I personally can somewhat agree to why people have those problems for certain classes such as a Light Side Sith Warrior, who possibly went in the path of forsaking the Light Side for the Dark Side to begin with. At the same time though, it's possible that they became a Sith Warrior through some other means such as being forced into apprenticeship to a Sith Lord, or they grew up in a Sith environment and learned that they were force sensitive but didn't have the means to join the Jedi, resulting in them joining the Sith to learn more about the force. Regardless of their reasons for becoming a Sith Warrior in the first place (while some reasons would lean them much more towards the dark side than the light) I believe after the initial character creation it is a player's individual choices that will decide on how they grow as a character and result in being Light or Dark.
Choice has always been important point in Bioware games for a number of reasons, and while I don't specifically know why Bioware likes choice in their games, I do know that they incorporate in a way that it heavily impacts story flow, and character development, to the extent of having every player's experience unique in someway, even if they all reach the same set in stone ending, it would be rare to find someone who chose the exact same choices as someone else. Coming back to ToR, Bioware keeps this same point intact by allowing the player to choose how they develop their character, I'm sure a lot of people would prefer to keep their Sith Warrior on the Dark Side, but the choice to have a Sith Warrior on the Light Side is definitely there, and from based off a interview that I saw, it would also have game-play benefits over being on the Dark Side.
In any case like with KOTOR, Bioware coming onto the Star Wars scene more effectively allows the Star Wars universe to be more fully explored rather than seen on a screen where it was fairly black and white in regards to who was good and evil. In KOTOR, you saw many things that gave the Star Wars setting more life, and much more than what was able to be shown in a reasonable time on screen. A few examples are Sith Officers who were tired of working, or Republic Officials who would gladly work with slavers to secure a more dominant foothold on a planet. Even small details like these gave players a whole deeper and different perspective into the Star Wars fiction that the movies weren't able to do, but at the same time it still kept the basis of Star Wars organizations in that the Sith Empire isn't exactly the friendliest group around, and the Republic isn't too evil.
With all of that said I believe individualism isn't non-existent or out of place in the Star Wars universe, and even in the movies you saw things like Dark Siders turning over to the Light in the hopes to redeem themselves. I'll admit that while you definitely didn't see a lot of it, it shows that it's not entirely unheard of. Here's a few things I think about the various classes and how a alignment specific version of them would appear in game, as well as their dungeons and dragons alignment that I believe the character would end up mirroring closely.
The Galactic Republic
Trooper
(Light Sided – Neutral Good)
-Cares about the troops that they fight alongside
-Regrets sacrifices
Alignment Reason : Neutral good because I can't really see a individual trooper being too tied to laws and would probably go against them if it was to aid someone.
(Dark Sided – Lawful Evil)
-Will gladly sacrifice troops to achieve a goal
-Executes surrendering prisoners remorselessly
Alignment Reason : I picked Lawful Evil because as troopers who serve under the republic they would have to follow rules or probably be dismissed, that doesn't mean they can't be evil while following rules though.
Smuggler
(Light Sided – Chaotic Good)
-Would steal to help people
-Aids the Republic with smuggled goods
Alignment Reason : Chaotic good because smuggling by it's nature is very unlawful.
(Dark Sided – Neutral Evil)
-Would steal from everyone including allies possibly
-Wouldn't aid the Republic at all unless forced into it
Alignment Reason : I think a smuggler would be neutral evil because they're looking out for themselves mainly, they don't follow laws enough to be lawful, and they wouldn't break them enough to be considered chaotic.
Jedi Knight
(Light Sided – Lawful Good)
-Protects people
-Fights the Sith
Alignment Reason : Generally I think Jedis would follow any laws placed on them even if it hindered them, but at the same time they would prefer to forsake them than allow innocents to be harmed, however they follow a strict code as well as normal laws so I think that firmly puts them as lawful good.
(Dark Sided – Neutral Evil)
-Abuses the force
-Fights anyone who interferes with their goals
Alignment Reason : At first I was going to saw Lawful Evil but that would still account for following the Jedi Code which by itself isn't good or evil, but it doesn't allow for much evil at all. So to that end, I believe a pure Dark Sided Jedi would be neutral evil in that they follow laws as long as it doesn't bother them, and they will resort to crushing people in their way if they need to, which they will do mercilessly.
Jedi Consular
(Light Sided – Lawful Good)
-Uses the force to help people directly
-Aids people through speech and guidance
Alignment Reason : Like the Jedi Knight, I believe Consulars would be Lawful Good, at the same time I believe a Consular would approach a situation with more logic yet still primarily preserve the lives of people over anything else.
(Dark Sided – Lawful Evil)
-Uses the force to manipulate people
-Abuses the force
Alignment Reason : I believe a Dark Sided Consular would be Lawful Evil as they would try to establish their dominance over other people by twisting their minds with the force or through other means. While they wouldn't actively take over the world with this, they would use their influence to get what they want. Despite being Lawful Evil they don't follow the Jedi Code because that would restrict them too much but they will still stay and act within the system to be able to sabotage it easier.
The Sith Empire
Bounty Hunter
(Light Sided – Neutral Good)
-Fights to remove criminals from harming others
-Uses the money to aid people
Alignment Reason : I don't think a Bounty Hunter would exactly play by the laws entirely especially to capture their target but other than that they shouldn't really have any problems with them, making them neutral.
(Dark Sided – Neutral Evil)
-Fights for fun or for money only
-Uses the money for themselves
Alignment Reason : A Dark Sided Bounty Hunter would definitely be looking out for themselves, but like their Light Sided counterpart, they wouldn't have any qualms to breaking any form of laws to get their targets.
Imperial Agent
(Light Sided – Lawful Good)
-Hides intelligence that would result in the death of a innocent
-Uses the system to undermine criminals
Alignment Reason : Lawful Good because Imperial Agents would work within the Sith Empire and try to make the best out of it for them and others, while they might be forced to do things that they don't want to do, they would never enjoy it, and they would possibly try to undermine the Empire as much as possible.
(Dark Sided – Lawful Evil)
-Would use their own status to get what they want
-Has no qualms about executing unmoral orders
Alignment Reason : I believe a Dark Sided Imperial Agent would be loyal to their superiors and still get anything they'd like, despite that they wouldn't be ambitious, and would follow all of their orders and rules by the book.
Sith Warrior
(Light Sided - ???... Just kidding, Chaotic Good)
-Protects people
-Very vindictive
Alignment Reason : I think by their nature Sith Warriors would be very aggressive and still carry that aggressiveness onto the Light Side where they would gladly and brashly throw themselves on the front line to save others. They would be chaotic because of the society they live in where they would prefer to oppose the Sith laws in favor of their ethics.
(Dark Sided – Chaotic Evil)
-Fights for dominance
-Doesn't mind or even likes killing innocents
Alignment Reason : I put the Dark Siders as Chaotic Evil because all they care about is their desire for power, and will destroy anything that interferes with it. Furthermore they will also kill wounded allies for failing in their tasks, and take their position gladly if it was greater than theirs.
Sith Inquisitor
(Light Sided – Chaotic Good)
-Uses their force powers to destroy people who threaten others
-Manipulates or persuades evil members of the Sith into doing good things
Alignment Reason : The Sith Inquisitor would be Chaotic Good because of their society where they would forsake their own laws for morality.
(Dark Sided – Lawful Evil)
-Fights to destroy their enemies
-Works within the Sith to gain more knowledge and power for their own advantage
Alignment Reason : Unlike the Sith Warrior who would actively attack the Empire for dominance if it was within their power, the Sith Inquisitor rules from behind the scenes where they follow all of their rules but also use their for their own gains.
While I don't think a player would have complete freedom over the way their character approaches a situation, they would have more than enough to be satisfied. At the end of the day a good Consular can be seen as good and if my predictions work out, or similarly enough along the prediction lines, they would also act very much like many people would perceive a Jedi Consular as opposed to being brash like a Smuggler would appear to be, or harsh like a Sith Warrior.
So all in all, I think that Bioware is staying well within the boundaries of what is acceptable and what is not in a Star Wars game, they are simply writing more in the space that was empty before, and I'm still excited to see what their final release will be.
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