Yes, well you can blame all that on KotOR being based on the d20 RPG engine. I don't much like it either. Watering down lightsabers due to game balance while allowing rediculously powerful characters at high levels is an excellent example of the game mechanics in d20, and Star Wars really is just one example of this. I liked WEG's Star Wars game much better.
But since KotOR games are based on it all, I guess we're stuck with it...
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Only if you're a backwards thinker like Hades. If a better, more appropriate (and hopefully balanced) ruleset can be found (or created)...it should be used.