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Say that Dark Horse puts you in charge of what was in our world the Legacy of the Force series. Star Wars decades, about a century post-ANH. How would you do it?

If you envision a post-Endor world that is different from what books such as NJO laid out, sketch that out briefly as well. But I'd like the main focus to be on the far future. I think we've already had threads about the immediate post-Endor EU.

For me, it's going to have to be the FAAAAAARRRRR future.

I want a chance to develop new history and prophecies and legends and whatnot. NO Sith. NO Mandalorians. NO Empire. Possibly even no Jedi, or at least something different.

Instead of the worn out "Jedi vs Sith" stories, I'll write a "Jedi vs Jedi" story, specifically, a civil war between followers of the late Kyp Durron (who died in battle against Luke Skywalker) and followers of the latest scion of Skywalker. The story will NOT focus on this scion of Skywalker, but on the Jedi equivalent of a cherry (soldier who has not yet seen battle) and the changes he/she undergoes as he/she accompanies his/her master on various missions, e.g., it will be like stories told from Obi-Wan's POV as he accompanies Qui-Gonn on various missions.

There will be a three-way struggle between the Empire (which supports Skywalker's faction), the late Kyp Durron's faction, and the New Republic (which alternately supports Skywalker's or Durron's faction, depending on who can better scratch the backs of the corrupt politicians who dominate the New Republic).

There will be NO white stormtrooper armor or T-visored Mandalorian armor, NO X-Wing or TIE derivatives, NO triangular star destroyers or dildo-shaped Mon Calamari cruisers-- newer designs will be commissioned to give the stories a distinctive look.

havokeff wrote:For me, it's going to have to be the FAAAAAARRRRR future.

I want a chance to develop new history and prophecies and legends and whatnot. NO Sith. NO Mandalorians. NO Empire. Possibly even no Jedi, or at least something different.

No Jedi? To paraphrase a great man

"That would make you the Diet Coke of Star Wars, just one calorie. Not Star Wars enough!"

The inherent problem with doing Star Wars in the far future, is that if you get rid of Jedi, Sith, EMpire, REbels, X Wings Droids, it is hard to distinguish the product as Star Wars, and at that point you should save money on the licensing and create your own universe.

I would go with a variation of Sidewinder's idea of a Jedi Schism. Put it in the Far future, where the galaxy is divided into two governments, but there is one Jedi Order.

The conflict cna then be broken into one or two different ways. The first having the break come from the ORder itself, where the Jedi are divided in their usage of the Force to solve problems. One half being more aggressive, the other being more passive. Eventually the Agressive Jedi start adopting more and more tactics that the passive Jedi disapprove of. Keeping in mind these aggressive JEdi are not going to be Near Dark Jedi Ala Quinlan Douchewank...err...Vos. They are going to be firmly rooted in the light side and not trying to pull some "walk the shadows" bullshit. That is what would make the eventual clash between the two halves of the order that much more conflicting.

The other idea is to have one fully united Jedi Order, but serving two nations that eventually go to war. The Order is obligated to defend and serve the public on both sides of the conflict but the ORder wishes to stay neutral, something that neither side will permit. There are Jedi who favor either side of the conflict, and Jedi who would do nothing at all until both sides have ceased fighting. Each government could even be harboring one or more darksiders each which could compete against each other as well as the Jedi.

I forgot to add one more thing: NO MORE VONG!!! Just say they all left the galaxy to find a new world to call their own. (I'm tempted to say they were exterminated by a resurgent Empire, but outright genocide doesn't really fit in the SW univers.)

Darth Fanboy wrote:The inherent problem with doing Star Wars in the far future, is that if you get rid of Jedi, Sith, EMpire, REbels, X Wings Droids, it is hard to distinguish the product as Star Wars, and at that point you should save money on the licensing and create your own universe.

The Prequel Trilogy did fine without using X-Wing or TIE variants, and the KOTOR games did fine without using white-armored stormtroopers. We need to keep the Jedi, but we don't need to recycle things from the movies for their settings-- the nations they're from, the organizations they serve, the ships they fly, the enemies they fight, etc.

The other idea is to have one fully united Jedi Order, but serving two nations that eventually go to war. The Order is obligated to defend and serve the public on both sides of the conflict but the ORder wishes to stay neutral, something that neither side will permit. There are Jedi who favor either side of the conflict, and Jedi who would do nothing at all until both sides have ceased fighting. Each government could even be harboring one or more darksiders each which could compete against each other as well as the Jedi.

This sounds like a good idea.

Sidewinder wrote: The Prequel Trilogy did fine without using X-Wing or TIE variants, and the KOTOR games did fine without using white-armored stormtroopers. We need to keep the Jedi, but we don't need to recycle things from the movies for their settings-- the nations they're from, the organizations they serve, the ships they fly, the enemies they fight, etc.

Yes I know, but they did have Jedi. My point was that if you got rid of Jedi entirely, then it would become necessary to incorporate certain familiar aspects of the series in order to make it distinctly Star Wars.

Addendum:

YOu mean to tell me that you couldn't tell that the Sith Troopers didn't remind you of Stormtroopers?

Dont forget the ISD ripoffs as Sith warships !

KoToR was a rehash of OT story but done in a good way that does not cause the player to scream "burn the plagiarist !". Something like that have to be done for the far future EU. Either that or the tagline of the new product can be "In the dark future of Star Wars there is only WAR".

Sarevok wrote:"In the dark future of Star Wars there is only WAR".

Who wants to see some Baneblade vs AT-AT action? (Raises hand.)

Seriously-- okay, not really-- a Skywalker as the God Emperor of the Galactic Empire, whose presence in the Force guides trillions of sentient beings in their battles against evil extra-galactic evils (the Sith, the Tyrannids after they eat the Vong, the Necrons...) might be a hundredfold more interesting than the garbage that is 'Legacy'.

You know, call me crazy, but after some skimming on Wookipedia, the Legacy of the Force overall metaplot seems rather more interesting than the NJO or the post-NJO GFFA-Confed War stuff. How do the three lambasted EU eras compare with each other?

I'd treat it like Cowboy Bebop. The story is over when it's over.

And I'd take the licensing rights to my grave so Kevin J. Anderson couldn't fuck it up with a shitty EU. Because I'd rather spend eternity resting in peace than spinning in my casket.

I'd keep the jedi, but have them officially be elite soliders and police for one government. The ISD designs make sense(because they allow most of the guns to be targeted on an enemy in front of them) so they stay. other stuff looks different. The ISD descendants will be used by both sides, but they will look different, be armed differently, and act differently in combat. both sides will have multiple SD designs. The side the jedi are on will be the 6th republic, 3 having risen and fallen after the new republic. The sith will have been obliterated, and will not come back. The other side will be some group sorta like the CIS in scope, and be motivated by the fact that several member worlds were partiality sterilized by republic forces during their rise to power. The other worlds joined them as a condemnation of republic tactics.

After actually reading Legacy, I've come to the conclusion is that you really can't have Star Wars without the key concepts- Jedi vs. Sith, Republic vs. Empire (or perhaps the Separatists, unsuccessfully). Beyond that, it's just exploring the wacky world of the EU and fighting random bizarre aliens. But all of that has been done by other sci-fi series, and so it tends to feel jarringly odd in the Star Wars setting.

Take the returned Empire in Legacy. Sure, it's dumb that it came back (albeit in a nicer form that actually resembles an Imperial state with the pomp and circumstance of royalty), but what could you replace it with? Space commies? A cybernetic posthuman state? A Jedi theocracy? Wait, maybe that last one might work. But in any case, I'm not sure that there really is much room to expand without rehashing some concepts to preserve the Star Warsishness of it all.

I personally think that Legacy is a lot more tolerable once you think of it less of a sequel than as a reboot that just happens to exist in the same continuity.

In other words, the EU can only reproduce by committing incest with its original ideas

A key point for me, would have to be the mighty and competant New Republic still in full operation, and encompassing most of the galaxy. Sure, it would mean the novel writers have to bust their asses trying to make their stuff fit with that future...

NecronLord wrote:A key point for me, would have to be the mighty and competant New Republic still in full operation, and encompassing most of the galaxy. Sure, it would mean the novel writers have to bust their asses trying to make their stuff fit with that future...

Really, especially with the Jedi at their disposal, what exactly would be the threat in such a universe?

There wouldn't need to be one. The far future only needs to exist as a dream for the characters in the here and now, not necessarily as an actual setting. If it was ever part of an actual setting, it would probably be for comparison, such as having a scene where the last of the generation that actually brought about the New Republic reflecting on their accomplishments.

Really though, if you must have a threat you can always pull some handy-dandy extragalactic invaders ( Vong anyone?) out of your hat, scaling the abilities of the invaders to match the power of the republic. It would be cool to have an extra-galactic Builder (KOTOR) empire, returning to reclaim the galaxy of their ancestors, with multiple Star Forges in tow.

Likewise, the Sith might be the main threat (again). Even a strong, competent New Republic would be cut off at the knees if the Jedi turned against them.

Alexian Cale wrote:

NecronLord wrote:A key point for me, would have to be the mighty and competant New Republic still in full operation, and encompassing most of the galaxy. Sure, it would mean the novel writers have to bust their asses trying to make their stuff fit with that future...

Really, especially with the Jedi at their disposal, what exactly would be the threat in such a universe?

The threat in Star Wars always comes from within. The Republic corroded from inside out. Palpatine rose through the political ranks. Anakin turned on the Jedi. The rebellion is from the Imperial Senate. The Sith are destroyed by Darth Vader. It's only in the EU that the threats start coming from out side.

Ah. I thought that this was a setting for an eventual series.

havokeff wrote:

Alexian Cale wrote:

NecronLord wrote:A key point for me, would have to be the mighty and competant New Republic still in full operation, and encompassing most of the galaxy. Sure, it would mean the novel writers have to bust their asses trying to make their stuff fit with that future...

Really, especially with the Jedi at their disposal, what exactly would be the threat in such a universe?

The threat in Star Wars always comes from within. The Republic corroded from inside out. Palpatine rose through the political ranks. Anakin turned on the Jedi. The rebellion is from the Imperial Senate. The Sith are destroyed by Darth Vader. It's only in the EU that the threats start coming from out side.

Still, it's a limited selection, especially if we don't use the Sith or Dark Jedi. The "threat"/"villain"/whatever would likely have to rely on intellect.

And relying on intellect is worse then "rar im immune to force powers and have ten different super weapons in my pocket and my grandfather was Dr Evil" why exactly ?

It isn't. An 'intellectual attack' is just fine. The only nitpick I have with that is that a small group of masterminds plotting to take over the republic doesn't lend itself well to the spectacular battles that everyone loves. It's called Star WARS for a reason. You'd need some way to justify large amounts of people shooting each other.

I personally like having the 'bad guy' work through dupes (like those Trade Fed. morons). That way everyone is happy. We get sinister politicking AND huge battles!

havokeff wrote:It's only in the EU that the threats start coming from out side.

True, though it should also be noted that the Galactic government always becomes weak from within, leaving it vulnerable to without. But yeah, it seems like the last EU threats were all about some weird outside alien force- Ssi-Ruuk, Chiss, Killiks, Yevethans, Vong. I'm not so sure if having Dark Side users would have been such an improvement in originality, though I guess you can have the alien Sith race coming back. I think if they weren't going to do the Vong, the EU hacks probably would have chosen a Borg or Dalek mechanical race, honestly. Or from within, they might have done a Droid Revolt sort of thing.

All of which seems both blah and un-Star Warsish in my view.

Sarevok wrote:And relying on intellect is worse then "rar im immune to force powers and have ten different super weapons in my pocket and my grandfather was Dr Evil" why exactly ?

I never said it did. The problem is that the villains would have to be smarter than the heroes.

Alexian Cale wrote:

Sarevok wrote:And relying on intellect is worse then "rar im immune to force powers and have ten different super weapons in my pocket and my grandfather was Dr Evil" why exactly ?

I never said it did. The problem is that the villains would have to be smarter than the heroes.

That's usually a default anyway.

The easiest way to cut off some rehash problems would be to stop with all the doom and gloom war shit all the time. Warfare will always happen naturally but where are the scientists, the explorers and smugglers ?
Not everything has to be an epic galactic war where the fate of the force hangs in the balance with your Skywalker hero or Grand Vader villian.

I would most likely try and get some short story like material on the go that fleshes out the galaxy from multiple points of view while changing the locations and focus. Putting aside the copyright issues, having a few stories taken from other Sci Fi settings would help to add variety. Have Republic ships the equivelent of the Enterprise boldly going where noone has gone before etc.
Meet new races, maybe get some ancients - like the Rakatan Empire with their Starforge or maybe the race that built that Corellian Supernova Station. Fighting the Replicators or dealing with the Wraith who feed on the Force.