Massively

The last LA games can have a mediocre gameplay, but have some decent storytelling in their games, TFU proves that, perhaps for that KOTOR was a great game.

If TOR is a MMO centered around story I believe that LA can leave work to Bioware and only provide help in storytelling, and do a good thing, after all this is a Bioware proyect more than a LA proyect. SWG was a game much more centered in game mechanics than storytelling, the LA influence was negative for that reason.

Also the LA direction changued recently, and I have hope in a changue in the current LA working style, but the third hand in this game is EA, and can influence the game too.

The Clone Wars 3D are good action packed series, and that give me some hope in the future for Lucas productions and games.

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To start, I see the validity of this article; yes, the last few years of Star Wars that we have recieved, minus KotOR and TFU, have left us with a sometimes less then savory taste in our collective mouths, and as such anyone concerned about what the future holds in regards to TOR MMO can be understood. Just to toss this out quickly before I really get going here, I do not completely agree with the statement that Lucas turned the greatest villain in Sci-Fi history into an emo kid, I will concede that Anakin's protrayal was at times a little painful ( "No. It's because I'm so in love with you." ) see above, but the overall story concerning his downfall was excellent; what brought things to thier knees was the writting. Let's face it, Lucas has a creative mind that borders on pure brilliance, however, were he does not excell is dialog and interpersonal relationships. Why that is? I can't say, but all anyone has to do it look at the original films to see what happens when George gives the outline, yet leaves the details to others. Empire, anyone? That being said, the Prequels are a great addition to the Saga, just so long as you can overlook the fractured writing. Alright, gone on that tangent long enough. As to the general question, can Bioware avoid the "Lucas" curse, I would say a big yes. One of thier stipulations on working with SW the first time around was that they, Bioware, would have most of the creative control over the plot and characters of KotOR, and that LA would be on hand to assist them with keeping things within the SW universe, i.e. continuity, relevance, etc. But, in the end, the "critical" calls would rest with Bioware's team. The result? A game that won a long list of awards and made Bioware and LA a decent sum of money. Taking all this into account one has to assume that Bioware would ensure a similar contract was in place before moving foward with a venture of such long term involvement and magnitude as TOR. They built a whole new facility for this game. No one drops that kind of money unless thier sure no one is getting shafted in the end. In this new age of Star Wars, I think both Lucas and those who have worked a good long while on the franchise have come to see the benefit of letting some new hands take the reigns, albeit with a little advisement. The Clone Wars CG series is a prime example of this. So, in closing, I do not believe any Star Wars fan, either movie or EU, need be concerned. In a few years, hopefully less then two, we will take yet another step into the SW universe and, thanks to the folks at Bioware, we shall never again need fear a new adventure in a Galaxy Far Far Away. -P.S. Yes, that was nerdy, deal with it-

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"what brought things to their knees was the writing. Let's face it, Lucas has a creative mind that borders on pure brilliance, however, were he does not excel is dialog and interpersonal relationships."
Joe you are dead on. I have been saying this for so long to all my friends and anyone else I happen to get into a conversation with about star wars. If he would just let someone else write that has a flair for what can be spoken instead of what is written it would be wonderful. This is the only problem I have with clone wars. An excellent example of smart writing in a show that is aimed at kids was Avatar the last air bender. The writing was amazing and you could watch it no matter your age. Clone Wars tries too hard to appeal to kids and ends up being really hard to watch despite the amazing graphics and interesting storyline. Why can't someone tell Mr. Lucas this?

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Clone Wars is for now semi-independent chapters, based in action with few dialoges, and every episode give a small lesson or theme. The humor is leaved for federation droids, but the humans characters, adult jedis and clones dont have bad dialogues and situations. The dialogue -except some lines- is not childist, perhaps some simple and cliched, but the Star Wars dialogues always has been based in cliches.

Avatar was a different style, more based in dialogues and storyline and less in plain action. But I think that Clone Wars CG need more time and episodes for be judged. The last episode remember me the episode IV fun and vitality.

In the end, is not so childist how many people appear to thinks, both Lucas products, games and films are overcritized imo

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I think the recent South Park episode on Lucas pretty much covers my feelings for him recently.

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