Dear LucasArts

Dear Story Developement Guys at LucasArts Game Department,

I, a loyal (which is stressed because, well, you guys have made a few faux pas here and there, *cough-Jedi Battles-cough* but I keep coming back) and dedicated fan. I am anxiously awaiting your next installment of Star Wars cannon and, though I am a little disheartened by the delayed release, I'm sure it will be the shining achievement in your ability to tell a story while "unleashing" the full potential of the Force. The videos I've seen and the articles I've read have done nothing but fuel the fires of my need to play this game.

All that said, however, I have something I'd like to say...

Please, for the love of your fans, move past the Galactic Civil War period. Seriously, we've seen enough. With the exception of the Knights of the Old Republic games, every single Star Wars game to date is based around the 30+ years between Episodes I and VI; with the a decent amount smack dab in the middle of the Original Trilogy. A time of fantastic battles and larger than life heroes, to be sure. But, c'mon, guys! There is a veritable plethora of great characters and stories to be told beyond the six movies.

In fact, there's an entire war. Waged, I might add, against an enemy FAR scarier than the Empire and rediculously evil. If you really think about it, the Yuuzhan Vong are the perfect badguys for a video game series. They have a caste system which could be used to tier the enemies faced within the course of the game, their weapons and technology stand up against a lightsaber (the primary weapon of most SW games' main hero) and their single-minded drive to enslave or destroy all life in the galaxy makes for the perfect antagonistic motive.

And, as previously mentioned, there is a wealth of deep characters from which to choose from. You could even make a game in which we, the fans, get to choose to take on the roll of a number of the Original Three (Luke, Han, and Leia...duh) in a branching storyline, lending to a game with multiple endings; an aspect most gamers love as it justifies their $60 purchase with more playability. If you want to stay away from the Original Three, but still want to do the branching story idea, you could make a game starring the three Solo children; three Jedi with similar goals and morals, but vastly different personalities and strengths. This give the player a chance to cater to a personal playing style or experience the game from three unique points of view; something we all look for when playing a game. Hell, if you want to stick to what you know, guys, you could even make a game starring our old pal, Kyle Katarn; a character we grew to love in the original games and did a little cheer every time he was mentioned through the NJO series and would love to see brought full-circle with a frontline role in the first of what would hopefully become a series of games in this time-period.

Here, I'll even run you through some story ideas just off the top of my head.
We'll star with one using the Solo children:

**for anyone reading this who hasn't read the NJO series all the way through, this next bit contains some spoilers**

Star with the player taking on the roll of Anakin Solo, the youngest of the Solo kids, leading the strike team on the mission to Myrkr. Give players not familiar with the NJO series a recap in the form of an opening crawl or montage cutscene (maybe even obtaining the voice tallents of the original actors?) and then toss them headlong into one of the most vital missions in the story. Starting with this particular mission would accomplish several goals in the form of one massive introductory level: First, you give the player their first real look this new evil and the world in which they exist through the woldship that the strike team attacks in their mission to destroy the voxyn (a great boss for said level, btw), pulls the player in with a character that feels familiar and new, then propells them into an emotional character-driven story when, at the end of the level, Anakin sacrifices himself to save the strike team.

From here you can choose to take the roll of Jaina and play through various mission which all lead up to her becoming the Sword of the Jedi. With Jaina, you could even incorporate space-flight missions as she becomes a memeber of Rogue Squadron and then, once she is granted Knighthood and dubs herself Yun Harla--the Yuuzhan Vong trickster goddess--leads her own squadron.

With Jacen, you have the whole Vergere storyline. You can lead the player through Jacen's capture and subsequent escape from the hands of the Vong with the help of Vergere and, later, Ganner Rhysode. I, for one, would love to witness Ganner's heroic Last Stand on Yun Yuuzhan (the terraformed Coruscant) through the eyes of Jacen as he works to complete his mission to convince the World Brain to turn on the ecosystem.

Or....

If you want to use Kyle...

Kyle's would be a simpler story, to be sure. You could take the player through the developement of Kyle's strategies for and missions to save Yuuzhan Vong captives during the war. Again, with Kyle, you could include space missions since, in the final battle of the war, the then-Knight was one of a select group granted a seed-partner and Sekotan ship.

Well, there you have it; and that's just off the top of my head. You guys should know more than I do, that this time-period is ripe with characters and stories enough for ten games! To be honest, I just don't understand why you haven't done it yet? Is it George? Is he afraid that the Yuuzhan Vong are too scary for the younglings that would play these games? Cause, seriously, Darth Vader was one of the scarriest s.o.b's of my childhood and, let's face it, that's exactly what a badguy needs to be. That makes the hero's triumph over the evil-dude all the more exciting.

Of course, if you wanted to give the player a personal experience and allow them to create their own character, you have the whole Alpha Red project to focus on. Just for starters.
Anyway, those are just some of my ramblings. Like I said, before, I'm all for any game you put out...well...that is, until I play it, in which case, if it's sub-par (as far as my personal preferences go; I wasn't a fan of Republic Commando, myself) then I'll move on. It's just that my Star Wars fandom has, over the past decade, grown deeper roots in the Extended Universe and I feel that the New Jedi Order is the best of the best in this area and I'd love to see these characters brought to life in a digital experience.

Don't get me wrong, though. I'm a huge fan of the current series, Legacy of the Force. However, this only lends more to my argument for a game starring Jacen Solo.

Thanks for listening (sort of) and making games set in a galaxy far, far away...

Keep up the great work, guys!