The only way i can think of is subscribe for 30 days you get access to all released chapters and able to level to 70 then on all your active characters
Other then that creating a new character is the only other option left i can think of.
I'm doing some digging, but there is no real mean to contact support.. i think i will no longer support this game, since if you are not a subscriber, no one will help you. I don't want to restart since i have bought somethings for my main, using money, and see this hurt me as customer.. well, farewell. (now i suppose to know why they merged the servers)
The lost of companions in chapter 1 is how the game is designed. If you lost abilities as well make sure you don't have tutorial mode enabled. That hides abilities when you start chapter 1. You can go into your settings by pressing esc and then choosing the disable/enable tutorial to get your abilities back.
In regards to the companion part, as you progress through you'll start getting companions again.
Lastly there are two ways to contact support even if you are not a subscriber. One is to call them as per this link here. The second method is email support@swtor.com. Please know that if you lost your companions as per chapter 1 of the KotFE expansion, support cannot restore them for you and they cannot undo the activation of the chapter 1 which caused companions to go away as there are multiple warnings before you start indicating as such. You need to play through the chapters to get them plus other companions added.
If it's a level or gear issue you can always use your fleet transport to go back to the fleet then run dailies or other missions to increase your level to 70 if you have access to do so. If not then you will need to purchase at least a 1 month subscription to get full unlock access to all chapters and level 70 as proxos666 mentioned and then play through to get them back.
Of course another option is if you have cartel coins, you can purchase through the cartel market one of the companions they have through there. These are available to get and can make the chapters easier if you use one of them.
I'm not complaining for the change of companions, i'm complaining for the fact the game get broke if you decide to try the first chapter and don't want to subscribe(pay), and this is intended. I'm ok for the companions change, i'm not for making me pay to play or stay sit if i don't want to pay. If i knew i'll be in this situation i wouldn't started the game..
Making the companions disappear at the start the second chapter would have avoided this issue, allowing subscribers to automatically losing them in the same moment (i've been able to send my companions to missions while plaing the first chapter, so they were available at that time) while allowing who only tried the chapter to actually choose if pay to the new plot or not (and being able to play the game).
Thanks for the mail, i'll try to ask them if anything can be done.
Sorry for my english, isn't my mother language.
May the force be with you.
