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Azzmo posted:I speculate that many people, as you're probably about to see, have a personal dislike for Traviss that transcends and ignores the good writing that she has done. I actually think that personal dislike of Traviss is pretty justified. She did do stuff like compare her detractors to the Taliban, write about fantasies in which they were killed, mocked them for having less sex than her imaginary characters, and posted about how she hated them in forums around the internet that had nothing to do with Star Wars and/or the issue at hand, essentially furthering the same pro-Traviss/anti-Traviss debate at the same time she claimed she just wanted it to end. Then there is her tendency to cry sexism or anti-military bias at all of her critics. She's incredibly petty, vindictive and two-faced, so yes, I think those are personal issues that do affect my ability to enjoy her work. Then there is also stuff like how she retcons and overwrites things for no reason - for all that she claims to like Mandalorians she has tried to retcon all pre-Traviss Mandalorian history away so only her version survives as the canonical Mandalorian history (for example, she changed the spelling of Mandalore's capitol city and also retconned the Mandalorian City of Bone to be an amusement park fake passed off as an actual city to gullible Imperials by WALON VAU THE GREAT). Not to mention changing stuff for literally no reason at all, even remotely related to her personal likes and dislikes (like changing Callista's last name for no reason). And finally there is the fact that she is very transparent with her blatant political views that she wedges into her work - she really really hates Tony Blair and lo and behold in her LOTF books Jacen spouts a number of Tony Blair quotes. Not to mention the fact that: 1) The series is called "Republic Commando" and not "Mandalorian" 2) Her books are ostensibly based on an FPS combat game yet most of the "action" consists of people sitting around talking about how they love the Mandalorians and hate the Jedi 3) If you actually think her books have any sort of nuanced critique of the Jedi rather than blind irrational hatred no matter the logic of the viewpoint (remember, Traviss said she stood up and cheered in the theater when she saw the Order 66 montage in ROTS) then I just don't know what to tell you
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Aug 17, 2010 05:42
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Chairman Capone posted:I actually think that personal dislike of Traviss is pretty justified. She did do stuff like compare her detractors to the Taliban, write about fantasies in which they were killed, mocked them for having less sex than her imaginary characters, and posted about how she hated them in forums around the internet that had nothing to do with Star Wars and/or the issue at hand, essentially furthering the same pro-Traviss/anti-Traviss debate at the same time she claimed she just wanted it to end. Then there is her tendency to cry sexism or anti-military bias at all of her critics. She's incredibly petty, vindictive and two-faced, so yes, I think those are personal issues that do affect my ability to enjoy her work. I really have to wonder how the people around her took that. And has she always felt this way, like, since A New Hope came out? Because that's kind of hosed up.
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Aug 17, 2010 05:44
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Cross-Section posted:There's a new "commercial" out for Star Tours II; now, I'm not too worried about the prequelization of the ride, considering the three planets highlighted are Bespin, Endor, and Alderaan. No. No. No. No. No. Years ago I thought it'd be cool to update the Star Tours ride, but now I know that George Lucas can't do anything right. Please do not update the ride. Now, I think it'd be cool if there were "3 different ride experiences" where you either went to Bespin, Endor, or Alderaan (and not all 3 in a single ride), that I would like. Especially if Endor stayed true to the original ride.
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Aug 17, 2010 05:50
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Pththya-lyi posted:Cad Bane. He's kind of a cheesy character, I admit it, but I like him for his Western gun-slinger look. His appearance was based on unused concept art from the OT, which only makes him even cooler: I mean I konw he's the stereotypical man in dark clothes with a big hat who is a badass, but I like it.
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Aug 17, 2010 05:57
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I've noticed almost no one is talking about the Fate of the Jedi series. What do you guys think of it so far? I'm quite enjoying it myself. The surprise team-up as well as the budding relationship between Ben and Vestara has me hooked and waiting eagerly for the next release. I'm also enjoying their portrayal of Sith who are more like Jedi with balls, rather than just power-hungry psychotics.
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Aug 17, 2010 06:21
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Cad Bane sucks. I hate him as much as some hate Starkiller. The writers felt they had to continue the prequel trilogy's attempts at one-upping the OT by creating some ridiculous Clint Eastwood rip-off that just so happens to be more dangerous than OT Fett in every way. 
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Aug 17, 2010 06:41
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Pththya-lyi posted:Cad Bane. He's kind of a cheesy character, I admit it, but I like him for his Western gun-slinger look. His appearance was based on unused concept art from the OT, which only makes him even cooler: Haha holy crap - the Wookiepedia article links to the Clone Wars S3 preview, in which he holds his own against Obi-Wan in a lightsaber fight. I like the character concept, but this is really pushing Mr. Lightsber Knees levels of stupid.
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Aug 17, 2010 06:48
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I don't get why any of you would complain about the show since I'd assume you're all outside the target demographic. I've never seen a single episode. At my age there's no way I'm watching any children's show that doesn't feature Batman. Pththya-lyi posted:Cad Bane. He's kind of a cheesy character, I admit it, but I like him for his Western gun-slinger look. His appearance was based on unused concept art from the OT, which only makes him even cooler:
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Aug 17, 2010 06:51
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Chairman Capone posted:Traviss things Well said. That should be added to the OP as a quick go-to explanation for why people hate her. Despite all of that the first three Republic Commando books are awesome and the common demerits people assign them are usually based on external factors such as those you've listed or based on her shoddy writing in her other Star Wars projects. There are so few good Star Wars books being released these days that I just can't imagine letting personal feelings about an author interfere with my enjoyment of a book. I especially can't sit by when I see people steering potential readers away from those books. Which is why I just preempted that whole process in the post you responded to.
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Aug 17, 2010 07:07
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Karen Traviss just comes off like she's trying way too hard. She's so creepily obsessed with these toy soldiers that she scribbles about, and in consequence Mandolorians now seem about as lame to me as Jar Jar Binks or Starkiller. It would have been way cooler if she'd used Mandolorians really sparingly and kept some mystery about them, but in Traviss's hands they come off sounding like a bunch of tiresome old braggarts.
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Aug 17, 2010 08:46
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Azzmo posted:I speculate that many people, as you're probably about to see, have a personal dislike for Traviss that transcends and ignores the good writing that she has done. The Republic Commando books are some of my favorite Star Wars literature - action stories about small unit operations which ask moralistic questions that might face a soldier and his commanding officers. One of the greatest things is that the stories are self-contained and have very little of the George Lucas taint (ridiculous names, reminders that the prequels exist, attempts to give the prequel storyline some meaning and reason for having existed). Instead it's just guerilla and spec-ops warfare by soldiers who are slowly maturing and starting to ask questions of the world around them. There is certainly a justified, personal dislike for Traviss that transcends any of the writing (some good, more atrocious) she has written, with good reason. Her treatment of fans was despicable – commenting how she’d like to garrotte or slit the throats of her detractors, comparing them to terrorists, comparing people who defend the Jedi to Nazis, etc. etc. She doesn’t read other novels for research and justifies this laziness by saying it offers her a “fresh approach”. There’s plenty to dislike. But I could deal with an author being a oval office. I don’t really care about that, and if her books had been consistently good I wouldn’t care. What I care about is consistent characterisation and continuity, something she doesn’t give a poo poo about, and yet something which, when writing in a universe with hundreds of pieces of established literature all (supposedly) fitting together without contradiction, is pretty loving important. She clearly has a polemic she thinks is “edgy” about how despicable the Jedi Order is. Fine, tell the story, tell a story from the POV of traditional antagonists, ask questions you think we’re afraid to ask, but that doesn’t give you an excuse to re-characterise Jedi behaviour and customs for the sake of your "point". Every Jedi in her stories is a simpleminded straw man that never talks back or rebuts the rants (which are really the author talking) levelled against them in her novels. And the criticisms of the Order exist almost exclusively in her novels: - From everyone, including Jedi characters, genuinely seeming to think that the Jedi Order steals babies from their parents, even though dozens of sources establish that the Jedi must obtain free consent of the parents; - To the CW novel re-scripting a scene from the movie where she discovers that a droid is a spy who tries to kill her with half a dozen battle droids, into a disturbing execution scene where she murders an unarmed sentient droid because it questions her beliefs; - To the LOTF novels where the Jedi are somehow to blame for not helping Mandalore resist Yuuzhan Vong invasion, even though this never happened until she wrote it, even though the Jedi weren’t in charge of the military resources that were stretched very thin forcing conscious decisions not to defend many worlds, and even though the Jedi were the only reason a galactic civilisation that turned against them actually won that war (not that Jaina says any of this). I’m all for asking the “ugly questions” of the Jedi Order. They’ve made mistakes in their history and their ascetic attitude post-Ruusan was a big mistake that led to their downfall. But do it without making Jedi characters so retarded and re-characterising established characters like Luke and Jaina so horrifically that it ruins the immersion entirely. And Hard Contact and Triple Zero were decent novels (I don't objectively see anything in them to call them "great" and I wouldn't recommend them to anyone wanting to read a Star Wars because there's very little Star Wars-y about them) But each book after that was progressively worse until Imperial Commando. That novel was 430-some pages of unlikeable, characters (whose internal dialogues were nearly indistinguishable) moping around their trillionaire mansion planning things that never come to fruition. There are 3 small action scenes in the entire loving novel, which probably take up 20 pages combined. Nothing happens in the rest of the book! And her writing style is just horrible. It’s all telling and no showing. “Skirata doesn’t hold grudges and gives everyone a chance to prove themselves”, says the narrative without being supported by the text. “This new Commander Melusar is one of those who troopers instantly respect” says Darman’s internal perspective, without anything the new commander says or does reinforcing this belief. Oh, and let’s not forget she killed someone else’s character, utterly pointlessly , without asking permission and without it adding anything to the story. I could have lived with LOTF if it had just been poo poo. But it was not only poo poo and unnecessary, it also has massive negative ramifications to the lives of the heroes of the films. I think Luke, Han and Leia should be allowed to have happy lives, as promised by the happy ending to ROTJ, not a life where Luke has his wife brutally murdered and has to raise his son alone, and Han and Leia see two of their three children die, with the latter death being something they deliberately endeavour to bring about. But maybe that’s a minority opinion. Rant over. DougieFFC fucked around with this message at 12:06 on Aug 17, 2010 |
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Aug 17, 2010 11:39
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Someone over in CD posted this link that I think everyone in this thread would enjoy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxf1c3fzDOU
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Aug 17, 2010 11:52
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How long can a human Jedi go without pooping? This is important to my enjoyment of all things Star Wars since Jedi (including Luke) insist on flying across the galaxy in single-seat fighters.
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Aug 17, 2010 12:15
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Derek Dominoe posted:How long can a human Jedi go without pooping? This is important to my enjoyment of all things Star Wars since Jedi (including Luke) insist on flying across the galaxy in single-seat fighters. What makes you think that a futuristic faster-than-light space fighter doesn't have facilities if you want to take a poo poo?
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Aug 17, 2010 13:18
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Literal poopsocking.
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Aug 17, 2010 14:13
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DougieC posted:What makes you think that a futuristic faster-than-light space fighter doesn't have facilities if you want to take a poo poo? That said, Jedi often use a Force Trance to while away the days or weeks spent alone in hyperspace. The equivalent to going into hibernation, slowing down their vital functions etcetera, which means they could go a long time without pooping.
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Aug 17, 2010 14:17
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Derek Dominoe posted:How long can a human Jedi go without pooping? This is important to my enjoyment of all things Star Wars since Jedi (including Luke) insist on flying across the galaxy in single-seat fighters. Not just Jedi, there's a lot of non-jedi hyperspace X-Wing travel in the X-Wing books. Even fighters now have pee tubes, so why wouldn't an X-Wing?
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Aug 17, 2010 14:24
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Jerk McJerkface posted:Not just Jedi, there's a lot of non-jedi hyperspace X-Wing travel in the X-Wing books. Even fighters now have pee tubes, so why wouldn't an X-Wing? But do they have poo tubes?
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Aug 17, 2010 14:46
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The Astromech droid does all the work. Why do you think they never upgrade them to speak non binary?
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Aug 17, 2010 14:52
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DougieC posted:But do they have poo tubes? I'm sure a friendly stroll to Wookieepedia will clarify this issue... God drat it, Star Wars
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Aug 17, 2010 14:53
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WampaLord posted:I'm sure a friendly stroll to Wookieepedia will clarify this issue... Good to know that toilet paper is used for the same thing in a fictional universe, I would have never guessed.
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Aug 17, 2010 15:05
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They should've tried to go with the 3 seashells.
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Aug 17, 2010 15:10
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Big Mean Jerk posted:Cad Bane sucks. I mean, you're pretty much obligated to like Bane for his fashion sense alone. 
Traxus IV fucked around with this message at 16:22 on Aug 17, 2010 |
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Aug 17, 2010 15:10
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Good to see a new, less intimidating thread. Hoping to be part of it  The CG Clone Wars thing I have mixed feelings about. On one hand, it's more star wars (which is usually good), the scenarios are interesting, and it features a hell of a lot of unsung Jedi, which is just fantastic. My big problem with it is the beyond-retarded writing. To start: Ashoka (  ). I hate her almost as much as I hate anyone bearing the name 'Onasi'. Her and Anakin together make the show a true atrocity with the horrible, smug, 'snappy', almost going-to-become-love-interest-y dialouge going on between a 20yr old man and an 11yr old girl. Anakin on his own is terrible, Ashoka on her own is tolerable, usually because she's getting a thorough telling off from whatever Jedi she's with.The horribleness doesn't stop there though, other characters are horribly mauled. Obi-wan, Dooku, Windu, Koon, half the people who made the prequels bearable for me all get character assassinated by being forced to be loving idiots, forget the most basic of their powers and duel idiot bounty hunters with lightsabers (it's happened twice already). I must say I like Cad, purely because he's the only character who still seems to have any kind of intelligence. I'm not going to stop watching it for two good reasons; 1) Ashoka will be killed horribly at some point, and I must see it. 2) I just can't look away... Lastly: I've been a Fencer (sword fighter) for ten years, and I know a fair bit about how to use most kinds of sword, but I can think of no real upside to holding your lightsaber backwards. There are several downsides (loss of frontal defense, arm range, blade position flexibility, etc.) but none are crippling, and can be countered with practice. It seems like a lot of effort to learn such a style for no gain beyond a moment of surprise when you turn the thing on, so... Actual question: What is the benefit, if any, to holding a lightsaber in a reverse-grip, as Starkiller, Ashoka and apparently now Revan do? Edit: No, it does not look cooler. Bene Elim fucked around with this message at 15:29 on Aug 17, 2010 |
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Aug 17, 2010 15:19
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Bene Elim posted:Actual question: What is the benefit, if any, to holding a lightsaber in a reverse-grip, as Starkiller, Ashoka and apparently now Revan do? I'm not sure you're going to get an answer outside "it looks cooler". There's not likely to be an in-universe reason for it. But also, I'm no fencer, so you'd know better than I.
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Aug 17, 2010 15:24
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The entire basis of Lightsabers is looking cool, so looking cooler translates into a more effective Lightsaber.
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Aug 17, 2010 15:32
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Bene Elim posted:Actual question: What is the benefit, if any, to holding a lightsaber in a reverse-grip, as Starkiller, Ashoka and apparently now Revan do? Since it looks cooler is not enough, maybe the goal is to use the lightsaber as a maiming weapon. Block their hit and step towards them at an angle and you're likely to slice chunks out of their body. It might not be instantly lethal and a bit risky, but if you're a giant rear end in a top hat its a great way to ruin somebody slowly with the saber.
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Aug 17, 2010 15:34
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Bene Elim posted:Edit: No, it does not look cooler. Oh, I'm not saying it succeeds in looking cooler, but that's why they did it. Because they think it looks cooler.
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Aug 17, 2010 15:37
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WampaLord posted:I'm sure a friendly stroll to Wookieepedia will clarify this issue... 
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Aug 17, 2010 15:38
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Holding the saber backwards is fine if it's an off-hand parrying weapon, but that's not exactly what Starkiller is going for I think. It could make sense to have Obi Wan do it I guess, but not Starkiller.
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Aug 17, 2010 15:45
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Bene Elim posted:I must say I like Cad, purely because he's the only character who still seems to have any kind of intelligence. I've only seen a few episodes of the show, and what I've seen of Cad I generally like. He's a much better villain concept that General "Top Hat and Moustache" Grievous or Count Dracula. But this is the Season 3 preview, and god help us he's fighting Obi-Wan with a lightsaber. And let the record show that the Darth Maul clone is named... Savage Oppress.  Edit: I am an idiot and thought I was in the RLM thread, so ignore the first paragraph which I posted like a page ago.
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Aug 17, 2010 15:52
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Normally, I'm the one to laugh and joke about the retarded stuff, but literally naming a character "Savage Oppress"? Star Wars is officially Captain Planet now.
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Aug 17, 2010 16:02
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If CW was meant to be a less-than-serious venture, I could almost accept that name as being an attempt at humor. It's just so stupid. It's like the AOL screen name of villain names.
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Aug 17, 2010 16:06
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Nemesis Of Moles posted:Someone over in CD posted this link that I think everyone in this thread would enjoy Bene Elim posted:Actual question: What is the benefit, if any, to holding a lightsaber in a reverse-grip, as Starkiller, Ashoka and apparently now Revan do? The thing I can't stand about the Clone Wars cartoon was when Anakin killed the gundark and used the pommel of his lightsaber to play its skeleton like a xylophone. He strikes the same rib twice in succession, yet he produces two clearly different tones. I mean, what are we to believe, that this is some sort of a magic xylophone or something? Boy, I really hope somebody got fired for that blunder.
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Aug 17, 2010 16:16
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Bene Elim posted:Actual question: What is the benefit, if any, to holding a lightsaber in a reverse-grip, as Starkiller, Ashoka and apparently now Revan do?  And yeah, the Savage Oppress thing is dumb. Really dumb. It doesn't help that the intro video for him just has the guy growling the whole time when he's handed over to Dooku. Oh man, what a badass! Err, I mean, what a savage! That said, I'll probably still watch the next season (though there isn't a rolleyes big enough for Bane with a lightsaber). It's a pretty entertaining show when I switch off my inner sperglord.
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Aug 17, 2010 16:19
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T-1000 posted:The thing I can't stand about the Clone Wars cartoon was when Anakin killed the gundark and used the pommel of his lightsaber to play its skeleton like a xylophone. He strikes the same rib twice in succession, yet he produces two clearly different tones. I mean, what are we to believe, that this is some sort of a magic xylophone or something? Boy, I really hope somebody got fired for that blunder. Close the thread, nerdrage zen has been achieved.
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Aug 17, 2010 16:29
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Didn't see this posted yet. It seems Obi-Wan's homeworld being named after Jon Stewart is official.
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Aug 17, 2010 16:31
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Captain Splendid posted:Didn't see this posted yet. This is a joke right?
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Aug 17, 2010 16:33
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Bene Elim posted:Actual question: What is the benefit, if any, to holding a lightsaber in a reverse-grip, as Starkiller, Ashoka and apparently now Revan do? I'm a bit of a fencer, too, and... nothing decent comes to mind. Maybe if you're a really good acrobat and can control the range in the fight? Slip past the enemy and stab them in the back as you run past? If it were a knife-sized blade, maybe, though. Aren't some combat knives used like that? I don't recall if they are or not; don't take that as a claim that they are.
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Aug 17, 2010 16:34
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Am I missing something? I didn't know George was such a Stewart fan. I do recall Mr. Lucas being on TDS and Jon holding his composure to keep his inner fanboy at bay. Its funny and sad what Star Wars has become. "Mr Lucas, we need a name for the new Sith Lord." *looks around room* "...Skyv Odka." "And his home planet?" *scans desk* "...Altoid." *continues counting money*
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