Frankly, FFG could have very easily gone the "stats are Damage 6, Crit 2, Breach 1, Sunder and that's it!" with zero options for modification of the focusing crystal itself. After, it's the general tact that WEG and WotC took with lightsabers, in that they had a set damage value and the only way to improve that damage value was through external means, such as the Lightsaber Combat power in WEG, or WotC's approach of a blend of feats, class abilities (OCR/RCR) and talents (Saga Edition), and the only complaint was that the base lightsaber in and of itself was fairly sub-par compared to blasters in terms of damage (particularly the d20 versions, though those at least got to bypass DR and object hardness which helped to some extent).

As was pointed out repeatedly on the Beta forums, there's zilch in the canon or EU/Legends about Jedi modifying the crystal to get better performance. And there were posters there that were going to disallow crystals to be modified as a house rule for their games, meaning that whatever the base stats of your crystal was, that's all you got.

Frankly, FFG could have very easily gone the "stats are Damage 6, Crit 2, Breach 1, Sunder and that's it!" with zero options for modification of the focusing crystal itself. After, it's the general tact that WEG and WotC took with lightsabers, in that they had a set damage value and the only way to improve that damage value was through external means, such as the Lightsaber Combat power in WEG, or WotC's approach of a blend of feats, class abilities (OCR/RCR) and talents (Saga Edition), and the only complaint was that the base lightsaber in and of itself was fairly sub-par compared to blasters in terms of damage (particularly the d20 versions, though those at least got to bypass DR and object hardness which helped to some extent).

As was pointed out repeatedly on the Beta forums, there's zilch in the canon or EU/Legends about Jedi modifying the crystal to get better performance. And there were posters there that were going to disallow crystals to be modified as a house rule for their games, meaning that whatever the base stats of your crystal was, that's all you got.

I only played WEG d6 for a bit, and what I can only imagine as a house rule stifled me so badly that I was glad it ended. This game doesn't SEEM (I'm not amazingly proficient with it, so I don't really know) riddled with direct "add X to attack or damage", where the other games you mentioned could've left the lightsaber sub par, because there were workarounds, such that Mace Windu was at least 8d8+Str bonus, in Revised, and worse, if you built him with some options. Lightsabers were crap in Saga, and that's blatant truth, as far as I'm concerned, but it wasn't so bad, since the premise of so much of that game was "you didn't HAVE to be a Jedi to play Star Wars RPG, or even to have Force powers." Toning down the lightsaber, making it virtually no different than a vibrosword (same damage, same "need an extra feat to use it", for most of the run same amount of buffing feats and talents, if you bought all the books, and no one had DR without a Force talent, for the most part, so bypassing DR was a joke, unless you needed a key, or to fight the walker on Hoth) made it much more appealing to build anything else, and keep the Jedi at least that much more away from being the "of course you're this" class.

Those beta people had best have been pushing to use the original stats for lightsabers, then, because I'm rather sure the only real reason they downgraded almost everything about lightsabers in this book was because they roped them into a modding option, with the aforementioned crystals. EotE or AoR lightsabers, I don't need mods, and they'd be what we use, if mods weren't an option, because they were what we'd use. Still, if everyone else gets to enjoy the "growth" of improving their chosen weapon, lightsabers should be the same, especially since, Emokin aside, many Jedi have one single lightsaber that survives their entire career with them, while plenty of blaster jockeys trade up if something better presents itself.

From what I've read here it seems that in the beta you could use your force dice to buy successes on your lightsaber mechanics rolls when modding, but I couldn't find it in the Force and Destiny Core Rulebook. Was it just me missing the rule in the book, or was it removed when the game transitioned from beta to final product?

From what I've read here it seems that in the beta you could use your force dice to buy successes on your lightsaber mechanics rolls when modding, but I couldn't find it in the Force and Destiny Core Rulebook. Was it just me missing the rule in the book, or was it removed when the game transitioned from beta to final product?

It's still there, sidebar on page 196.

Thanks NSIBystander - found it

I'm an old-school OT stick-in-the-mud. Or, rather, I just like to keep it simple. With the exception of a purely decorative crystal mentioned in the novelization of A New Hope, there were no lightsaber crystals. Or light-saber forms, for that matter. It was just one big chanbara-medieval-knight sword-fighting mashup. Those are expanded universe and RPG supplement creations. They can provide a nice flavor, but overall, I'm just content to have lightsaber crystals be "one size fits all." I mean, lightsabers aren't distinctive and unique enough in of themselves? I know, ranty. I'm done. And, from a gamer-geek POV, lighstaber mods are el coolio neato keen.

http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Lightsaber_crystal

Significance of colors

Around 4000 BBY, lightsaber crystals were used to indicate a Jedi's chosen class. Blue indicated a Jedi Guardian, a Jedi who used the Force on a more physical level. Green indicated a Jedi Consular, a Jedi who preferred to reflect on the mysteries of the Force and fight the dark side at its heart. Yellow indicated a Jedi Sentinel, a Jedi who honed their skills in a balance of combat and scholarly pursuits.

This distinction fell out of practice in later years when most Jedi used blue or green crystals from Ilum Caves based on personal choice, and then the use of crystals coming from various source worlds became marginal. Purple, yellow, and orange crystals were still used by some Jedi until the fall of the Jedi Order, but they were exceedingly rare, and often passed down through generations.[source?] During the Galactic Civil War, the Galactic Empire banned trade and possession of all lightsaber crystals.[source?] No longer having Ilum crystals at their disposal, Jedi of the New Jedi Order favored the use of various crystals and gems, creating lightsaber blades of multiple colors.

The synthetic crystals, favored by users of the dark side for their offensive properties, were impregnated with the negative energies of their creators which gave to the crystals their red color; the majority of the Sith and Dark Jedi wielded crimson-bladed lightsabers, though colors similar in hue to red, such as orange and magenta, were not unheard of.

Just so you know, this has been retcon'd. Kyber Crystals are now clear, and get their color after a Force Sensitive attunes to them. You'll find one source here:

Kyber Crystals

If you have the new Guardians sourcebook "Keeping the Peace," it is also mentioned on page 55 under the the sidebar about "Unraveling the contradiction of power and protection".