What do you mean by "shoddy territory?"It is a very personal question. I, personally, would rather FFG quit while the game is still amazing, rather than risk letting it slip into shoddy territory.
Do you just mean, "prequel and EU stuff I don't like," or do you mean, allowing the game and its mechanics to deteriorate into an unplayable mess of imbalance?
Because, if you mean the former, then it's just a matter of taste, and there's nothing to argue with there.
If you mean the latter, I think there is evidence that each release is stronger and more balanced than the last, with more meaningful choices, while remaining true to the underlying mythology to a great degree. I don't think you will see prequel stuff unless it's a seperate game, because they have been pretty consistent with keeping it in a particular era of the fictional setting. I obviously think that any future releases will be EU stuff, because what else is there? OK, there's "Rebels" and the Sequel trilogy, so maybe we will see that, but I still think not because of the time setting.
I mean the latter. Forcing increasingly more obscure ships into the game, regardless of where they come from, can only lead to a decrease in the overall quality of the game.
Why on Earth would anyone think we are going to run out of creative space for this game? If Lucas were still calling all the shots there would be a chance, but even with him there was the entire EU. Disney is not famous for boxing itself into a corner. They have spent a ton of money on the rights to Star Wars and other valuable franchises, and if we look at what they do with them there is absolutely no reason for pessimism.
Disney has consistently expanded the scope of their franchises, while maintaining quality. Marvel has done nothing but get better, the Avengers is awesome and getting better, all of their previous intellectual properties have grown and matured over the years. We have at LEAST 6 years and 6 movies coming out to expand the Star Wars canon, plus at least one book series. Does anyone seriously think all of these creative teams are going to just stare at one another and think "Oh man, if only there were some new ships or organizations we could write into the stories, but I'm afraid an ENTIRE GALAXY filled with tens of thousands of alien races just doesn't have the room for more than two sides...."
Good grief. As for sales of a new faction, all of the doomsayers base their opinions on the idea of a static market. But by adding a third faction, you do nothing to decrease the current selection while simultaneously adding an element that could appeal to folks who are not currently playing. The two big measures are market share, and market SIZE. Expanding the market is a good idea, period.
I think my outlook is far less pessimistic than it is practical. My assumptions are based upon what we already know about the limitations of the Star War universe, not what ships might possibly be coming up in future movies, or what Disney has done with completely unrelated franchises. We've already excluded the events and technology of the prequels as a possibility, so why should ships thirty years after A New Hope be any more likely than those from thirty years before?
Honestly, I think your overly optimistic stance makes far more assumptions than does mine. This isn't a game like Magic; the creative space is finite, unless FFG chooses to transform it into something radically different from its current form.
Edited by WonderWAAAGH