I think we'd see a new MMO set in the High Republic or far post-JJ era before any significant revamp on this game. It would be a chance for them to hit reset on the monetization, build it from the ground up to work more like ESO with the various DLC packs and consuming it in whatever order you prefer. Instead of a single narrative we'd have a bunch of mini stories set in the same backdrop. And of course they can bring it in line with whatever the story group's objectives are under the Disney management, which was not a thing when this game was built. I don't think this is a bad thing - I think it actually opens them up for more creativity and story-telling options. What we'd lose is the uniqueness of the first 60 levels of 8-classes story in this game, but truthfully the strength of that approach was also the game's biggest weakness: expensive to produce, hemmed in by having to tell the same story from different class perspectives, repetitive progression. I think they are best served to look at the ESO model if they were to do another Star Wars MMO. I do think there is always a place for a SW MMO whether it's this game or not, the popularity of the license pretty much demands it.

That was total f'ing epic. I don't think Ahsoka is dead though - didn't we see her walking into the temple at the end, right after we saw Vader walking out? Unless that was her force ghost?

It's more like, Daisy was the lead actress with Boyega by her side. But I thought they both did a fine job, and will only continue to improve. I was especially impressed with Daisy because she doesn't have much of an acting background, just some bit parts before this, whereas Boyega does have a movie or two under his belt (which is how JJ was aware of him).

I wonder why MMOs haven't gone the annual release route, like the sports games. Elite Dangerous is doing something of the sort, though as usual Frontier's messaging has confused consumers. But in effect, rather than charging monthly subs, just do an annual release at full price, for the full game + expansion content, and also have a fairly robust in-game store for cosmetic and other enhancements. Give those who purchased previous editions a small discount. People are already used to paying $60 every year for Madden, FIFA, Assassin's Creed, Call of Duty. Create a 10 year plan - year 1 is the release of the base game with initial content, then each year is an annual release with new stuff. In this way we could possibly see a AAA release of a licensed property like Star Wars, in MMO form. I'm pretty surprised that we've heard nothing so far about that re: Star Wars - the synergies they could gain over the next 10 years with all of the upcoming movie releases would be amazing. Doesn't even have to be a BioWare-style game. Why not a Star Wars MMO in the Planetside 2 style? etc. I guess EA is really spooked with the MMO market right now, but I think there are enough casuals in the MMO market and enough hyped up brand awareness for Star Wars that a new MMO would work well. I can't imagine that SWTOR will attract tons of new players due to the new movies, at least not many new players that will take a quick look, not recognize anything, and then move on. I think The Old Republic setting is not familiar enough to attract the movie crowd - needs to be set in the current movie timeline.

To me the Lando series was much better than the Leia series ... it just feels like Lando, the kind of situation he would get into. Fun story, great art design.

I think it's pretty clear at this point, reading various interviews, that the 9 main movies are the story of the Skywalkers. This has been confirmed in interviews, even regarding the new trilogy. You can therefore expect some level of repetition across the generations, we are doomed to repeat our mistakes after all. And of course there is the overall theme of the Force pulling strings behind the scenes. The eternal struggle between good/evil. Of course you'll see repetition in that never-ending battle. It would have been nice if maybe they went with a ship instead of a death star clone for the big bad Thing that has to be destroyed. But the stakes have to be higher each time and I suppose you can only do so many things to present an intimidating threat when 2 death stars have already been destroyed. I found plenty of "new" things to enjoy in TFA: - No droid counterpart for BB-8. He stands on his own. - Female and minority for the main heroes. Fairly rare for such a major franchise and a welcome change. - female stormtroopers and commanders in high positions. - not even a mention of Tatooine. First time in 6 movies! - They actually killed off a character that we had become invested in over 6 movies, nobody changed their mind at the last minute this time! Not a token death either - stabbed in the heart, fell into an abyss, the planet he was on disintegrated and turned into a star. no coming back from that one! - Bad guy looks like a normal dude for once. might hang out in jazz clubs in his spare time or perhaps likes to paint. - the new Porkins didn't die - Hero kicks the crap out of the bad guy in the first movie. None of this too weak, need 3 movies to train up, etc. This is as much a story of the villain's development as the hero's. - top non-force bad guy is openly competitive with, even hostile to the Force bad guys. Oh how the reputation and influence of the force-wielding has declined over the years! - awesome-reputation pilot (Dameron) is really actually awesome and we get to see a great example of how good he is unlike previous awesome-reputation pilot Wedge, who actually doesn't get to show us very much - Interest in and respect, even awe, of the Force, by non-Force wielding people (Solo, Tor Lekka and Kanata).

There's an article, an interview with JJ recently, I think around the 20th, where he talks about the story arc not just being the development of the hero Rey but also of the villain, Kylo. We can expect over the next two movies that Kylo will reach the summit of his power and will become intimidating indeed (he already is in some respects, if only because his lack of control over himself makes him very unpredictable). Snoke did say that he needs to complete his training. We can expect maybe a new, fully functioning lightsaber for Kylo, plus maybe a new mask or upgraded suit to deal with the injuries he sustained (and probably will sustain more, can't be a skywalker if you're not missing a limb...). By the way I did see the movie again, and really for me it was even better the 2nd time through. I picked up a few more things, for example when Kylo is reading Rey's mind he picks out some "memories" that are actually memories of force visions or dreams she had - specifically a mental picture of the planet Luke was on ("ocean world ... an island..."). he did not interpret it that way, just thought they were her personal hopes and dreams to get away from Jakku and go somewhere like that. Also that speaks to Rey's growing power, it appears that she has been showing signs of her force prowess in many ways and visions seem to be a part of that.

It would have been ideal if they could have somehow organized a new SW MMO to launch along with the movie, but just too much work I guess. Yeah there isn't much to tie SWTOR to TFA so I won't be surprised if there are other folks who come to the game for a Star Wars fix and find it's not exactly what they were looking for. My own son is one of them.

I think the writers intend for there to be a likeable side to him. After all how could there NOT be, he's the son of Han Solo! We'll need to have some small modicum of sympathy for him so we can better understand how his family are responding to him. Perhaps we'll hear some stories of how great a kid he was and maybe a rescue or other heroic act he accomplished before he turned. I suspect some kind of redemption for him at the end, perhaps he helps Rey defeat Snoke, hopefully not in the carbon-copy method that Anakin helped Luke! But I think when you have killed many as he has, and then we see him kill his own father in cold blood, there isn't really any other option than for his story to end in his death by EP 9. I just hope Luke lives to see the end of the story, and go out on his own terms. I'm guessing the last 30 years have been torturous for him, and I have to say I thought Mark Hamill conveyed a lot of pain and amazement in that one scene at the end.

Well Han did say that everybody has been looking for the Falcon, and in fact it's not too much of a stretch at all that they were in that system because they had tracked it there. They even went through who the previous thieves were in the time since it was stolen from him.

This is along the lines of what I'm thinking, though I didn't recall seeing a tombstone. But I will be seeing the movie again this week so I'll look out for it

Speaking of things i saw in trailers but not the movie, I don't remember seeing that awesome reverse hyperspace shot of the Falcon

Can you imagine how good EP2 or 3 had been, if they had written Anakin this way, or rather if the character could emote the way Driver did. I thought he did a good job of conveying his own fear, insecurity, instability. It made him seem more dangerous. And suspending the blaster bolt in air like that is one of the coolest force displays I've seen in all the movies, up there with Yoda absorbing the lightning imo. It just looked bad ***.

No ... you probably just feel that way because he's black. Poe was whooping and hollering, so were his wingmates. Luke whooped and hollered more than once in ANH. So did Han. So did a bunch of rebels when the transports were launched from Echo Base. So did lots of Ewoks in ROTJ.. Rey was whoopin and hollerin after she and Finn escaped on the Millenium Falcon. Strange that you picked out Finn's whoopin and hollerin and not hers. Maybe you ought to reexamine your question and where it may really be coming from.

Just use the Ignore button - click on his profile name and you'll see it on the right. Not worth dealing with trolls.

i swear I saw SCORPIO in Kanata's cantina. Look again next time you see it

Does not change the fact that this is the first time we've seen it done in all of the movies, and it speaks to his force prowess. Though I have to say it's no surprise that you would take a contrarian position.

In Kanata's cantina ... I'm telling you, there's a robot that is a dead ringer for SCORPIO. Shows up again during the attack, standing outside. Old Republic tie-in confirmed.

^^^^^

Because, knowing that your opinion is negative, and that it will bring disappointment to the people that are trying to celebrate the movie, you still come into the thread anyway. Just can't resist can you?

I think ESB Luke would beat TFA Kylo in a battle of swords, but I think Kylo had better mastery of the Force especially telekinetics. That's the first time in all 7 movies that we saw someone suspend a bolt in midair. Vader didn't even do that in ESB. But at other times he seemed shaky, unsure. Kylo is very much in between two worlds. On a side note could you imagine how interesting Anakin could have been in Ep2/3 if he was written more like Kylo? Or maybe he was, but Adam Driver is just better able to convey the insecurities. But clearly Kylo takes after his grandfather not just in Force capability but emotionally, too.

Well, lol, that was a very enthusiastic post! I enjoyed the movie as well. you can rest assured that some people will come in here to crap on your opinion and try to bring your enjoyment down. But I can tell that won't affect you! I thought the cast of new players was quite good. One thing that stood out for me, and I guess it's a minor thing in the context of the full experience, but I was impressed with Lupita Nyong'o voice acting. She has a rich and vibrant voice and was able to convey thoughtful wisdom, which is more impressive when you think about how young she is. Good on her, that was a good job. I get this overall vibe from the movie that the "force" is just on a lower level than even the OT, which had already fallen from the levels we saw in the PT. What I mean by that is, the characters do not seem as amazingly powerful as they were in those heady days of the old republic and the jedi order. Now, we've got scavengers who have to try three times before they can get force persuasion to work; an antagonist who couldn't even build his lightsaber correctly and is striving to live up to his heritage; his insecurity is palpable (and a really interesting turn for a bad guy). The non-Force powers, ie the First Order, starkiller base, etc., are clearly the superior side of the antagonists in this first go around, though I am curious to see and learn more about Snoke. In the context of the Force Awakens, I suppose this makes sense, because it's inferred that the force has basically been dormant since at least Luke went into hiding, and whatever power Kylo has been able to gain has been very furtive and tentative; power in fits and starts. Some of what he did especially with the mental powers, stopping the blaster bolt, etc., were quite impressive, but his skill with the sword and his overall confidence is very shaky. You can almost feel some panic in him, frustration and impotence, especially when Rey is free on the ship and he can't locate her. Anyway my thoughts are still forming, but one thing I can say clearly is that it was quite good. They resolved a couple of the legacy storylines, introduced us to all the old crew again, and with that done this story can go in any number of directions. Looking forward to it!!

I think some people miss the larger point and theme of the movies, which is that the Force is behind everything, putting all events and actions into motion. It's then up to individuals to make their choices so that events play out. Some of the repetition, similarity in themes between the series, these things are easier to understand in the wider context. If you are doing a scene by scene analytical comparison between TFA and ANH, for example, then you're not looking at it at the level that the writers intended. I suggest you try to pull yourself out of the ground-level detail and look at the saga as a whole, it's much more satisfying that way. Oh, and some people just like to ***** and complain, there's that too.

The Jedi had to let Ahsoka go. It was a huge embarrassment for them at the time; they had accused her of a murder and did not really make much of an attempt to side with her or even look into her claims, despite her protests. When it was clear she was innocent she had lost faith in them. She, still being very young, could see what the greybeards in the order could not, that something was wrong with it and it was rotting from within. And so she made the precocious and correct choice to walk away. My guess is she will fall near the end of the series protecting the crew, Kanaan will die at some point as well, and Ezra will survive in obscurity, perhaps working from the background but giving up his Jedi path. I've had a few wild thoughts that maybe Kylo Ren = Ezra, having come out of carbon freeze or something, if only because of the similar complexion.