Apparently, fans of Lando Calrissian are feeling really jilted that their favorite Star Wars character hasn't been included in Bioware's forthcoming MMORPG Star Wars: The Old Republic.
At a PAX last weekend a group from The Lando Society even showed up to protest the game's perceived lack. Club Jade has a short video up if you want to see what that kind of thing looks like.
Now. Let's just stop for a moment and reflect upon one fact, shall we?
Star Wars: The Old Republic is set about three and a half thousand years before the events of the original trilogy, in which Lando appears. I'll say that one more time, just to be clear: Three and a half thousand years.
Um, yeah.
Even in the Star Wars universe, that is a looooooooooooooooooooooooooong time, folks. Sure, some Jedi live for centuries, but not millennia. SWTOR follows from the events of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and its sequel. Neither of those even pretended to have Jedi from the original trilogy or prequels running around. Planets and cultures? Sure. But actual individuals? Nope. Heck, even R2-D2, who was around for all six movies and, as the EU would have it, well beyond that, doesn't make an appearance back in the days of the Old Republic. We have droids that are certainly a tribute to him, suggesting he comes from a long line of completely awesome astromechs. But I can't think of any actual character from the original trilogy or prequels who made an appearance in the Old Republic.
So where the heck is Lando supposed to fit in? Even family names, after such a long time, would have likely petered out, or would come from ancestors completely unrecognizable as being related to those characters we know and love. To just throw in a random Calrissian would seem to me (and to a lot of people, I suspect) like pandering. To actually somehow smush Lando into the game? That would be so much worse. Lucas might not be above that kind of behavior, but Bioware certainly is.
The important thing to remember about the folks at Bioware is that they are dedicated to the worlds that they create (or play in) and that most of the staff working on this game are fans. Trust me when I say that the odds are high that one of the developers is a huge fan of Lando and found some way to evoke his spirit in the game, subtle enough to not throw us out of the experience, but a nice payoff for fans nonetheless.
I can't tell from this group's site if they are actually serious about this. I mean, the story popped up on several sites I follow after it happened, so if they were trying to just bring attention to their group, they certainly succeeded. But I can't figure out what the level of expectation would be beyond that. Because seriously? The game comes out in December and is likely way too far along in development (if it is even still in actual development) to be adding new characters. The best they could be hoping for would be inclusion in an expansion pack down the road, I guess.
If Lando was my favorite Star Wars character? I'd be hoping for an NPC in the game (maybe even a companion) who seemed to have Lando's spirit or attitude, maybe some weapons and armor resembling his. Possibly even a mention of (or visit to) Cloud City. But anything more than that and it wouldn't be the Old Republic anymore, would it? Dear Lando Society: There is no "wibbly wobbly timey-wimey" in Star Wars. (Watch, now I'll stumble across an EU book that is all about time travel, won't I?)
Besides, if Lando was around during the Old Republic, he probably wouldn't be a good guy anyway. He'd be working for the Empire, and no one wants to see that, do they?
Showing posts with label Lego Star Wars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Lego Star Wars. Show all posts
Thursday, September 1, 2011
Monday, October 11, 2010
Monday Tidbits
Well, while I actually had a lovely weekend, I am really just not feeling it today. Between the arrival of Fall kicking up my allergies and the cold my husband had last weekend, I am now in the hacking up my lungs stage of my own cold. Whee. I went ahead and gave in to the siren song of DayQuil, and while this is mostly good news for the alleviation of my congestion, it does mean I am nowhere near coherent enough to write anything of substance today.
So, I offer you up a few random tidbits for your perusal and enjoyment today.
Here is the finished blanket I was working on last week. Now that its been given to the recipients I can share it with you.
And yeah, you're reading that second caption correctly. I did use a dish towel pattern for this blanket. It is just a really awesome pattern, and after making a few towels with it, I wanted to see how it looked in a bigger piece. I am really really pleased with how this one came out.
Yesterday I finished the birthday gift I was working on, so I'll have photos of that after it's been given. My crochet plan for this week is to make my sister's October swap squares and that is it. I think I am going to take a mini-hiatus from crochet for the rest of the week at least.
For the Star Wars fans out there, I stumbled across a couple of cool links over the weekend. First, a little insight into what we can expect for the third Robot Chicken Star Wars special. Color me excited about that. Also, io9 got hold of some interesting behind the scenes trivia from the original trilogy. It's a fun little read. I certainly didn't know that Yoda was originally intended to be played by a monkey in a mask. Though I am very glad that they ended up bringing in Frank Oz instead, to be sure.
Also, the New York City Comic Con happened this past weekend. One of Tor.com's writers attended a panel of science fiction and fantasy authors and did an awesome write-up on it. Be warned, this is a very long article, but well worth the read. It features, among others, Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files, Codex Alera), Naomi Novik (Temeraire), and Brandon Sanderson (who is finishing up the Wheel of Time series).
And on a slightly more serious note, looks like Congress is entertaining a bill that would give the Attorney General power to shut down any website that he thinks infringes on any sort of copyright. The bill gives a very broad definition of infringement and not only would sites be shut down but their creators would be permanently blacklisted from creating internet content. Sylvia Bond over at Pink Raygun has a write-up that goes into how this will affect the online presence of fandom across the web, as well as just Joe Schmoe net users. If you're interested in signing the petition against the bill, you can do so here. It looks like the bill has been delayed for now, but it doesn't hurt to sign the petition if this is something you care about.
So, I offer you up a few random tidbits for your perusal and enjoyment today.
Here is the finished blanket I was working on last week. Now that its been given to the recipients I can share it with you.
 |
| Cocoa Waves by Cori 2010. |
 | ||
| Pattern: Hi-Five Towel by Sarah C |
And yeah, you're reading that second caption correctly. I did use a dish towel pattern for this blanket. It is just a really awesome pattern, and after making a few towels with it, I wanted to see how it looked in a bigger piece. I am really really pleased with how this one came out.
Yesterday I finished the birthday gift I was working on, so I'll have photos of that after it's been given. My crochet plan for this week is to make my sister's October swap squares and that is it. I think I am going to take a mini-hiatus from crochet for the rest of the week at least.
For the Star Wars fans out there, I stumbled across a couple of cool links over the weekend. First, a little insight into what we can expect for the third Robot Chicken Star Wars special. Color me excited about that. Also, io9 got hold of some interesting behind the scenes trivia from the original trilogy. It's a fun little read. I certainly didn't know that Yoda was originally intended to be played by a monkey in a mask. Though I am very glad that they ended up bringing in Frank Oz instead, to be sure.
Also, the New York City Comic Con happened this past weekend. One of Tor.com's writers attended a panel of science fiction and fantasy authors and did an awesome write-up on it. Be warned, this is a very long article, but well worth the read. It features, among others, Jim Butcher (The Dresden Files, Codex Alera), Naomi Novik (Temeraire), and Brandon Sanderson (who is finishing up the Wheel of Time series).
And on a slightly more serious note, looks like Congress is entertaining a bill that would give the Attorney General power to shut down any website that he thinks infringes on any sort of copyright. The bill gives a very broad definition of infringement and not only would sites be shut down but their creators would be permanently blacklisted from creating internet content. Sylvia Bond over at Pink Raygun has a write-up that goes into how this will affect the online presence of fandom across the web, as well as just Joe Schmoe net users. If you're interested in signing the petition against the bill, you can do so here. It looks like the bill has been delayed for now, but it doesn't hurt to sign the petition if this is something you care about.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Discovering the Star Wars Expanded Universe
Alright, I don't know if I've actually mentioned this yet, but I absolutely LOVE Star Wars. I hear the sizzle of a light saber and my imagination just bolts off to a galaxy far far away. I can't help it. It is second only to Stargate in the realm of things Cori is a huge fangirl about.
Yes, Stargate still comes first. In fact, just so there's no question, let's go ahead and get Cori's space opera hierarchy on the record, shall we? First to last, it goes: Stargate, Star Wars, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica (the 21st century version), and Farscape. Okay, have we got that out of the way? Good. Now, back to Star Wars.
For the sake of clarity, when I say the Expanded Universe (or EU), I mean things that are considered officially Star Wars but not part of the main cannon, which for my purposes includes the original trilogy, the new trilogy, and Clone Wars (the movie and cartoon). So EU would be the official novels and comic books (of which there are a LOT), and video games. I think technically Lucas is only counting novels and comics as EU, but there is a ton of story in the video games (and many of them are getting novelization tie-ins anyway), so I consider those part of the Star Wars EU.
Now, I think it would be fair to say that I have always enjoyed Star Wars. It was always in the background when I was a kid, I was all about Ewoks, and USA used to always show the trilogy during holidays so I caught bits and pieces of it here and there. It wasn't until the summer before my sophomore year of high school though that I actually actively watched the entire original trilogy (which I actually did at a sleepover at a friends house--back to back--staying up to finish long after she had fallen asleep). When I was a senior in high school the theatrical re-release of the trilogy happened, and I got to go with my friends to see all of the movies on the big screen. Yes, they were the special editions, but I didn't know any better, so I'll have to admit that the changes Lucas made have never really annoyed me as much as they have all of the fans who came before me. (Though I will admit that once I was older and wiser I was very irritated that he tried to take back Han shooting first. That is truly just an insult to the character.)
The summer after my freshman year of college, The Phantom Menace came out. My sister (a year younger than me) had fallen in with a crowd of ultra geeky Star Wars fans (one of whom was the assistant manager at the local theater), and so they had camped out for opening day tickets (ah the days before online movie ticket sales) and they got me one too. And you know what, I really liked Phantom Menace. I went to see it at least five times that summer. (Admittedly, this was partly because I often got into movies for free that summer, and I saw a lot of things multiple times, but still.) Was it as good as any of the original films? Hell no. Does it hold up well under scrutiny eleven years later? Not really. Was it a lot of fun for a casual Star Wars fan who just wanted more of the story? Oh heck yeah. I also liked Attack of the Clones, which I went to see at opening with my best friend (and now husband) and our ultra-hard core Star Wars fan roommate. Sadly, I didn't get to see Revenge of the Sith when it opened (I liked Attack of the Clones but it was a bit of a let down and some of the fervor had died), but I did get to see it in theaters and am so glad I did. It is arguably the best of the new trilogy and damn it if isn't just a good movie. Still not quite up to par with the original trilogy, but I don't think anything ever can be because we've all placed it on a pedestal that is too high for mere mortal filmmakers to reach anymore.
Revenge of the Sith got my excitement for the franchise back up a bit, actually. It is what got me to start thinking about the EU. I thought maybe I might like to give some of the novels a try. But oh my goodness, where to start? Seriously, next time you're in a bookstore or goofing around on Amazon, check out the Star Wars books. There are a very very lot. My husband suggested the logical place to start would be with the three books by Timothy Zahn that essentially stand in for episodes seven, eight, and nine (The Thrawn Trilogy). Those would be, in order, Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command. So I read those books, and they were okay. I have to admit some of the writing really took me out of the universe. Zahn didn't quite have the world in his grasp--some things were just too close to Earth, and it felt a little like laziness on his part, given how rich this universe is, that he couldn't come up with something more Star Warsy than hot chocolate (if you've read them you probably know what I mean, if not, yes, Luke discovers that he loves hot chocolate in this series). But the story itself was pretty compelling and it was a nice continuation of the original trilogy. We got some closure and paths to whole new stories and adventures were opened up. We also got some perspective on the events of the original trilogy from characters that weren't in the spotlight in the movies. But still, I was sated. I thought I might like to read more but didn't have enough motivation to find out which series should be my next to pick up. At this point, I was still just a casual fan.
And then Clone Wars came out and everything changed. I knew I had to see the movie because it came out just a few days before my birthday, a birthday which my husband and I were celebrating with a trip to my hometown, hanging out with those same friends I saw the original trilogy in theaters with. So, on my birthday, my husband, my best friend from high school, and his daughter all went to see Clone Wars. I think I liked it best out of anyone in the group. It got my imagination going again. There was a lot of negative feedback for Ahsoka Tano--but even at her whiniest moment (and remember, she's a teenage girl and a padawan being tossed at a new master who isn't really a master himself yet, just a knight) she was nowhere, and I mean NOWHERE, near as whiny as Luke Skywalker in A New Hope. And she stepped up pretty darn quick. Plus, I thought the baby hutt was cute. Sue me.
But the point is, I was quickly falling more in love with the Star Wars universe than I ever had been before. I had dithered on getting the new trilogy on DVD but suddenly, I had to. My husband, who had been trying to get me to see the awesomeness of PC gaming (at this point I was strictly Gamecube, Wii, and PS2 games, and really only casually), was finally able to talk me into playing Knights of The Old Republic (which was totally my gateway drug into PC gaming and I really haven't looked back). In between KOTOR and the Clone Wars series, I was gone. Total fangirl. I wanted, no I needed, more. The joy I get from dipping my toes into the Star Wars universe takes me to a happy place surpassed only by Atlantis. And thus, I have begun my foray into the EU. On the video game front, I have played KOTOR and its slightly less entertaining sequel, as well as, of course the Lego Star Wars games for each of the trilogies. My copy of the Clone Wars Lego Star Wars game, coming out next month I think, is already on preorder. I've got quite a few console games (like The Force Unleashed) sitting in my Amazon wishlist waiting patiently for me to bring them home and give them a whirl. I just picked up Republic Commando and will be playing it as soon as I finish my current game. As far as comics go, I have been reading the online tie-ins to the upcoming MMO The Old Republic (set after the events of KOTOR), which I am eagerly awaiting. For my birthday I picked up the first volume of the Legacy series, set a few generations after The Return of the Jedi. I enjoyed that quite a bit, and will be picking up the rest of the series as my budget allows. There's also a new series of comics called Knight Errant about to come out that I've subscribed to.
And what about the insanely massive amount of EU books I mentioned earlier? Well, I've jumped back into those waters as well, with the Republic Commando series by Karen Traviss. I just finished the first book, Hard Contact, a few days ago and am currently working on book two, Triple Zero. In all honesty, everything that I've said so far was supposed to be a quick intro into my review of Hard Contact. But it is clear that I have more than a little to say about Star Wars and the EU. So we'll save my book review for tomorrow, and I'll wrap this up.
You may have heard that George Lucas has recently announced his plans to re-release both trilogies (in chronological order, which I think is just a terrible idea) in 3D (which is an even worse idea) over the coming years. This is getting him a lot of (well-deserved) flak. But the fallout is landing on Star Wars itself as well, and that makes me more than a little sad. Flick Filosopher, who I adore, asks in her question of the day why we keep letting Lucas make us his bitch. And instead of focusing on why we, the fans, time and time again give Lucas money in exchange for disappointment, the comments have mostly been just remarks on how the new trilogy sucked and no one will be seeing them in 3D, and they refuse to give any more money to Lucas. While I respect their right to these opinions, and the fact that they don't want to pay for what they perceive as crap, they are clearly in the minority--because Lucas doesn't keep messing with the original trilogy (and didn't get to make the new trilogy) because nobody went to see what he came up with. So I suppose my point in all of this is just to say that yeah, somebody needs to love Lucas enough to tell him "no" once in a while (and actually enforce that no), but just because he's gone off the deep end, we shouldn't forget that without him, we wouldn't have this wonderful sandbox that is the Star Wars Universe to play in at all. Right now, with the movies and the television show, along with all of the EU, Star Wars has something to offer pretty much any fan. I, for one, will remember to thank him for that at least, while hoping he eventually realizes he's a bit too big for the sandbox and maybe he should just let the other kids play in it now.
A few fun quick links for you folks:
Darths & Droids (A webcomic that retells the new trilogy as if it were a RPG campaign, using stills from the movies. It is hilarious.)
The Old Republic MMO (I seriously cannot wait for this game to come out--at which point my family and friends are probably going to need to just say goodbye to me for a while.)
Yes, Stargate still comes first. In fact, just so there's no question, let's go ahead and get Cori's space opera hierarchy on the record, shall we? First to last, it goes: Stargate, Star Wars, Firefly, Battlestar Galactica (the 21st century version), and Farscape. Okay, have we got that out of the way? Good. Now, back to Star Wars.
For the sake of clarity, when I say the Expanded Universe (or EU), I mean things that are considered officially Star Wars but not part of the main cannon, which for my purposes includes the original trilogy, the new trilogy, and Clone Wars (the movie and cartoon). So EU would be the official novels and comic books (of which there are a LOT), and video games. I think technically Lucas is only counting novels and comics as EU, but there is a ton of story in the video games (and many of them are getting novelization tie-ins anyway), so I consider those part of the Star Wars EU.
Now, I think it would be fair to say that I have always enjoyed Star Wars. It was always in the background when I was a kid, I was all about Ewoks, and USA used to always show the trilogy during holidays so I caught bits and pieces of it here and there. It wasn't until the summer before my sophomore year of high school though that I actually actively watched the entire original trilogy (which I actually did at a sleepover at a friends house--back to back--staying up to finish long after she had fallen asleep). When I was a senior in high school the theatrical re-release of the trilogy happened, and I got to go with my friends to see all of the movies on the big screen. Yes, they were the special editions, but I didn't know any better, so I'll have to admit that the changes Lucas made have never really annoyed me as much as they have all of the fans who came before me. (Though I will admit that once I was older and wiser I was very irritated that he tried to take back Han shooting first. That is truly just an insult to the character.)
The summer after my freshman year of college, The Phantom Menace came out. My sister (a year younger than me) had fallen in with a crowd of ultra geeky Star Wars fans (one of whom was the assistant manager at the local theater), and so they had camped out for opening day tickets (ah the days before online movie ticket sales) and they got me one too. And you know what, I really liked Phantom Menace. I went to see it at least five times that summer. (Admittedly, this was partly because I often got into movies for free that summer, and I saw a lot of things multiple times, but still.) Was it as good as any of the original films? Hell no. Does it hold up well under scrutiny eleven years later? Not really. Was it a lot of fun for a casual Star Wars fan who just wanted more of the story? Oh heck yeah. I also liked Attack of the Clones, which I went to see at opening with my best friend (and now husband) and our ultra-hard core Star Wars fan roommate. Sadly, I didn't get to see Revenge of the Sith when it opened (I liked Attack of the Clones but it was a bit of a let down and some of the fervor had died), but I did get to see it in theaters and am so glad I did. It is arguably the best of the new trilogy and damn it if isn't just a good movie. Still not quite up to par with the original trilogy, but I don't think anything ever can be because we've all placed it on a pedestal that is too high for mere mortal filmmakers to reach anymore.
Revenge of the Sith got my excitement for the franchise back up a bit, actually. It is what got me to start thinking about the EU. I thought maybe I might like to give some of the novels a try. But oh my goodness, where to start? Seriously, next time you're in a bookstore or goofing around on Amazon, check out the Star Wars books. There are a very very lot. My husband suggested the logical place to start would be with the three books by Timothy Zahn that essentially stand in for episodes seven, eight, and nine (The Thrawn Trilogy). Those would be, in order, Heir to the Empire, Dark Force Rising, and The Last Command. So I read those books, and they were okay. I have to admit some of the writing really took me out of the universe. Zahn didn't quite have the world in his grasp--some things were just too close to Earth, and it felt a little like laziness on his part, given how rich this universe is, that he couldn't come up with something more Star Warsy than hot chocolate (if you've read them you probably know what I mean, if not, yes, Luke discovers that he loves hot chocolate in this series). But the story itself was pretty compelling and it was a nice continuation of the original trilogy. We got some closure and paths to whole new stories and adventures were opened up. We also got some perspective on the events of the original trilogy from characters that weren't in the spotlight in the movies. But still, I was sated. I thought I might like to read more but didn't have enough motivation to find out which series should be my next to pick up. At this point, I was still just a casual fan.
And then Clone Wars came out and everything changed. I knew I had to see the movie because it came out just a few days before my birthday, a birthday which my husband and I were celebrating with a trip to my hometown, hanging out with those same friends I saw the original trilogy in theaters with. So, on my birthday, my husband, my best friend from high school, and his daughter all went to see Clone Wars. I think I liked it best out of anyone in the group. It got my imagination going again. There was a lot of negative feedback for Ahsoka Tano--but even at her whiniest moment (and remember, she's a teenage girl and a padawan being tossed at a new master who isn't really a master himself yet, just a knight) she was nowhere, and I mean NOWHERE, near as whiny as Luke Skywalker in A New Hope. And she stepped up pretty darn quick. Plus, I thought the baby hutt was cute. Sue me.
But the point is, I was quickly falling more in love with the Star Wars universe than I ever had been before. I had dithered on getting the new trilogy on DVD but suddenly, I had to. My husband, who had been trying to get me to see the awesomeness of PC gaming (at this point I was strictly Gamecube, Wii, and PS2 games, and really only casually), was finally able to talk me into playing Knights of The Old Republic (which was totally my gateway drug into PC gaming and I really haven't looked back). In between KOTOR and the Clone Wars series, I was gone. Total fangirl. I wanted, no I needed, more. The joy I get from dipping my toes into the Star Wars universe takes me to a happy place surpassed only by Atlantis. And thus, I have begun my foray into the EU. On the video game front, I have played KOTOR and its slightly less entertaining sequel, as well as, of course the Lego Star Wars games for each of the trilogies. My copy of the Clone Wars Lego Star Wars game, coming out next month I think, is already on preorder. I've got quite a few console games (like The Force Unleashed) sitting in my Amazon wishlist waiting patiently for me to bring them home and give them a whirl. I just picked up Republic Commando and will be playing it as soon as I finish my current game. As far as comics go, I have been reading the online tie-ins to the upcoming MMO The Old Republic (set after the events of KOTOR), which I am eagerly awaiting. For my birthday I picked up the first volume of the Legacy series, set a few generations after The Return of the Jedi. I enjoyed that quite a bit, and will be picking up the rest of the series as my budget allows. There's also a new series of comics called Knight Errant about to come out that I've subscribed to.
And what about the insanely massive amount of EU books I mentioned earlier? Well, I've jumped back into those waters as well, with the Republic Commando series by Karen Traviss. I just finished the first book, Hard Contact, a few days ago and am currently working on book two, Triple Zero. In all honesty, everything that I've said so far was supposed to be a quick intro into my review of Hard Contact. But it is clear that I have more than a little to say about Star Wars and the EU. So we'll save my book review for tomorrow, and I'll wrap this up.
You may have heard that George Lucas has recently announced his plans to re-release both trilogies (in chronological order, which I think is just a terrible idea) in 3D (which is an even worse idea) over the coming years. This is getting him a lot of (well-deserved) flak. But the fallout is landing on Star Wars itself as well, and that makes me more than a little sad. Flick Filosopher, who I adore, asks in her question of the day why we keep letting Lucas make us his bitch. And instead of focusing on why we, the fans, time and time again give Lucas money in exchange for disappointment, the comments have mostly been just remarks on how the new trilogy sucked and no one will be seeing them in 3D, and they refuse to give any more money to Lucas. While I respect their right to these opinions, and the fact that they don't want to pay for what they perceive as crap, they are clearly in the minority--because Lucas doesn't keep messing with the original trilogy (and didn't get to make the new trilogy) because nobody went to see what he came up with. So I suppose my point in all of this is just to say that yeah, somebody needs to love Lucas enough to tell him "no" once in a while (and actually enforce that no), but just because he's gone off the deep end, we shouldn't forget that without him, we wouldn't have this wonderful sandbox that is the Star Wars Universe to play in at all. Right now, with the movies and the television show, along with all of the EU, Star Wars has something to offer pretty much any fan. I, for one, will remember to thank him for that at least, while hoping he eventually realizes he's a bit too big for the sandbox and maybe he should just let the other kids play in it now.
A few fun quick links for you folks:
Darths & Droids (A webcomic that retells the new trilogy as if it were a RPG campaign, using stills from the movies. It is hilarious.)
The Old Republic MMO (I seriously cannot wait for this game to come out--at which point my family and friends are probably going to need to just say goodbye to me for a while.)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)