So I kind of drifted away from it a while ago(probaby right around Skyrim day 
). I was getting an itch for playing an mmorpg again and started looking at my set of abandoned ones.
I considered SWTOR, and checking on my account, I realized I am an idiot, and forgot to cancel that subscription. :smack: and apparently I have a buttload of “Cartel coins” .So I figured I’d jump back in to check things out, and started loading the patches last night.
I saw houses are about to be added? cool. What should I spend my coins on?(once I figure out how to use them)
You can get the house on DK or Coruscant for real cheap to start with–they’re designed so that even a brand-new level 15 can have something.
So you can use that to play with/learn about the system (and get a legacy bank) and see if you like it at all.
Extra rooms, or the houses on Nar Shadda and Tatooine start costing increasingly more money, at which point the cartel coins can come in handy if you like how they have done the housing.
Beyond that you can go through the legacy tab for any unlocks you might want–rocket boots, decreasing the quick travel timer, etc. Most are either credits or coins (though also check the GTN, a lot of people buy things with cartel coins and sell them to make credits, so you can sometimes get really good deals).
The stuff on the cartel market itself is mostly cosmetic–moddable armor sets, speeders, pets, etc.
I’m still on, mainly out of a slavish need to get to the end of all of the class storylines. (I’ve done all the imps, now I’m doing pubbies). I’ll admit, I’m already starting to burn out a bit, but it’s the sort-of MMO that I can just pick up for an hour or two, then put down after I grow dissatisfied with ‘Every arc must end with a boss fight, even for the peaceful Jedi diplomats’. (grumble grumble).
Just realized–if you’ve stayed subbed all this time, you actually already do have a free Stronghold–just go to the Fleet and “purchase” the Nar Shadda stronghold for 0 credits.