Welcome, dear new Steam player to this fine establishment that this game (and this community) represent. I'm Klaithus Vile, former Wrath of the Emperor and commander of the Alliance, and I'm here to teach you how not to lose one of the most precious things that this game could offer you.

And I'm not referring to you, Vette

What is this thing I'm talking about? But the REFERRAL CODE, ofc.

The referral code is a code (duh) that allows you to reclaim some sweet gifts from the game, which includes:

• 1x Quick Travel Pass (Allows you to go to the Fleet instantly)
  
• 5x Minor XP Boost (25% extra XP per 1 Hour)
  
• 1x Inventory Module (10 additional slots in the inventory)
  
• You are able up to lv.50 without any time limit (and without any exp penalty)

Pretty good stuff, right? But what happens to the "friend" who's referral code you used? He will get:

• A speeder
  
• A pet droid
  
• 500 Cartel Coins, +100 x every month you stay subscribed

I want you to notice the last perk because it's a massive reward. 500 cc allows a player to buy pretty expensive stuff (generally if you plan to sell them on the Galaxy Trade Market for credit), so you simply shouldn't accept the idea of giving them this rewards that easy.

What if I tell you that you can get those free stuff + a good chunk of credits?
You heard me right. If you log in the game and read the chat, you will always findt someone willing to buy your referral for a good amount of credits (in between the Darth Baras jokes if you are on Dromund Kaas).

But there is a catch: a lot of players will play with the ignorance of community prices and offer you less than what you could get. So my advice is this:
The best place to check for referrals offers is the Fleet
Want an example? Just two weeks ago, when the game was not on Steam yet, plenty of people were offering 12.000.000 credits on starting planets for the Ref Code, while on the Fleet the price were starting from 12.000.000 up to 24.000.000 credits.

However, be warned. Some of these transactions are not safe (people will promise you creds, you click the referral code, and those sons of Hutts will disappear without giving you a penny), and you can't ask the support to fix these scams for you. So, even if the pile of credits is, indeed, tempting, please consider making such transactions only with trusted players.

Here you can find links for other useful guides on how to use the Referral code, and also how the economy behind this code works.

Just a clarification: despite my tone being a little harsh, perhaps, I am not condemning referral code exchange. Yes, this game has a good amount of scammers, as other MMORPG, but there are also plenty of traders who try their best to make a profit without trying to duck new players. It's already hard, for those poor bastards, to be treated as honest sellers, please do not think that some rotten apples corrupted the entire tree without any chance of recovery.

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2174324687

https://steamproxy.net/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2173660361

If you have made this far, I would like to thank you first. I'm a veteran player of this game, and there are very few things in here that awake my Dark Side more than scammers and sharks. If you want to help me, just as I did to you, you can do the following things (in any order and quantity):

• Vote on this guide, so it will stay visible longer, helping more players like you not to get scammed.
  
• Comment if you found some inconsistency, improvement ideas, or just to spam some Star Wars memes (Dew it!)
  
• Buff Vette's lekku.
  
• If you want to help me in-game, as thanks for this guide (and the others I will probably make), you can send me anything trough the mail (credits, pets, crystals, a sedative for my wife Jaesa... seriously, send help). I am Klaithus Vile (Empire) or Moontain Dew (Republic) on the Darth Malgus server.
  
• Have fun in the game, and after you become (hopefully) a little bit more seasoned, do help other new players in the same way I hope I'm doing right now.
  
• If, even after reading all of this guide in its entirety, you would prefer to simply help me by clicking my referall code, here you have it:http://www.swtor.com/r/whfzHk.
  Be warned: If you click on my referall code it's gonna be a way to say "thanks" for my work, do not expect me to buy it from you. I'm not a trader, just a player who enjoys the game from time to time and, as such, I'm not interested in starting a "business" there. So, please do remember what I wrote before: the referall code can give you a good pile of credits to start; if you click on my ref code, you are going to gift it to me, not selling it.

May the Force be with you.