The Old Republic

After what a disaster KotOR 2 turned out to be, I'm hardly surprised that LucasArts will probably not be making a 3rd. While I'm not exactly excited to hear that the next KotOR-era LucasArts production will be an MMO, I can understand the reasoning behind this. KotOR was and still remains a great example of what a Star Wars universe game can be. But the fact is that in the years following the release of The Revenge of the Sith, the Star Wars expanded universe media has become so convoluted and rediculous that trying to keep up with all of it can definately make a fan's head spin. As a High School senior, working on my portfolio, studying for tests, and living out my social life all take prescendence over following the latest and "greatest" twist that Lucas and co. have decided to toss into the fray.

It is a phenominon that, sadly, seems to occur in all popular venues of the Sci-Fi genre. Eventually the story is told. The casual Star Wars fan can no longer log on to a starwars fansite and read speculation about the prequel trilogy or the latest Clone Wars game. Instead, those of us that were such ardent fans of the EU books before RotS came out, are left hanging. You cannot casually walk into a local bookstore or comic book store, pick up one of the many Star Wars comics that are currently circulating, and dive into the classic story. The EU has become completely convoluted. Star Wars: Legacy presented an amazing opportunity to creates something fresh and new, instead the fans get smacked in the face with material from the movies being dragged into the new canon.

The identity of Darth Krayt is a collosal misstep on the part of Dark Horse. How long are the Dark Horse writers going to abuse those few Jedi who were apparently not very fortunate in escaping Order 66. One can only imagine what horrors would be inflicted on the character of Alaya Secura had she not been explicitly killed on Felucia.

Cade Skywalker represented a chance for the brand to redeem itself, but all we've gotten is the same rediculousness. It was completely unnecessary for him to explicitly go over to the Sith for a time. Take Han Solo and Kyle Katarn, mush them together, and then strip away their souls, and we get Cade. He was lovely. Now that fantastic opportunity is gone, lost amidst the twists and turns of Legacy. There is always some kind of evil organization, and I honestly wouldn't be surprised if the New Sith Empire wasn't controlled by a clone of Palpatine kept alive by a clone named Luuuke.

And for goodness' sake, no one is being fooled by that Clone Wars animated series. It's cool that the brand is being pushed to younger kids, but does it have to be in this shoddy format? This shoddy new series is the Star Wars Holiday Special of the new generation of Star Wars fans.

This is absurd.

In short, Star Wars is a classic Hero tale. Don't try to pretend it isn't. That's why KotOr 2 was such a flop. Stop with the grey areas and completely unbelievable situations, Lucas and co., we aren't buying it.

I do understand the choice to make an MMO, it's a wildly popular genre. But does anyone honestly believe that TOR will bring new prestige? Ten to one it is just a rehash of Star Wars: Galaxies. And what happened to the Exile? What happened to Revan? Why do the fans of KotOR 1 and 2 get left hanging when it comes to the characters that are near and dear to our hearts? Is it because the most vocal fans of the KotOR brand are female? I've been an ardent defender of the Lucas brand over the years as not being sexist, but I think it is a generally accepted fact that games like KotOR appeal to female gamers. There is a broad discrepancy between the amount of games made in the FPS and MMO genre (typically male-dominated venues), and the RPG/story-centered genre that KotOR embodies.

I'm not saying that LucasArts is evil or wrong in appealing to their largely 18-25 male fanbase, but would a press release or a short comic serial (or a radio play!) that details what happened to the gangs from KotORs 1 and 2 be too much to ask? That would at the very least give the fans something to argue about for another good two or three years.