Ideas for an IP to replace Star Wars

[KnightoftheWind]

You have to ask what people liked about Star Wars, and I think the closest approximation would be one if it's original influences, Flash Gordon. There's also John Carter of Mars, and a myriad of other pulpy-science fiction that had been made over the years.

[Element]

So the blasters would be so powerful that you'd be screwed if you didn't prepare adequately or approach the situation from stealth?

Blasters should be powerful, especially in close quarters. They should pack a punch that's strong enough to leave a mark in whatever surface it hit. Even with good gear they should be devastating weapons imo. Theres the question of how to handle space combat, since you don't want to be cutting through the wiring and life support systems of a space station. Could be an interesting aspect of world building to have certain rules of war in place for boarding operations in space.

In Dune, there's a forcefield/ shield that prevents high velocity projectiles, which makes a certain style of fighting with swords/ daggers viable, because the speed of the blade can pass through the shield.

I never liked the energy shield. It feels too much of a cop out in the world building. Underrail, Halo, Dune - they all have them and it always seems to me too simple a solution for the problem of counteracting such weapons.

I meant more along the lines of the overarching lore behind the magic, with the force you have:

Create a side that is the other, inhabited by something that defies comprehension of man and alien alike, spawning cults, religions, scientific endeavours to try and understand and control it. The force then would be sensitivity to it. That could serve as the starting point for creating something akin to the force, but with a much larger role to play.

[Val the Moofia Boss]

I would do Gundam, but spread out across multiple worlds rather than just revolving around Earth and the moon. I guess I'm talking about Battletech but with romantic Japanese knight mech designs and psychic/magic powers. Maybe with some cute alien cat sidekicks/pets like from Honor Harrington but that would be the furthest I'd go for aliens.

You have to ask what people liked about Star Wars

The original trilogy had very likeable characters, and maintained high tension from the get go, making people keep watching to find out what would happen next to the characters. Also had good audiovisuals with the weird aliens, and lived in world with people walking around in Japanese clothing or vests juxtaposed against rusty spaceships, and the music.

The prequel trilogy had incredible environment art. You get to see a wide array of fantasy environments in each movie.

[Nammu Archag]

Just retcon almost everything Star Wars and then pass the first three as in-universe holodramas created after the victory of the rebel alliance. Then work from there.

[WhiteShark]

I think the Force is one of the big appeals of Star Wars so far overlooked in this thread. It has its own unique flavor and moving it towards more typical fantasy magic takes away from that. The lack of visual effects to most of its uses makes it feel subtle and mystical, which in turn emphasizes the wrongness of the Dark Side when we see the Sith employ the Force in such a flashy and violent fashion.

[rusty_shackleford]

I think the Force is one of the big appeals of Star Wars so far overlooked in this thread. It has its own unique flavor and moving it towards more typical fantasy magic takes away from that. The lack of visual effects to most of its uses makes it feel subtle and mystical, which in turn emphasizes the wrongness of the Dark Side when we see the Sith employ the Force in such a flashy and violent fashion.

Yes, people don't like sci-fi. It's known. Nearly all popular sci-fi is space fantasy.

[Nammu Archag]

I think the Force is one of the big appeals of Star Wars so far overlooked in this thread. It has its own unique flavor and moving it towards more typical fantasy magic takes away from that. The lack of visual effects to most of its uses makes it feel subtle and mystical, which in turn emphasizes the wrongness of the Dark Side when we see the Sith employ the Force in such a flashy and violent fashion.

Its also nice when religion in sci-fi settings isn't just "look at these backwards religious people, they don't believe in SCIENCE"

[Metalhead33]

Game of Thrones, but with light sabers.

Already exists: Legend of the Galactic Heroes

There's a lot of potential in LoGH for any kind of video game adaptation, be it cRPG, RTS or turn-based strategy.

[Nammu Archag]

Since we've been playing Starwind I was actually writing down some random notes and retcons on how to fix Star Wars for my own headcanon:

retcon 1 - all movies made by Disney are obsolete

retcon 2 - episodes 1-3 are mostly retconned, primarily in terms of timelines, and many characters (though the clone wars did happen)

retcon 3 - episodes 4-6 are in-universe holodramas. They are based on true events and real characters but are technically rebel films. How true they are is up to the viewer.

retcon 4 - much of the Empire equipment seen in movies is actually just stormtrooper equipment ie AT-ATs are exclusively for stormtroopers etc. The imperial army uses more practical and conventional equipment, and imperial fleets use more ships than just star destroyers, though tie fighter tactics and rebel fleet tactics can remain. Imperial Army is also more prevalent over stormtroopers, and stormtroopers themselves are truly elite and fanatical units.

retcon 5 - The rule of two never existed

Concepts - during and after Rebel Victory

Imperials are not cartoonishly evil but they are very bureaucratic, xenophobic, and hierarchical/statist. Passing imperial exams requires some merit, but actual postings often involve nepotism and politics. The imperial military and its needs remained a prominent and unifying force. The imperial military remains heavily standardized, however, it is still sector-based for logistical reasons (important later).

Many worlds nominally claimed by the empire are not actually ran by them. For non-strategic worlds, and worlds without a proportionally large human population, rule is semi-autonomous as long as said planet accommodates the empire.

Most of humanity lied within the empire

The rebel alliance is much less uniform and has many different ideological sects, such as religious extremists, liberals, reformists, feudalists, xenophiles, communists, merchants guilds, megacorps, etc. Some view the war as a civil war while others view it as a revolution or a jihad and so on.

Both sides commit atrocities, though the empire is objectively worse in treatment towards (most) aliens. Meanwhile, some planets that come under rebel control go through entire cultural revolutions that are particularly chaotic and deplorable, depending on the rebel faction that comes into control (ie on one planet, anyone with ANY perceived tie to the imperials is sent to the gallows and so on)

The empire lasted longer than 30 years

The New Republic wins its independence and the empire collapses, yet many of the imperial sector and planetary governors retain power. There are multiple imperial successor states taking all types of forms (think post-Alexander antiquity), though the new republic tries its best to keep them weak and ununified

Jedi order is reestablished on Coruscant and once again become peacekeepers and judges for the galaxy, though they remain limited in number and scale. Jedi Academy is also naturally reinstated, and surviving Jedi emerge from hiding and return to core worlds.

The republic is ruled by a new senate that is chaotic and full of countless regional, racial, and political coalitions. Corruption is rampant on some planets while others prosper. Laws vary widely from planet to planet, though all share anti-imperial laws and persecute Siths and Sith adjacent (usually via the Jedi and its institutions).

Intergalactic crime syndicates and alien empires flourish during this period of weak human rule.

The Emperor and his sect of the Sith were largely wiped out creating a power vacuum for other Sith sects to grow. The Sith remain small in number and disorganized, but as the rule of two is retconned, they exist in greater numbers than before, especially within Imperial successor states and the outer rim.

Primary conflicts revolve around rising alien empires, the new republic (which also constantly deals with minor rebellions of its own), and Imperial holdouts. Meanwhile, Jedi and Sith sects fight and hunt each other in the background, competing over followers. Tons of swashbuckling, piracy, and crime remain as well.

That's all I jotted down the other night and sorry if it's disorganized, but I feel it gives a more approachable world to build stories in than whatever the current paradigm is with Star Wars, while still keeping core themes and aesthetics intact. Space wizards and knights, smugglers and bounty hunters, fascists and freedom fighters, etc.

[Emphyrio]

the character archetypes are more important than the "ip". Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl is more Star Wars than most of the Star Wars media. So is The Thief and the Cobbler. They follow a simple formula: the gray rogue, the naive hero boy, the girl. There are other successful combinations. Gray Rogue Naive Hero Girl isn't one of them though.

[ArcaneLurker]

the character archetypes are more important than the "ip".

It's not more important to me and many others my age.

retcon 2 - episodes 1-3 are mostly retconned, primarily in terms of timelines, and many characters (though the clone wars did happen)

How would you retcon Episode 1-3 to make Anakin's flip more sensible?
Also how would you retcon the morality in the force? (I'm assuming you would want to.)

[WhiteShark]

I wouldn't mess with the morality of the Force. Clear good and evil are refreshing and universally appealing, unlike grey morality crap. Jedi are good, Sith are bad, and the Force is more than a tool.

[maidenhaver]

the character archetypes are more important than the "ip".

It's not more important to me and many others my age.

retcon 2 - episodes 1-3 are mostly retconned, primarily in terms of timelines, and many characters (though the clone wars did happen)

How would you retcon Episode 1-3 to make Anakin's flip more sensible?
Also how would you retcon the morality in the force? (I'm assuming you would want to.)

Anakin actually expelled for cowboy crap, numerous violations of code, disobeying his master to abandon post and save his mother, warcrimes, and having children. Its all there already, but Star Wars is a children's movie, so what can you do? They focused on the wrong stuff, so that the first Clone Wars cartoon was the episode two we should have gotten.

[ArcaneLurker]

I wouldn't mess with the morality of the Force. Clear good and evil are refreshing and universally appealing, unlike grey morality crap. Jedi are good, Sith are bad, and the Force is more than a tool.

[Norfleet]

Let's say the IP has to be legally distinct enough-- what would you change

To be legally distinct, you simply increase the amount of fucking. Change the basic names, add gratuitous sex scenes. Star Wars is now Star Ballz. Lucas tried to shut this down. He lost in court.

[Mondain]

I wouldn't mess with the morality of the Force. Clear good and evil are refreshing and universally appealing, unlike grey morality crap. Jedi are good, Sith are bad, and the Force is more than a tool.

Neither are good or evil, did you watch the movies?

[Oyster Sauce]

I wouldn't mess with the morality of the Force. Clear good and evil are refreshing and universally appealing, unlike grey morality crap. Jedi are good, Sith are bad, and the Force is more than a tool.

Neither are good or evil, did you watch the movies?

Emperor Palpatine is my favorite grey jedi

[Emphyrio]

[Xenich]

Not sure I buy into the whole Jedi are evil in terms of Vader. I mean, he was the model of lack of self control, obsessed over a women to the point that he would kill another person to save her (even killed children). To me, that is pretty evil.

[Nammu Archag]

I wouldn't mess with the morality of the Force. Clear good and evil are refreshing and universally appealing, unlike grey morality crap. Jedi are good, Sith are bad, and the Force is more than a tool.

It's a spectrum but I somewhat agree. I think it should be handled more like some Kotor-derived sources. Some Sith are true believers (like the empruh) while others are more machiavellian. In SWTOR some Sith have whole political dynasties and don't really give a shit about Sith religion, they're just force-sensitive imperials. They are more loyal to the empire or themselves than any abstract Sith concepts, which can still be in line with Sith teachings on power, but not the more radical notions. Meanwhile, Jedi still believe all the stuff they do but they are a really dogmatic order connected to a very worldly government. They sometimes have to decide between following their codes or risk the dark side in pursuing a better outcome. Keep in mind that the Jedi were designed as true good by libs so their version of good is kinda gay at times

[Oyster Sauce]

George Lucas is unironically the best in the business at naming nouns. Even when you factor in Elan Sleazebaggano it's not even close.

[maidenhaver]

Kit Fisto.

[Nammu Archag]

retcon 2 - episodes 1-3 are mostly retconned, primarily in terms of timelines, and many characters (though the clone wars did happen)

How would you retcon Episode 1-3 to make Anakin's flip more sensible?
Also how would you retcon the morality in the force? (I'm assuming you would want to.)

Anakin had strong human emotions that were being exploited by Palpatine, all while the Jedi fought an increasingly brutal and inhumane war corrupting their beliefs on the behalf of a corrupt republic. I think playing off of that is plenty to flip him.

Like I said to WS, the morality is fine but many Jedi and Sith don't fall within the pure god or pure evil categories, so most should exist on a spectrum. No Sith is going to care about the preservation of life or the sanctity of due process as a principle, but they might have human emotions towards loved ones and ethnic allegiances. Meanwhile, some jedi can at times become too dogmatic or too relaxed in their behavior, making decisions at the expense of others without necessarily succumbing to the dark side.

[ArcaneLurker]

Not sure I buy into the whole Jedi are evil in terms of Vader. I mean, he was the model of lack of self control, obsessed over a women to the point that he would kill another person to save her (even killed children). To me, that is pretty evil.

Idk what you mean. He did nothing wrong.

[Norfleet]

Jedi are good, Sith are bad

I subscribe to the Ashley J. Wililams school of morality.

and the Force is more than a tool.

In the end, everything is a tool. You don't know the power of the evil light side. If you use only the Light side in its roles for knowledge and defense, but are still running an evil empire of oppression and terror, only the oppression and terror is performed using conventional means, you don't suddenly stop being evil for it. In fact, it's more effective this way, because there seems to be little that the Dark side offers other than the ability to cause destruction and death...but you don't need any magic for that.

[ArcaneLurker]

With the morality in the force it seems like an East-meets-West morality, with Ying/Yang both being equal parts of the whole.
This is expanded on by George Lucas in the Clone Wars series.

This makes what Kreia said true--


It's interesting that there doesn't seem to be any desire to retcon that aspect.

[Hauberk]

That's all very interesting, but all those ideas SUCK! Shut up, sit down and feast your eyes on my modest contribution.

Imagine the SPACE-tale of a struggling, blacc, gay, obese womyn and her latinx transgender otherkin girlfriend down on their luck and oppressed by the bigoted, white Christian moisture farmers who aren't accepting of their unique way of life. The pair set out on an important intergalactic journey to change society for the better. On their way OFFWORLD, they team up with a furfag (ostrasized by his headmates due to a virulent strain of AIDS) and a quipping redditor creature. Quirkiness ensues!

Then, there's a lot of filler content which I'd love to cover here, but it's pretty ableist to do so, so we'll skip that part.

The thing ends in a space battle and then they meet a melanin-enriched space Greta who, in some playful fourth wall breakage, scolds the viewer for xirs carbon footprint as the space climate change is finally defeated.

And the everyone claps. George Lucas is on his knees crying. He can't get over how much better this is than Star Wars. He begs forgiveness for his inherent whiteness and commits sudoku.

FIN

[ArcaneLurker]

That's all very interesting, but all those ideas SUCK! Shut up, sit down and feast your eyes on my modest contribution.

Imagine the SPACE-tale of a struggling, blacc, gay, obese womyn and her latinx transgender otherkin girlfriend down on their luck and oppressed by the bigoted, white Christian moisture farmers who aren't accepting of their unique way of life. The pair set out on an important intergalactic journey to change society for the better. On their way OFFWORLD, they team up with a furfag (ostrasized by his headmates due to a virulent strain of AIDS) and a quipping redditor creature. Quirkiness ensues!

Then, there's a lot of filler content which I'd love to cover here, but it's pretty ableist to do so, so we'll skip that part.

The thing ends in a space battle and then they meet a melanin-enriched space Greta who, in some playful fourth wall breakage, scolds the viewer for xirs carbon footprint as the space climate change is finally defeated.

And the everyone claps. George Lucas is on his knees crying. He can't get over how much better this is than Star Wars. He begs forgiveness for his inherent whiteness and commits sudoku.

FIN