omg I didnt know anyone hated this game... but there is a simple answer.
I bet the majority of you were on crowded servers, I play on a less crowded server where we all know each other and o forth. There arent to may jedi, and NO ONE exploits. It is a very fun game, skill does matter... just there isnt aton of variaty because there are only 4 or 5 templates people use for PvE and PvE is similar. But it still PwNs any other game I have ever played.
They are always adding new content to the game, and if you started now you would get to play it the way it is before the come out with with the CURB (major changes to the game.) There is endless things to do, you just have to look. Time is not a matter unless you feel like you should be playing all the time to get the 15$ a month out of it. There is a free trial offer for 2 weeks that you can use, it is on the mian website. I would recomend trying either the Valcyn, or Tarquinas servers. DO NOT go to a serer that starts with the letters A-f for they are packed and over crowded with Jedi and exploiters which just makes the game no fun.
Also the space action is just as fun as any other game. You could try your hand as a merchant/crafter and make credits to just customize the gameplay to use what you want. There are many professions to chose from to aid in the Galactic civil war. I do have to say that the war isnt very strong between Players on the smaller servers, so if you wanted more PvP try a larger server but I still say that a Small server is a better experiance.
interaction is the best part of the game. Between the Forums, Guilds, and In game stuff you will meet people that you could call "friends." You can make a town, furnish your house, or lead others as you wish. I sometimes log in just to chat with my guild. Most guilds are very close, and go on large hunts or Camp loot spots as a whole.
Just the whole enviorment of the game makes it what it is, and dont jusde it till you have tried it thru the trial. Once you get the trail make sure that you ask around to get into a guild during that time to enhance the experiance of it.