talk about them in a bit. So basically, it CAN feel like a massively single player game, if thats the experience you choose.
Companions:
At around levels 8-10, you get your first companion. They run around with you, fight with you, provide conversation at times, offer advice, etc. They each have a different personality, which is cool. They look for certain things in the way you act (in order to gain affection), so you may find yourself responding to please them (for you min/maxers out there). All in all, they increase the number of mobs you can handle, and make questing more enjoyable. They also add a whole new dimension to your character, and not an overpowering one. If you have a full group, they are unsummoned automatically. Or, if you only have 3 (a full group is 4), you can choose who's companion to take along, and they are a vauable combat asset.
Flashpoints:
Story-driven instances. It is a good balance of story with action. You generally have a conversation/event occurance, then you go kill a bunch of mobs, then another convo, etc. It works well, provides more emphasis for what you do, and the progression of the instance is dictated by your choices. The groups responses in convos is dictated by a roll, as I stated previously. However, if it is a light/dark side choice, you will still get the corresponding points from YOUR choice, regardless of which player responds. So, if I choose dark, but the person who chose light wins the roll - they get their light points, you still get your dark side points.
What else do y'all want to know?
TL;DR - I am really enjoying it thus far, and looking forward to release.