The (Expanded) Universe, or a discussion on the focus of the game

By JerusalemJones, in Star Wars: The Card Game

The though occured to me while reading a different thread about how far FFG intends this game to encompass the SW universe. Will the game be focused on the original triliogy, will future expansions introduce the prequels, or even the Expanded Universe to the game? How will that affect players' perceptions of this game.

If we look at the A Game of Thrones LCG, for the first 6 years of the game, it focused exclusively on the characters and events of the series. Then they started to introduce characters that died years before the books began, and this upset some players. It took away from the idea that people were playing out the setting in the story. How can characters whose deaths were responsible for the current settting still be actively engaged in controlling that setting? Over time that sentiment has passed, but it was a big issue when it first happened, and still irks some players.

Now, the SW universe is huge. There is cannon that involved thousands of years of history. How will that be represented in this game? Should the game focus exclusively on just the original trilogy, or are we going to see Padme' hanging out with Luke and Leia? And Leia's children? Or any of the characters from KotR?

I tend to think that, for the most part, this game will focus primarily on the OT, though it may encorporate pieces from the fiction that took place in that time. If the focus is Rebels vs. Empire, it's not like they have much of a choice (although one could argue that Thrawn(?) could still be part of this universe).

So what about the rest of the SW:EU? Perhaps there will be future deluxe expansion or cycles that focus on particular settings, or we'll see different card games that focus on them. That's sort of the big question, isn't it? There is just so much to this universe, how do you settle on what to include?

And there is one more thing to consider here: does FFG have the rights/ability to add to the EU? Is it possible that part of their license could allow them to create new material for the universe that, at least in a general way, is part of the cannon? Or at least, acceptable in this format? Imagine the creative team at FFG designing a whole new set of characters and missions that occured outside of known events but are completely reasonabe to have occured in the setting. I hope that this last part is true, because I would desperately love to see more options for this game than just having to follow what has come before.

I think they made the right decision in sticking to the Original Trilogy in the base game. Even those like myself who appreciate the Prequel Trilogy will generally concede that the Original Trilogy is superior, and it's what the majority of Star Wars fans grew up with.

That being said, I can easily see them eventually expanding from the Rebellion era. As you say, it would probably be smartest to introduce a new Deluxe Expansion each time a new era is explored, be that Old Republic, New Republic, or what-have-you. Cards should be interchangeable, but players who prefer to stick to canon can restrict themselves to only building decks that occupy the same era. When you sit down to play a game, you bring two decks with you: your Era X deck, and your Era Y deck, because you don't know which mission and era the group will decide upon that evening.

Finally, I hope this is not too far off-topic, but I am perfectly fine with AGoT decks that use characters who are dead from the beginning, just as I am fine with decks that use characters who die during the books. After all, when you sit down to play a game of AGoT, you are not "playing" the books, but creating your own story. What if Eddard had never supported Robert's revolt against King Aerys? What if Robert hadn't said the wrong name to Cersei on their wedding night? Events play out differently depending on how players' decks interact with each other. The same could be true of Star Wars (especially given the series of "Infinities" comics dedicated to exploring the What If? questions of the saga), though I see it as being a bigger problem due to the much wider scope in time. But I love Knights of the Old Republic and would prefer to see some of that canon end up represented in the game one day.

First off, count me among the SW fans who are very excited about the LCG and the X-Wing minis game.

A thought about the different eras in the SW universe....maybe an icon will be printed somewhere on the card that defines the era. Then there could be different game rules or game types that will have players focus on one era, or let players mix eras if they choose to?

I think an expanded universe expansion would be cool Id really like to see stuff out of Shadows of the Empire.

I signed up here today after reading the news about the upcoming LCG. Honestly, I'm really glad they're starting with the original trilogy and that was a smart idea. However, mostly I am interested in a lot of the EU aspects.

I'm almost guessing that they'd have to be divided sets altogether. The first being the original series, then perhaps the prequels, then for example KotoR, and maybe the more recent FotJ series. All over a great amount of time of course.

Alas, what do I know? I'm just excited for the new game and potential it has.

I'd really like to see Expanded Universe stuff as long as it is within the time period. I'm sure many would like to see Mara Jade, but she would have to be on the Empire's side. I am ashamed to admit I still haven't read Shadows of the Empire, but I'm familiar enough with it to want to see it in the LCG if they have the rights to it.

ImmortalJedi said:

A thought about the different eras in the SW universe....maybe an icon will be printed somewhere on the card that defines the era. Then there could be different game rules or game types that will have players focus on one era, or let players mix eras if they choose to?

I like this idea. It's probably too late to do anything about the cards in the Core Set, but for future expansions, they could use the same symbols as those on the publishing eras found on Star Wars novels and comics.

well, I would really like Old Republic stuff eventually - sith empire, mandalorian wars, Darth Nihilus etc..., ;

only portion of starwars universe that I really hope they are going to forget about is that silly clone wars cartoon...and peace loving pacifist mandalorians that came with it...

Personally I'll be happy if they end up covering OT, PT and EU, however I think it's sensible to start with the OT, I think that's the mistake WOTC made in focusing too much on the PT (but then they may have been forced to by Lucasfilm)

I don't know if this constitutes blasphemy, but I've found myself appreciating the Old Republic era more than the Rebellion era. In other words, somehow the Star Wars era upon which the series' creator has had the least influence on ends up being my favorite. So that being the case I do hope they eventually expand to other eras of the continuity.

MarthWMaster said:

I don't know if this constitutes blasphemy, but I've found myself appreciating the Old Republic era more than the Rebellion era. In other words, somehow the Star Wars era upon which the series' creator has had the least influence on ends up being my favorite. So that being the case I do hope they eventually expand to other eras of the continuity.

LOL no it's only blasphemy if you prefer Empire Strikes Back over Return of the Jedi ....

While I grew up with the Rebellion era, I do love the Old Republic era as it feels very Victorian to me. It's like the Clone Wars are the Great War and the Galactic Civil War is the Second World War. And the Victorian period appeals to me no end, especially new slants on it like League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (I mean the graphic novels not the film).

As for the very Old Republic (ie Knights of the Old Republic era) that's kind of the medieval and Roman eras of SW really.

pocoyo_joe said:

MarthWMaster said:

I don't know if this constitutes blasphemy, but I've found myself appreciating the Old Republic era more than the Rebellion era. In other words, somehow the Star Wars era upon which the series' creator has had the least influence on ends up being my favorite. So that being the case I do hope they eventually expand to other eras of the continuity.

LOL no it's only blasphemy if you prefer Empire Strikes Back over Return of the Jedi ....

While I grew up with the Rebellion era, I do love the Old Republic era as it feels very Victorian to me. It's like the Clone Wars are the Great War and the Galactic Civil War is the Second World War. And the Victorian period appeals to me no end, especially new slants on it like League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (I mean the graphic novels not the film).

As for the very Old Republic (ie Knights of the Old Republic era) that's kind of the medieval and Roman eras of SW really.

What?? You're kidding right? Empire Strikes Back is far superior to Return of the Jedi! (Back in high school, my A.P. Literature teacher even showed us Empire Strikes Back in class to analyze.)

As for hoping for the Expanded Universe in this LCG, I'm not holding my breath but I would be ecstatic if it eventually happened. The Old Republic is my favorite era of Star Wars history, especially the time period where Bastila Shan and Darth Revan were prominent. I was always a little disappointed that the card games focused only on the movie eras (though I can understand why they need to). Thankfully the miniatures game covered all the eras, and I managed to collect all my favorite heroes and villains. I hope the LCG eventually hits all aspects of the expanded universe as well.

pocoyo_joe said:

LOL no it's only blasphemy if you prefer Empire Strikes Back over Return of the Jedi ....

There's someone who saw "Clerks." gran_risa.gif

I wonder if the lure of the dark side, and the threat it poses to Luke Skywalker when he is brought before the Emperor, is something that might be explored in this game?

Frankly the less we see of the daftness that is the Expanded Universe (Heir of the Empire trilogy excepting) the better. It would also be cool if FFG could just retcon the entire Clone Wars to actually be cool... but then that's not going to happen.

Personally if they produced only products set during the original trilogy and the "Rebellion Era" that would be cool. It has the best story, the best visual style, the best ships, the best characters and would fit my personal preference of pretending the rest of the junk doesn't exist. Now, I don't expect that to happen, but it certainly looks like they will be focussing on it for the first elements.

I think given the obvious focus of the two snippets we have so far that it's fair to believe that it's all going to be original trilogy for probably the first year at least.

JerusalemJones said:

pocoyo_joe said:

LOL no it's only blasphemy if you prefer Empire Strikes Back over Return of the Jedi ....

There's someone who saw "Clerks." gran_risa.gif

aplauso.gif someone got my reference, although if I'm honest I do agree with Randall rather than Dante on the whole Empire/Jedi debate

Empire may be a better film in terms of it being a work of art, however Jedi is a better Star Wars film (it terms of it being more in the spirit of the original Star War film), if that makes any sense sonrojado.gif

The opening of Jedi is enough to make up for any amount of muppets. I'm with you.

Adam said:

The opening of Jedi is enough to make up for any amount of muppets. I'm with you.

How did muppets become something one has to make up for? I will gladly take muppets over cartoons any day.

They didn't bother me, but people do complain about it.

Im happy with the Rebellion era stuff, though i do want to see other eras, i happen to like clone wars though theres allot about the clone wars EU (both books AND cartoon) that I could happily do without. The Prequel stuff like Return of the Jedi has its moments and its very very annoying aspects.

The OT EU stuff has many great things I would love to see included.

Thrawn trilogy and dualogy goes without saying.

Jedi Academy (yes it has some wth stuff in it but overall i still enjoyed it

Shadows of the Empire (always enjoyed the media fenzy that was shadows)

Alliegence and Choices of One, would be great

X-Wing Rogue squadron series (cmon the Rogues would be perfect for scenarios)

Force Unleashed (while the books tended to suck the overall concept and the Starkiller character were pretty awesome)

Bounty Hunter Wars (what can i say, im a big Bounty Hunter fan and the whole Fringe scenario/enemy aspect will be awesome in game)

and theres tons others that can carry the game with unique and fun scenarios for many years to come.

Honestly id rather them use the basis of the Novels and even the comics (especially Dark Empire trilogy) rather then them trying to come up with
mini story scenarios that wouldnt fit in with the cannon. I always enjoyed playing games based on actual events in the Star Wars Saga like the Dark Empire invasion of Mon Cal in the X-wing Rogue Squadron game for game cube.

While im a devoted fan and player of the old decipher Star Wars ccg, I think the LCG version of Star Wars is a unique and fun direction, though i do wish they would resurrect Deciphers ccg and maybe start it off in the attack of the clones/clone wars era. But that is wishful thinking lol

But back to topic, if they really do their homework and focus on following the timeline of both movies and EU Novels and comics and even Video game events, then we could get a really vibrant and rich treasure of scenrarios, enemies, heroes, ships ect. (Cmon who here who played the old ccg or tcg didnt love to get EU cards)

To so end I think if they planned on sticking only with things based in movie they could have easily just saved themselves time and money on artist costs and just done photoshop screen captures from the movies (like decipher and WOTC) which i always enjoyed but limits the amount of EU they can fiscally produce (being to make a EU card takes either cgi or costume/model costs).

But I guess we have to wait to see what they overall release with the force packs.

But FFG if your reading please please please give us great EU scenarios and characters/enemies based on all of the cannonized stories the star wars universe has to offer us.

yagyu said:

The Prequel stuff like Return of the Jedi has its moments and its very very annoying aspects.

I assume that was supposed to be Revenge of the Sith? happy.gif

actually it was return, it was lack of punctuation that lead to the confusion lol it was 3am when i typed it, was saying the prequels had some annoying flaws much like Return of the Jedi IE the Ewoks who can take out storm troopers lol. But even with the Ewoks i still enjoyed Jedi, Phantom Menace im sorry to say was just a mess, its really hard for me to find anything to enjoy in that movie aside from Darth Maul. Attack of the Clones would have been a much better movie if not for the horrible retarded Anakin/Padme love dialogue.

Plus the Yoda fight kinda didnt make sense, while it may have looked cool to see him flipping around like a hyperactive gremlin, when u jump u become ballistic and therefore woulda been more vulnarable to Dooku's attacks lol, Yoda shoulda just sat still blocked all the attacks and then had the force power battle after dooku realized he couldnt break Yodas defense. Revenge of the Sith also had things i liked and hated. The Padme Anakin stuff again sucked and dragged the movie down, especially the way he gets jealous of Obiwan,(though that may have been due to editing as the book delves into some of the reasons more). Biggest prob i had was the end of the Anakin Obiwan fight, again u have Anakin doing something so retarded by jumping into the air, and unlike Dooku, Obiwan takes advantage of this and chops him up. Ok fine, but then Obiwan whos sposed to be his Master/Father figure/Brother figure ect ect even professing to love Anakin just leaves him there to Burn to death. lol yeah that was just messed up. If i was Anakin i woulda hunted him down and attemtped to slice him in half as well.

The Clone Wars cartoon has some great aspects that i really enjoyed, the various Clones and seeing their personalities for one, Savage Opress who was just a great beast of a Sith Juggernaut. Asaaj Ventress's complexities as a character who i always enjoyed from her first appearance in the Clone Wars Dark Horse Comics to her apearances in the novels. While I hated the Pacafistic Mandalorians, i did like Pre Viszla and the Death Watch who also came out of the comics. One of my favorite episodes was the one with the Talz, i always loved Talz and that episode just had such a Empire Strikes back feel to it. Rex is just awesome, hes become perhaps my second favorite clone. I loved Cad Bane, I mean the dude is just amazing, and a great homage to dude who played the cowboy and the bounty hunter in the good the bad and the ugly and i think it was for a few dollars more, the old clint eastwood movies. Also LOVED the trilogy of episodes where the three force wielders take Anakin and Obiwan and Ashoka to that force planet. I forget the names of the episodes but it was the father the son/brother and the daughter/sister.

But then theres plenty of things in the Clone Wars i dont like as well, Ashoka Tano is really annoying and Kinda messes with the whole Anakin/Obiwan dynamic, I like her better in the latter episodes when she not so annoying and bratty u wanna force choke her. The Lemer guys were really annoying, as are most episodes involving Jar jar, though their take on jar jar is still a million times better then the Phantom menace jar jar. The last few episodes of Season 3 really bored me, the citidel trilogy with Tarkin jut didnt have any excitement to it, and the villain was lame. Even the kashyyyk episodes with Chewbacca felt really weak.

But anyway yeah really hope that FFG uses the cannonized stories for the scenarios and characters/enemies

While card games, minis and board games aren't specifically my forte, it is nice to see the license active again. I am really hoping we get some sort of RPG announcement soon, so we can see what that might look like. Looking forward to seeing what FFG has in store for the Star Wars license!

What? Nobody wants to see the Yuuzhan Vong? happy.gif