Couple SWTOR Newcomer Questions

[Devolution]

Howdy, I've been following GW2 mostly for the past year or two, but recently my interest in SWTOR got ignited as well. I've been messing around in the beta, and I had no idea what the playable races were, so I was pleasantly surprised to see the Blind Miraluka (Blind characters are awesome). Anyways I went ahead and made a Consular, as I'm interested in the Shadow spec I guess. I like melee dps, so I'll try the Sentinel later as well.

Which leads to my first question, what are the main playstyle differences between the Shadow Consular and the Sentinel Knight?

Also, I was playing through and I noticed you could get dark points instead of light, even when not in the Empire. So my other question is, how do these points affect your character? Would it ever make you defect to the other side?

Thanks in advance!

[Solfaur]

Jedi Sentinel has only dps trees, while Shadow can also tank. Shadows are more rogueish, while Sentinels are more similar to fury warriors, if we are to compare them to WoW. You can get dark/light points as both Republic and Empire because both factions have vendors with gear styled for either dark side or light side and also it's said that your alignment will alter your appearance. Afaik you can't switch over sides.

[Devolution]

Oh nice, I've always been a fan of the dark and holy, so a dark Shadow Consular sounds right up my alley. Thanks