Star Wars: The Disney Era

Star Wars is different now but it’s still Star Wars. Barring another series of disasters like the prequels I can’t think of any way I would ever not be excited for Star Wars.

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All the new movies and criticism don’t put a damper on any of my enjoyment of the real classics like TIE Fighter. It’s been about 5 years since I played through it most recently.

I was thinking about how X-wing vs TIE kinda sucked for various reasons. (1) The story and playing a character were stripped out. (2) obviously missiles are good so now every enemy with missiles fires them in the initial volley and that was just hell on so many missions, also the lack of countermeasures. (3) Capital ships were more “realistic” and impossible to take till you cleared the fighter screen AND had bombers with bombs left. It also I think had a very early version of multiplayer… which back then in dial-up times wasn’t that great unless you had a LAN or the best netcode ever.

I think stealing some modern game mechanics could salvage some of that though. Like move special ordinance to an “ult charge” mechanic.

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I found that playing Rogue Squadron again has totally stoked the nerd fires to previous levels of hotness.

Seriously, I think I have synapses molded specifically around that opening theme and crawl. It never fails.

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I always liked that somewhat realistic situation with capital ships, really I’d like to see a revival of X-Wing with a more simulationist take. But I also like to play those realistic flight sims where you can control every system.

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I have a theory, or at least an idea, that I’m still forming in my head, so apologies if it’s not fully fleshed out… but I think Star Wars, maybe unintentionally, narrowed its scope and its appeal when they erased the EU in preparation for the new movies.

I’m not sure if this makes sense yet, but bear with me… previously, before The Force Awakens and Disney bought Lucas, there was a huge universe of Star Wars related stories out there. There were books, there were comics, there were games, there were animated TV shows. As a result, whichever part of the Star Wars universe most spoke to you, there was something you could get to enjoy the universe. Really like Jedis? There’s the Old Republic and all kinds of Jedi stories you could read. Really like space ships and pilots and dog fighting? There’s Rogue Squadron to satisfy that craving. Really like the scoundrels and bounty hunters? There’s content for you as well. Basically, there was something for everyone.

Now, though, most of that is gone. We have the movies, we have a couple comics, we have Star Wars Rebels, which just ended, and one or two books. The scope of the EU is much more constrained and much more “on message” compared to the main movies than before. As a result, if someone isn’t happy with the movies, or if they want something more Jedi focused or bounty hunter focused, in the past, there were options for those fans. Now though, there really aren’t, at least in comparison.

I don’t know, like I said, this theory is kind of a work in progress.

I think the new Canon is a work-in-progress. Once they finish episode IX they’ll have a more solid sense of “The state of the galaxy”. They’ve finished Rebels which wrapped up some of the loose ends from the Clone Wars era.

I think people are consuming media differently and want a more interactive approach. The FFG RPGs have that Jedi/Rebel/Scoundrel split to them.

There have been some missteps, EA didn’t help things by botching Battlefront II to the point where government felt like it had to intervene.

It’s a good thing that Disney/Lucasfilm wants to be more inclusive than they have in the past, but it’s given rise to a toxic part of the fanbase which I think might be adding to Star Wars fatigue. (seriously fuck those guys)

The old Star Wars EU had the American comics problem, at least to me, it was way too big and complicated and not at all accessible to new fans.

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You’re right, that the new Canon is still a work-in-progress, so maybe it’s unfair to compare it to the old EU, but the entire focus on Star Wars now is on the new movies, or things somewhat related and parallel to the new movies. If you’re not interested in the new movies, or those characters, or want to focus on one specific aspect of Star Wars, you’re out of luck.

Like I wrote above, if you were a super fan of the Jedi, or really loved the bounty hunters, there were books for you to read. There was a way for people to enjoy whatever part of the Star Wars universe they really loved. Now though, those options have massively decreased, and what their is is all “on message.”

They don’t need to finish episode IX to let authors write stories that take place hundreds if not thousands of years before A New Hope or the Clone Wars, they don’t need a more solid sense of the state of the galaxy to have some side-stories about Rebel or Imperial pilots or about the untold tales of bounty hunters and scoundrels. That was one of the cool things about the EU… there were stories about minor characters that never showed up in the movies or anywhere else. As a result, you could do interesting things with them.

Do we even know if the Old Republic is still Canon? Why can’t it be? It doesn’t affect what Disney is putting out now, why can’t we have more stories in that time period? Why aren’t there new Rogue Squadron stories? Wedge isn’t in the new trilogy, why can’t we have The Further Adventures of Wedge Antilles and Rogue Squadron books? What if you’re a huge fan of IG-88 or Bossk? Why can’t there be more Tales of the Bounty Hunters books for people who want that?

Like I wrote above, before, there was something for every type of fan of Star Wars. Now though, if you don’t like the direction the movies are going in, there just isn’t any other content for you really.

The Old EU stuff generally kinda sucked, so I’m glad they are taking the good parts like Thrawn and tossing out the crappy parts like Chewie getting a moon dropped on him :-p

Wait…what. That sounds amazing. but amazing in like a Krull way.

Some of it was good, some of it was bad. My point is that at least there were all kinds of different stories being told in it, as opposed to now.

Here’s what I recommend of the new stuff (comics and novels):

Aftermath Trilogy (Sums up where everyone in the original trilogy ended up, more or less)
Bloodlines
Lando Comic
Aphra Comic (Covers the “Scoundrels and Scum and Villainy” fix)
Poe Dameron Comic (Black Squadron is the new Rogue Squadron)
The Phasma Comic and Novel were both fun stories to read, so it’s kinda of a shame the character was killed off in the new movie.

It’s not 100% identical to the old canon, but why would you want it to be?

As for Old Republic, they’re going to, most likely, strip mine that era for lore in the most oblique way possible. They’ll refer to the old Sith empire, but in only vague terms that serve the current story.

They’re putting out a LOT more material than they did in the old EU days where the technology to put out a newer Star Wars movie hadn’t been developed.

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Yea FYI, the new Marvel Star wars stuff is all extremely good, especially the Vader comics.

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I was so fucking bummed they killed off Phasma and we didn’t get to see more of her in the mainline films. I was really excited to see a woman play a really -cool- villain in Star Wars. I’ll have to check out the novel for now, and being Star Wars they can asspull her surviving or she might get a side movie.

I really like the deleted scene from The Last Jedi that was posted online, giving Phasma a lot more depth and adding to her confrontation with Finn.

“Speaking at a post-screening Q&A, director Rian Johnson called Captain Phasma “the Kenny from South Park of this series.” For the younger readers out there, this is a reference to how Kenny would die in every episode during the show’s early seasons, yet always return for the next episode. South Park has eased off that joke in more recent years, though it still occasionally comes up.”

I think she survived ;-p

That’s what I’m hoping!

I really should read comics, especially the Darth Vader ones. I LOVE how the comics can give Vader dynamism and motion that hasn’t been done in the movies due to the limitations of costuming.

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Vader is super badass in the Star Wars Rebels cartoon that recently finished up. He is genuinely terrifying and practically a “Force” of nature.