What bothers you in the EU?

[deneric]

My complaint would be how, for the most part, it's all a bunch of white people solving all the problems. I mean, we have this galaxy full of incredibly unique and interesting cultures and species, and yet, for the most part, in the dramatis personae, everyone's name is followed by (human fe/male).

 

Also, if it took a little less than someone being crushed by a moon or seeing their ghost to prove they were dead, that'd be nice too. Just sayin.

 

As for Kevin J. Anderson, you just have to go into his books with a light-hearted mentality. Sure, he's not gonna be the best, but you gotta hand it to the guy, he's very fun. I remember just loving the Jedi Academy trilogy, and that was because I let go of my expectations a bit. That sounds like an insult, but just try loosening up a bit next time you read him, it's very enjoyable.

[Rouge]

The deaths of Anakin and Jacen Solo, the death of Chewbacca, Mara Jade's death, the existence of Ben Skywalker and the continued existence of the Empire still 134 years after the Return of the Jedi.

[BenjaminminU]

The Vong, just think they're the stupidest idea ever.

[LemmingLeader]

The various posts in this thread justify why I don't like so much of the SW EU

[TKMaster]

The fact that it's stories are hardly better than your average comic book, that 60-90 year old protaganists / antaganists from the OT are still running around kicking ***, Jedi are at god-like levels and are unkillable, and theres still not a Jar-Jar book!!!!!!!

[Malrus]

The vong, Bobba Fett surviving the sarlacc, the gamorrean guard that gets eaten by Jabba's rancor surviving (not actually confirmed as cannon yet but still) and lastly the fact that the victims of a sarlacc can still communicate sorta like a consciousness (you guys know what I mean) with eacother

[Jandi]

What bothers me about the EU? Because MOST of it is poorly written junk, no better than fan-fiction you would find in a Twilight fan site. If it didn't have the words STAR and WARS at the cover, no one would read it. I mean, the Jedi Knight games have better writing than most books and they are FPS/3rd person games! Edited March 29, 2012 by Jandi

[jayderyu]

Mandalorians. I play a pen and paper rpg and the GM is shoving Mandalorian culture down my throat.

[Captain_Zone]

The fact that it's stories are hardly better than your average comic book, that 60-90 year old protaganists / antaganists from the OT are still running around kicking ***, Jedi are at god-like levels and are unkillable, and theres still not a Jar-Jar book!!!!!!!

 

Now THIS is what happens when some children use the internet unsupervised. ^

 

Jar Jar was a kiddy character, and here is where we really see it.

[Toonimator]

The deaths of Anakin and Jacen Solo, the death of Chewbacca, Mara Jade's death, the existence of Ben Skywalker and the continued existence of the Empire still 134 years after the Return of the Jedi.

Whoa, what's wrong with Ben Skywalker? Admittedly I skipped LOTF and have only read the first book of FOTJ, but I liked what I saw of him, and loved the very IDEA of Ben Skywalker. When Luke & Mara had a kid, I was hoping 'Ben' would be the name and loved that it happened!

 

I'll say this for the continued existence of the Empire: I hated that it took 'em 15 years for the Remnant to loosen up a bit and finally sign a treaty with the Republic, and that idiotic 'old Empire'/power-hungry elements of the future LEGACY Empire wanted to conspire with the Sith to conquer the galaxy... but the Empire had a cool look, and the LEGACY Imperial designs were really, really cool (aside from the Stormtroopers, which were such subtle changes and mostly ignored if a different artist was drawing 'em; and we hardly got to see any of the non-human helmet designs). Imperial Knights and the uniforms of guys like Morlish Veed were great.

[LilTsar]

almost everything set after rotj. thrawn is good if overrated, but the vong and new jedi stuff was obvious to be crud to me even as a kid.

 

best stuff: Han Solo Trilogy, Han Solo Adventures, Lando Calrissian Adventures. Yes, indeed, I have discerning taste. also good is stuff set earlier, like the Darth Bane novels.

 

my biggest peeve, which as far as i know im the only one to be affected by, is eu wookies. to me, the appeal of chewie back in the day was that he was like a giant monkey, vaguely intelligent, but as much an animal as a 'sentient'. turning wookies into these noble savages bugs the hell out of me. like in swtor, when Bowdarr the wookie pet emotes, i want to tell the game, "no, Bowdarr did not just say, 'where you lead, i follow- and protect', he said rwooaar'! it was quite clear!"

[Guildrum]

my biggest peeve, which as far as i know im the only one to be affected by, is eu wookies. to me, the appeal of chewie back in the day was that he was like a giant monkey, vaguely intelligent, but as much an animal as a 'sentient'. turning wookies into these noble savages bugs the hell out of me. like in swtor, when Bowdarr the wookie pet emotes, i want to tell the game, "no, Bowdarr did not just say, 'where you lead, i follow- and protect', he said rwooaar'! it was quite clear!"

 

Chewbacca was fixing the Millenium Falcon in Episode V, and he was co-piloting a spacecraft. "Vaguely intelligent" my foot...

[Rekkx]

Eggs cannot be sold by the dozen.

 

Oh wait... Wrong EU. Sorry.

[LilTsar]

Chewbacca was fixing the Millenium Falcon in Episode V, and he was co-piloting a spacecraft. "Vaguely intelligent" my foot...

 

 

cant even remember what a hydrospanner is, nor can he get c3po right. smart: for a walking carpet. fyi, ive had philosophy and evolutionary biology courses, so i cant help but overthink this stuff

 

i think wooks are about the intelligence of an 10 year old human, and 10 year old kids can learn some pretty ridiculous muscle memory video game crap so sure chewie can pilot

Edited March 29, 2012 by LilTsar

[Toonimator]

cant even remember what a hydrospanner is, nor can he get c3po right. smart: for a walking carpet. fyi, ive had philosophy and evolutionary biology courses, so i cant help but overthink this stuff

 

i think wooks are about the intelligence of an 10 year old human, and 10 year old kids can learn some pretty ridiculous muscle memory video game crap so sure chewie can pilot

Well, you're wrong about all of that. Wookiees are highly intelligent; it's because of Chewie being so good with technology and everything that we had Ewoks in Return of the Jedi instead of primitive Wookiees.

 

Chewie had never, that we know of, had reason to repair a protocol droid before. He had a box of parts and time on his hands, so he tinkered with 3PO. He got the head connected and functioning, but he plopped it on backwards which amused him greatly. That doesn't mean he COULDN'T fix 3PO properly. He just didn't in the limited time he had in the prison cell. Once back on the Falcon, they had more immediate concerns like escaping and rescuing Luke, so R2 was left to fix 3PO--and why not? He's a droid, specializing in repairing stuff. Chewie's more about fixing the ship, which is old and held together with tape & spit; it's not tough for HIM to fix, it's tough for BOTH HIM & HAN to fix.

 

And muscle-memory piloting would only really be useful if TIE fighters and Star Destroyers always flew the same patterns in every situation.

[Propecius]

In a word? "Point."

 

I gave up after Heir to the Empire, thanks to the fact that Timothy Zahn couldn't write dialog to save his life. All his characters spoke in the same voice. And in spite of the fact that it had never been used in the movies, they all said, "Point," when they meant, "You have a good point, there."

[LilTsar]

Well, you're wrong about all of that. Wookiees are highly intelligent; it's because of Chewie being so good with technology and everything that we had Ewoks in Return of the Jedi instead of primitive Wookiees.

 

Chewie had never, that we know of, had reason to repair a protocol droid before. He had a box of parts and time on his hands, so he tinkered with 3PO. He got the head connected and functioning, but he plopped it on backwards which amused him greatly. That doesn't mean he COULDN'T fix 3PO properly. He just didn't in the limited time he had in the prison cell. Once back on the Falcon, they had more immediate concerns like escaping and rescuing Luke, so R2 was left to fix 3PO--and why not? He's a droid, specializing in repairing stuff. Chewie's more about fixing the ship, which is old and held together with tape & spit; it's not tough for HIM to fix, it's tough for BOTH HIM & HAN to fix.

 

And muscle-memory piloting would only really be useful if TIE fighters and Star Destroyers always flew the same patterns in every situation.

 

dont be so sensitive people, gall. that said, sure, if you take everything in the movies as dogma, my wookie gripe loses validity. but if one were to replace chewie with an earth orangutang, that wouldn't mean that orangutangs are mechanically proficient or 'highly intelligent', merely that the movie lacked reference to reality, which is what i feel star wars fiction does with wookies in genereal in a less direct manner: it takes a species that does not appear to fit standard criteria for being called 'civilized' or attributed with human-level intelligence and gives it to them, like dr. doolittle does for dogs. i dont mind, i enjoy it the same way i can enjoy a good animated movie about animals or something, but the eu just takes it all to seriously and goes to these extreme lengths to justify their purported sentience and evolutionary progression.

[wavyhill]

I've found that at least half of the EU material I've read/played/heard about has made me roll my eyes and say "Oh, for the love of..."

 

What really pushes your buttons? Here's MY short list.

 

Dark Empire: So the triumphant moment of the entire film saga, namely Palpatine's death, was entirely meaningless because he just downloaded like a Cylon into a clone body, and Luke willingly went to the Dark Side to get close to him, and shrugged it off like the Dark Side ISN'T a corrupting, addictive influence?

I have to admit that I enjoyed the Dark Empire trilogy. People always rail against the clone thing, but I always thought having a backup plan like that fit Palpys character pretty well. Then again I was a lot less discriminating when I was younger and I really don't remember a whole lot of the fine details. Plus I've been reading comic books all my life, so maybe I'm more thick skinned than other people.

 

The World Devastators were just cool though. I loved that mission in Rogue Squadron.

 

New Jedi Order: A race of extra-galactic invaders, who use biotech and are IMMUNE TO THE FORCE? And can use said biotech to create superstrong gravity fields that pull a moon down onto a planet without cracking the planet apart like an egg or flattening everyone on it into pancakes?

I'll agree here. NJO is what killed my interest in the EU. I think the last one I read was Star By Star and by the end of that book it became clear to me that all the authors involved in the entire mess were just spinning their wheels, that nothing was going to be resolved any bloody time soon, and that the people in charge were more interested in milking crap for as long as possible than telling a good story.

 

Sure, the pre-NJO EU may have had some stupid crap, like The Crystal Star, Luke's Force ghost girlfriend, the soul stealing dinosaurs, and so forth. Hell, I can't even remember a damn thing about the entire Black Fleet Crisis trilogy. But at least those stupid things didn't really extend outside the one or two books they were in. The Vong however were a stupid thing that went on way too damn long and were all pervasive for several bloody years. Awful, terrible idea.

 

And everything I've seen people talk about coming from the post-NJO EU just seems leagues more terrible than anything that came before. Jacen turning evil, mind-stealing bugs, Jaina being trained by Boba Fett to kill her brother, Mara Jade dying because Luke sold his marriage to Satan (or was that some other red head? Ah well, same difference), Mandalorians went from being crazy space vikings/huns/whatever to peaceful, honorable farmers? I dunno. I don't see any pluses here.

 

Heir to the Empire Trilogy: Actually pretty good for the most part, but the bit about furry lizards that create a bubble where the Force doesn't EXIST? You know what happens when the Force is removed from an area? EVERYTHING DIES, because the Force IS life.

I'm pretty sure that the yalsimiri or w/e predate that bit of fluff, so they get grandfathered in.

 

Boba Fett: He fell into the Sarlacc and died. End of story. He didn't escape. HE'S DEAD.

Again I don't see your issue, but then the only thing I ever read that had Boba alive after being eaten were the short stories in Tales of the Bounty Hunters and Tales from Jabba's Palace. The worst crap to happen to Boba from my POV is being included in the terrible prequels.

 

Kevin J. Anderson: Just... Kevin J. Anderson. He's a hack. A hack who writes bad fanfiction that my 4-year-old niece would laugh at.

While I'll agree that his Dune books are just *%#$ing awful the worst I can say about his Star Wars books is that they're just boring. I liked his origin story for IG-88 though.

 

Other than the aforementioned NJO nonsense my biggest beef with the EU is that nobody acknowledges the old Lando Calrissian Adventures and Han Solo Adventures stories. I still really like them to this day. The EU in general could do with having more pulp and fewer crazy galactic threats that take 3 books of overarching drama to resolve.

[LilTsar]

Other than the aforementioned NJO nonsense my biggest beef with the EU is that nobody acknowledges the old Lando Calrissian Adventures and Han Solo Adventures stories. I still really like them to this day. The EU in general could do with having more pulp and fewer crazy galactic threats that take 3 books of overarching drama to resolve.

 

totally. to the sarlaac with the jedi, thrawn and all the imprial remnant bull, the vong and the twenty thousand secret apprentices of palpatine. just gimme han & lando, baby. The Adventures are a great couple trilogies with an old school, new hope feel, as is the Han Solo Trilogy.

Edited March 29, 2012 by LilTsar

[ToEasy]

The Vong and Chewbacca's death.

[LemmingLeader]

Another stupid thing from recent years: A force user dragging down a Star Destroyer to crash onto a planet surface.

[LeeC]

vong, starkiller, boba fett, and the fact that people do not stay dead.

 

also I am upset of the lack of books detailing the force wars and the events leading up to it.

[Rouge]

Whoa, what's wrong with Ben Skywalker? Admittedly I skipped LOTF and have only read the first book of FOTJ, but I liked what I saw of him, and loved the very IDEA of Ben Skywalker. When Luke & Mara had a kid, I was hoping 'Ben' would be the name and loved that it happened!

 

Without Ben's existence at least Jacen, perhaps also Anakin, would still be alive. That's enough reason to dislike Ben Skywalker. Without him, the "gender balance" would have been an impenetrable character shield for at least one Solo boy.

 

But now we have no Solo boys left, no Solos in Legacy, the entire family name was killed off because Ben exists.

[Captain_Zone]

Without Ben's existence at least Jacen, perhaps also Anakin, would still be alive. That's enough reason to dislike Ben Skywalker. Without him, the "gender balance" would have been an impenetrable character shield for at least one Solo boy.

 

But now we have no Solo boys left, no Solos in Legacy, the entire family name was killed off because Ben exists.

 

I just laughed so hard I had tears rolling down my face. That has to be the funniest thing I've seen in a while. +1 LOL

[undeadsithdread]

I've found that at least half of the EU material I've read/played/heard about has made me roll my eyes and say "Oh, for the love of..."

 

What really pushes your buttons? Here's MY short list.

 

Dark Empire: So the triumphant moment of the entire film saga, namely Palpatine's death, was entirely meaningless because he just downloaded like a Cylon into a clone body, and Luke willingly went to the Dark Side to get close to him, and shrugged it off like the Dark Side ISN'T a corrupting, addictive influence?

 

New Jedi Order: A race of extra-galactic invaders, who use biotech and are IMMUNE TO THE FORCE? And can use said biotech to create superstrong gravity fields that pull a moon down onto a planet without cracking the planet apart like an egg or flattening everyone on it into pancakes?

 

Heir to the Empire Trilogy: Actually pretty good for the most part, but the bit about furry lizards that create a bubble where the Force doesn't EXIST? You know what happens when the Force is removed from an area? EVERYTHING DIES, because the Force IS life.

 

Boba Fett: He fell into the Sarlacc and died. End of story. He didn't escape. HE'S DEAD.

 

Kevin J. Anderson: Just... Kevin J. Anderson. He's a hack. A hack who writes bad fanfiction that my 4-year-old niece would laugh at.

 

why bother with movies games and cartoon they brought maul back brought zombies

bring statues to life a force user can bring star destroyer down fighting force ghosts...

Edited March 31, 2012 by undeadsithdread