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Galaga Galaxian posted:I think I'll pop my nose in here. I seem to remember an explanation suggesting that technology only really jumped forward in any meaningful manner during galactic wars, as people researched new weapons or ship technologies. During long periods of peace scientific development stagnates somewhat, and a lot of tech has been lost in wars. I might have got this from something about the Great Hyperspace War, but I can't remember what.
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# ? Jul 26, 2011 13:37 |
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# ? Jun 3, 2024 23:27 |
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Galaga Galaxian posted:just another case of poor writing This is almost always the answer.
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# ? Jul 26, 2011 13:42 |
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Galaga Galaxian posted:I think I'll pop my nose in here. Why, the Star Wars universe runs on the Red Queen's Hypothesis! Tech beyond a certain level degrades naturally over time, so a 20-year-old ship doesn't perform as well as a new one. In order to keep their technology at the same place, they have to continually invent new twists that will, themselves, weaken and disappear over time! Some things keep up, some don't.
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# ? Jul 26, 2011 16:56 |
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Galaga Galaxian posted:Has an explanation for the SW Galaxy's seeming technological stagnation ever been given? I always took it to be that for a long time, they've been at or near the limits of technology. Fashions change, small refinements are always coming down the pipe, and they can always build things bigger and better whenever they get together the political will to do it (e.g. Death Star). But for the most part, their technology is as good as it's capable of getting. My usual real-world example of this is the personal firearm. In the last hundred years there have been a few small improvements and refinements -- they're a bit lighter, a bit less jam-prone, some loading systems are a bit faster -- but for the most part they're the exact same machines as they were a century ago. The technology is pretty much at its limit. No one bats an eye at a thirty-year-old used gun if it's in good shape. In Star Wars, it's like that for almost everything. No one bats an eye at a thirty-year-old used droid (or Dreadnought) if it's in good shape. It's still compatible with everything, and basically the same thing as they could get new.
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# ? Jul 26, 2011 18:47 |
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Q: What's the best Pandora station? A: Star Wars Radio Makes every day in the cubicle feel like a spaaaace adventuuuuuure!
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# ? Jul 27, 2011 23:03 |
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Was there ever a story in the vast depths of the Expanded Universe about some sort of anti-Force movement rising up? Like, people who wanted to eradicate all Force users on principle for whatever reason?
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# ? Jul 28, 2011 04:49 |
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SpiderHyphenMan posted:Was there ever a story in the vast depths of the Expanded Universe about some sort of anti-Force movement rising up? Like, people who wanted to eradicate all Force users on principle for whatever reason? A reverse crusades against The Force religion, hmm...
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# ? Jul 28, 2011 04:52 |
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Mister Roboto posted:A reverse crusades against The Force religion, hmm... I was thinking less along the lines of "gently caress their religion" and more along the lines of wanting to level the playing field. Not in the sense of "They're dangerous and must all die" but more "They are born with privileges we can never have and that is not right." SpiderHyphenMan fucked around with this message at 05:00 on Jul 28, 2011 |
# ? Jul 28, 2011 04:58 |
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SpiderHyphenMan posted:Was there ever a story in the vast depths of the Expanded Universe about some sort of anti-Force movement rising up? Like, people who wanted to eradicate all Force users on principle for whatever reason? Korra?
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# ? Jul 28, 2011 05:00 |
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SpiderHyphenMan posted:I was thinking less along the lines of "gently caress their religion" and more along the lines of wanting to level the playing field. Not in the sense of "They're dangerous and must all die" but more "They are born with privileges we can never have and that is not right." So, this?
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# ? Jul 28, 2011 05:02 |
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SpiderHyphenMan posted:I was thinking less along the lines of "gently caress their religion" and more along the lines of wanting to level the playing field. Not in the sense of "They're dangerous and must all die" but more "They are born with privileges we can never have and that is not right." http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Anti-Jedi_sentiment This might be what you mean.
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# ? Jul 28, 2011 05:27 |
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Pope Mobile posted:Q: What's the best Pandora station? You blew a Tosche Station joke
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# ? Jul 28, 2011 05:34 |
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SpiderHyphenMan posted:Was there ever a story in the vast depths of the Expanded Universe about some sort of anti-Force movement rising up? Like, people who wanted to eradicate all Force users on principle for whatever reason? Kreia from kotor 2 isn't a fan of The Force. She thinks it's manipulative and tyrannical, although she doesn't have anything against Force users and is one herself.
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# ? Jul 28, 2011 09:08 |
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Not A Bear posted:Vader got some 'splainin to do - would have loved to have seen Darth explaining this one to the Emperor, annnd now I really want to see a buddy cop film with Vader as the reckless loose cannon getting dressed down by Comissioner Palpatine I rather think it's the Emperor who has some explaining to do, what all with the "It seems that in your anger you killed her"-business. "Yah Vader, apparently she still had your kid. My bad." quote:Actually, this is the one thing I CAN buy. Vader doing a complete sever from all his past ties and never ever thinking about his stepbrother would fit his new personae. As a man who hasn't called his mother in over a week despite her not living that far away, I can totally relate to Vader never visiting his home planet.
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# ? Jul 28, 2011 14:32 |
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WhyteRyce posted:You blew a Tosche Station joke On an unrelated note, I think I found the shortest wookieepedia entry: http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Systems_Analyst
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# ? Jul 28, 2011 15:31 |
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Shimrra Jamaane posted:Korra?
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# ? Jul 28, 2011 22:04 |
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In semi Star Wars related news Lucasfilm is putting out a new movie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BpA6TC0T_Lw
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# ? Jul 30, 2011 05:03 |
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Palace of Lies posted:which individual character killed the most Jedi? Jar Jar. He singlehandedly tarded his way into putting a crazyman into power, killing all the jedi.
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# ? Jul 30, 2011 09:35 |
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Gutcruncher posted:Jar Jar. He singlehandedly tarded his way into putting a crazyman into power, killing all the jedi. I'm pretty sure this was Lucas' way of flipping off all the fanboys who whined about Jar-Jar in the first place. "You hate him NOW? Fine, now you REALLY have a reason! Suck it!" *crosses hands over crotch while making pew pew noises*
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# ? Jul 30, 2011 09:36 |
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Nckdictator posted:In semi Star Wars related news Lucasfilm is putting out a new movie. The fact that Lucas has been planning and talking about this thing since over a decade before Episode I came out gives me hope that we may yet see the Star Wars live action series someday. EDIT: The premiere of which I will probably watch with my grandkids in the retirement home in 2062.
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# ? Jul 30, 2011 18:24 |
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What's the point of actually watching Red Tails since that trailer shows virtually the entire movie? Though I did see the original Star Wars trailer once... very slow moving and ten minutes long. Trailers really have changed, but it's a shame they either show you the best bits of a movie or give you 90% of the story without any surprises. So are the action sequences of Red Tails 100% CG? Magic fucked around with this message at 21:43 on Jul 30, 2011 |
# ? Jul 30, 2011 21:41 |
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I'm on the 4th book of the X-Wing series by Michael A. Stackpole. After this one it switches over to Aaron Allston as the author. I like the series so far, should I read Allston's books too or is it going to pull a West Wing on me?
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# ? Jul 30, 2011 21:44 |
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Haledjian posted:I'm on the 4th book of the X-Wing series by Michael A. Stackpole. After this one it switches over to Aaron Allston as the author. I like the series so far, should I read Allston's books too or is it going to pull a West Wing on me?
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# ? Jul 30, 2011 21:46 |
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Yea, Allston's work really is better. It's also refreshing that he, instead of focusing primarily one his one pet character like Stackpole (Corran), he manages to give plenty of time to all the major cast, and develop most of them pretty well (Face owns ).
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# ? Jul 30, 2011 21:58 |
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Anticipating more human-bothan business. Oh yeah. And X-Wings.
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# ? Jul 30, 2011 22:01 |
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Geddy Krueger posted:Yea, Allston's work really is better. It's also refreshing that he, instead of focusing primarily one his one pet character like Stackpole (Corran), he manages to give plenty of time to all the major cast, and develop most of them pretty well (Face owns ). I couldn't get into Allston's novels as they had an almost completely different cast. I read Stackpole's books for Corran, he was my favorite of the series, when he wasn't in Allston's I stopped caring.
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# ? Jul 30, 2011 23:43 |
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Haledjian posted:Anticipating more human-bothan business. Oh yeah. And X-Wings. Nope, and less than you'd think.
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# ? Jul 30, 2011 23:44 |
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Epi Lepi posted:I couldn't get into Allston's novels as they had an almost completely different cast. I read Stackpole's books for Corran, he was my favorite of the series, when he wasn't in Allston's I stopped caring. I have some bad news for you, Epi. Corran, he's... Well, he's... This is really hard to say. Corran Horn is... a Mary Sue.
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# ? Jul 30, 2011 23:47 |
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Magic posted:Though I did see the original Star Wars trailer once... very slow moving and ten minutes long. Trailers really have changed, but it's a shame they either show you the best bits of a movie or give you 90% of the story without any surprises. Are there any links to this? The only videos I can find are a couple of minutes long and I really can't imagine a ten minute long trailer.
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# ? Jul 30, 2011 23:52 |
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Geddy Krueger posted:I have some bad news for you, Epi. Corran, he's... Well, he's... This is really hard to say. Corran Horn is... a Mary Sue. I'm aware. So? EDIT: It's Star Wars. Luke was a Mary Sue too.
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# ? Jul 30, 2011 23:59 |
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Luke Skywalker is not a Mary Sue, at least not according to the generally accepted definition. Mary Sues are wish-fulfillment characters without any serious flaws. Luke was rash and moody and made mistakes because of it (facing Vader too soon against the advice of a 900-year old mentor who should know what he's talking about, underestimating Jabba which put all his friends in danger, letting his anger get the better of him when fighting Vader, etc.). I can't really comment on Corran Horn, since I haven't read anything with him in it.
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# ? Jul 31, 2011 00:20 |
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There was that time Corran Horn tried to fight a bunch of stormtroopers with a lightsaber he found even though he didn't know how and got his rear end beat. Although he still killed like five.
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# ? Jul 31, 2011 00:26 |
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Luke was a Mary Sue? Based on what? You can argue that he's intended as a stand-in for Lucas in the story but that's not the sole qualification of a Mary Sue. Mary Sues basically become the center of the story's setting, to the degree that all the other characters are defined pretty much solely by their relationship to the Sue, which isn't the case in Star Wars. The other thing with Sue characters is that they have few, if any, real character flaws. Luke is riddled with those flaws, and he has to grow and learn from the consequences of his rash judgements in order to win out in the end. Corran, on the other hand, barely changes or grows at all (Note: I'm basing this on X-Wing arc Corran, I haven't read I, Jedi or anything else involving him). The biggest event for him, in regards to character development, is the discovery that his grandfather was a Jedi and that he's inherited Force sensitivity, and he barely changes at all. But man, he's just awesome at everything . He gets into Rogue Squadron almost as soon as he joins the Republic military even though his previous job was... being a cop, and not only that but he's immediately the top pilot in the training group. He finds a lightsaber and, with no history of any sort of training with a weapon that's acknowledged as being ridiculously dangerous to use without lots of practice, manages to kill several people. In the dark. Without hurting himself. There's more but this post is enough as is, so I'll just leave it at that. Edit: Beaten like a Twi'lek slave girl
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# ? Jul 31, 2011 00:31 |
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Honestly, original X-Wing Corran Horn didn't really peg my Mary Sue meter, mostly because of who he's around. He's our hero and gets at least one 'only you can save the day' moment per book, but he's around so many other people who are also very competent. Bror Jace outflies Corran in the first book. Ooryl shows up Corran at every turn and doesn't brag about it. Wedge is placed essentially out of the league of the rest of the pilots. Horn isn't the only important or useful member of the team; he's just very, very good at a lot of things which is why he's in an elite commando/pilot squadron. He's just action-movie level untouchable/awesome, which I can accept for my dumb action There's no excuse for him in I, Jedi and beyond, though.
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# ? Jul 31, 2011 01:10 |
ZeeToo posted:
Yes there is. The excuse is "gently caress KJA"
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# ? Jul 31, 2011 01:13 |
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ZeeToo posted:Honestly, original X-Wing Corran Horn didn't really peg my Mary Sue meter, mostly because of who he's around. He's our hero and gets at least one 'only you can save the day' moment per book, but he's around so many other people who are also very competent. My original post about him being a Mary Sue was mostly just a joke, Corran isn't nearly as offensive as a guy like Kyp Durron (or Thrall, right arioch? ), and he's actually pretty likable for the most part. I just think that a book series like this is better as an ensemble piece and that doesn't work as well if most of the action is filtered through the perspective of a few characters, in this case it's mainly Wedge and Corran, and I guess Kirtan Loor since most of the antagonist side of the story revolves around him.
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# ? Jul 31, 2011 02:13 |
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Haledjian posted:I'm on the 4th book of the X-Wing series by Michael A. Stackpole. After this one it switches over to Aaron Allston as the author. I like the series so far, should I read Allston's books too or is it going to pull a West Wing on me? I would agree that they are equal or better. Biggest inprovement is not ending every drat chapter with a huge statement like "we will do this, or we will all die." I swear stackpole ends every drat chapter with a cliff hanger, and in the end it just pissed me off so much.
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# ? Jul 31, 2011 05:58 |
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Duckman2008 posted:I would agree that they are equal or better. Biggest inprovement is not ending every drat chapter with a huge statement like "we will do this, or we will all die." I swear stackpole ends every drat chapter with a cliff hanger, and in the end it just pissed me off so much. "As someone who just escaped from Planet X and am about to launch a dangerous attack against the base on Planet Y, I think I will have my hands full." "As your girlfriend, I agree with you."
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# ? Jul 31, 2011 06:39 |
The only real problem with the Wraith Squadron trilogy is that they had to kind of half-rear end the ending of Solo Command a bit. They should've gone ahead and blew up the real Iron Fist because I don't think Courtship specified if Zsinj still had Iron Fist as a Super..Geddy Krueger posted:(or Thrall, right arioch? ) Thrall's pretty bad, the cloak quest is pretty bad, but I do like how he rages in that one part of the quest. Anyway, point being, neither Thrall nor Corran Horn are as offensively bad as Knaak's characters. Not that I've ever actually read any of the books, because I draw my line in tie-ins at Star Wars. VAGENDA OF MANOCIDE fucked around with this message at 16:12 on Jul 31, 2011 |
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# ? Jul 31, 2011 16:05 |
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# ? Jun 3, 2024 23:27 |
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Whatever, Starfighters is the best X-Wing book.
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# ? Jul 31, 2011 17:21 |