The one biggest, simplest thing that would have made the prequels better is Lucas not surrounding himself with yes-men. But it's hardly the only thing. The whole prequel trilogy needed a fundamental rewrite. The writers (also, Lucas should have had actual writers) should have watched the original trilogy again to take notes. Obi-Wan, in episode 4, says Anakin was a good friend and a great Jedi knight. Yet in the prequels, all we ever see is Anakin and Obi-Wan constantly at odds with one another. Sure, they TALK about past experiences where they may have bonded and become close, but we never SEE it. We only see Anakin constantly questioning orders and just being a pretty crappy Jedi in general. We should have seen Anakin become a successful and powerful Jedi in 1 and 2, then see his tragic fall from grace in 3. Instead we get a trilogy with no main character, and Anakin being pretty questionable throughout. Nowhere do we see "good friend" or "great Jedi."

My Scoundrel just finished up Tattooine, so he's not actually in the relationship yet, but I'm enjoying the foreshadowing with Risha. The Smuggler perfectly encapsulates the "Han Solo Experience" and I dig it.

Colbert is my hero. Extremely witty, whip-smart, and a huge nerd.

A) Don't care B) Why did you post this in the Star Wars section?

Tattooine is just fine. It's very representative of the Tattooine from the movies (and for a outer rim backwater, the movies do sure spend a lot of time there). As for the missing loading screen thing, I suspect it's a bug caused by the fact that once you finish Nar Shaddaa, you get the Tattooine and Alderaan class quests at the same time. Speaking of which, if you're like some of the people in this thread and powered through Alderaan first before doing Tattooine, then yeah, of course Tattooine's going to suck, because it's a lower level planet. You're supposed to do Tattooine first, despite what a loading screen might tell you (because of the aforementioned bug).

Commando and Powertech. Trooper's iconic weapon is the assault cannon, and you don't get it when you go Vanguard... simple as that.

This thread needs more Asteroid Field.

After the thanksgiving beta weekend, I went back to watch all 6 movies because I was jazzed up about the game and I was jonesing for some Star Wars something fierce. Then I remembered the prequels are terrible. Just turrible. The Phantom Menace's biggest problem is that it's a movie for little kids. Jar Jar Binks is the most obvious manifestation of this theory. He is there to make little children laugh. That's it. From his extremely annoying voice to the klutzy situations he finds himself in. The list of examples is self-explanatory: stepping in a turd, being farted on by some alien beast of burden, being shocked by the pod racer energy binders, making a mess in Watto's shop, destroying the droid army by accident, etc. He's not the only one, though. The droids, the gungans, pretty much every character except Qui-gonn, Obi-wan and the Sith had some quirk that made them more child-friendly. Speaking of the Sith, what is it about Star Wars minor villains generating huge and loyal followings? Darth Maul, like Boba Fett before him, is an exceptionally well-received and woefully underutilized villain. If Maul and Jar Jar had switched their screen-time allotments, this movie might have been salvageable. Phantom Menace needed more from Darth Maul than one-and-a-half fight scenes. Midichlorians, need I say more? Anakin Skywalker, supposedly the prequel trilogy's main character, is a profoundly unlikeable character. I dislike the idea of dumping on child actors, because they're children after all... but Jake Lloyd's Anakin is just insufferable. I don't need you to narrate your actions in the space battle, Anakin. Your son Luke didn't need to say "Let's turn off the targeting computer!" he just did it. Don't tell me you're turning left or pushing random buttons... I can see that for myself. Attack of the Clones, seriously that's what it's called. Some of you might not be old enough to remember (or care), but there was much head-scratching and nerd rage when people learned that's what Episode 2 was going to be called. It's just as well, though. It's a name befitting a B-movie and Episode 2 certainly qualifies. Insufferable Jake Lloyd was replaced by even-more-insufferable Hayden Christensen. Anakin is now a hormone-laden teen Jedi who lusts over a girl several years his elder who he met briefly years ago. Poor Obi-wan was reduced to the role of grumpy old cop who gets saddled with young hot-shot partner. He even spouts lines like "I hate when he does that!" Hey accomplished and talented Jedi Knight Obi-wan, remember when reckless, impatient and untrained Anakin saved you from whatever dangerous situation that was? Ah yes, good times ha ha. What was with the weird Geonosian arena-style execution for Obi-Wan, Anakin and Padme? They couldn't just kill them? Were they having a gladiatorial tournament that day and just decided to add the 3 of them at the last minute or is that just how they do executions on Geonosis? The dialogue in Episode 2 is arguably the worst of the prequels. Anakin complaining about sand during a romantic getaway? And I know Yoda is supposed to speak all funny, but "Around the survivors, a perimeter create" ?? Ugh. Just turrible. Especially given the fact that Yoda speaks eloquently enough when he confronts Tyrannus. And feeble old Yoda jumping around like a monkey on speed during their duel, what the hell? Lots of people cheered in the theater during my viewing, but I thought it was ridiculous. When I saw Revenge of the Sith in theaters, I actually thought (along with many of the reviewers at the time) it managed to produce some of that old-style Star Wars magic. It's certainly the best of the prequels, but that's a pretty low bar to jump over. Upon repeat viewings, though, I don't think it holds up to the originals. The saving grace of Revenge is Palpatine/Sidious. Finally we get to see the Emperor in all his glory. My biggest problem with Revenge is that Hayden Christensen is still the lead. He's bad... just bad. He's too whiny. His voice too crackly and high. His "I hate you!" at the end, which is supposed to be a significant moment for the Anakin/Vader character, is ruined by the way Christensen says it. He doesn't sound like a Sith, or a fallen warrior... he sounds like a teenager whose dad won't let them borrow the car. "Younglings"? really? You can't just call them children? The way the movie ended seemed like they were rushing through everything to wrap up all their loose ends. Almost like they were running down a checklist. "Luke goes to Tattooine, check. Leia goes to Alderaan, check. Obi-wan has to learn how to persist after death because he dies in Episode 4... oh crap how do we do that? Oh let's just say Qui-gonn comes back and teaches him. Check." Also, Padme lost the will to live? What about her kids? She doesn't care enough about them to keep on living, but she cares enough to name them before croaking? Whatever, just a personal little nitpick. The prequels are OK if you want to experience the "Old Republic" vibe... having lots of Jedi, actual choreographed light saber battles (seriously, watch Obi-wan and Vader fight in Episode 4, then watch their battle in Episode 3), and Old Republic locales like Coruscant. But as actual movies go, they're bad. Lucas really "nuked the fridge."

I don't even mind the hoods, I just wish the miraluka masks didn't stick out the sides. My dude's brown hood looks like it has two red lumps on the sides... looks ridiculous. If you're going to make a miraluka jedi knight, do yourself a favor and don't choose one of the full-head masks, because the hoods will ruin it.

Have any guardians out there come across any custom (orange) heavy armor robes without a hood or hood in the down position? My guardian is a miraluka with a full-head mask, and it clips through his hood. Two suggestions I have heard previously, Peacekeeper's Chestguard and the armor available from the vendor on Nar Shaddaa, both have hoods. (Also please note before responding that "hide headgear" does not apply to robe hoods, as they are considered part of your chest armor).

Got in today in the 6th wave (a little after 11am pacific) and got to 14 before the server maintenance.

12.15.2011 Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Early Game Access: Ready to play 11.30.2011 Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Early Game Access: Ready to patch 11.30.2011 Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Digital Standard Edition Pre-Order

12.15.2011 Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Early Game Access: Ready to play 11.30.2011 Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Early Game Access: Ready to patch 11.30.2011 Star Wars™: The Old Republic™ Digital Standard Edition Pre-Order May the Force be with you, Novemberites.

I'm guessing they're going to finish up November today (in half an hour) and then Friday will be all the December people.

TOR rhymes with door.