The sad state of uncreative people working in a field of creativity.
I would like to see a plotline where we help train, and fight with a group, a third part, stop a tyrannical leader, install a new hopeful, only to have them become drunk with power, and become the next great threat, either through discovering a power source, or making a deal with someone.
That is something off the top of my head. Some new plots would be great, but everyone in entertainment today just wants to redo the popular stuff that has already proven itself, and quite often, destroying it.
I don’t think that’s as unpopular as you’d think. After Force Awakens, I was expecting both Rey and Finn to be training; he made many mentions to “having a feeling,” beginning with being the first to snap out of Storm Trooper mind-training, and I thought they were going to be a pair, like Leia and Luke. After seeing Rising, I think that might’ve been what Abrams had planned but could no longer do because of time restraints.
It made no sense to me at all that in Last Jedi Rey was getting turned on by a shirtless Kylo, who had just killed the closest thing she ever had to a father right in front of her. I literally laughed out loud in the theater at that scene.
The writers have no idea what they’re doing. Everything these days seems so much less well planned out and professional than before. Even the posters for the new movies are so much less artistic and more just like a marvel movie action poster then even the prequel posters.
The narrative of TROS would’ve been easier to stomach if Palpatine were actually dead, and if his directing of Kylo Ren was achieved by proxy (perhaps by communicating with Kylo as a spirit, through the use of a holocron, or via a third party).
It can’t all be boiled down to that. Sure it causes some bad lines, and characters, but that isn’t the one thing that has ruined both IPs. It is just one of multiple contributing factors.
The current Hollywood chose culture over talent and it shows. This is a problem all over both coasts in America. Lots of hubris and self admiration without much self critique. I haven’t seen a well done Hollywood film in years. In fact the best TV shows tend to be 100% book adaptations like Game of Thrones where as soon as they run out of book material the show becomes garbage.
The producers know when they have garbage on their hands. So they inject controversy like social justice to get the movie across to a larger audience. Just the same as a forgotten shaving blade company put their name in the limelight for months by being controversial. It’s a gimmick meant to increase their brand awareness, good or bad.
Once you look past the controversy what you tend to find are mediocre films, at best. The contrived part / Mary Sue deal is that you throw a seemingly immortal woman into the film with very little backstory or growth. You clearly have no idea how to make the character go from A to B and if that shows in your work your work sucks. There’s no arguing that.
I see it in a lot of things now and most of that stuff comes from the coasts and won’t change until they bottle their hubris and start signing talent over culture.
Edit: I don’t feel the same way about Sylvanas. Important to note that I think her story is accessible and if you spend enough time with it, it makes a lot of sense. The problem with WoW you could say is that the story is all over the place. So very few people know about the events at Icecrown and the events that happened afterward. Most BFA players probably know the events of Legion and that’s it.
Everyone’s complaining about the culture and controversial real life stuff and that’s valid and all. But really that’s a niche part of the problem. Rey and Sylvanas are perfect for comparison not because of the whole them being strong female characters, there’s nothing wrong with strong female characters if they’re written well. The problem is both of them are strong out of nowhere and never lose and the source of their power is very poorly explained even as they destroy characters with ease the fans have known as extremely powerful since near the beginning of each respective series and were properly built up.
I think Sylvanas is explained though. The big problem is much of it happened outside of the game. That’s a big problem with the game is that much of the story telling happens in books and so the game assumes you’ve read the books.
Just think back to when WoD was made and how incredible Draenor was. They made this amazing world that had so much potential. But then the overall expac was a stinker.
Are you joking? That’s exactly how Star Wars is gonna do it too… It’s horrible writing either way despite the medium. But yeah requiring people to get the books when there is a main medium you’re trying to tell the story in is absurd.
It’d be like a broadway play asking the audience to first watch a TV show at home that explained the backstory before coming to watch the play. It’s ridiculous in every way.
Pretty spot on. BFA is another perfect example. KT and Zandalar look amazing. The story behind the expac was garbage and forced everyone to dis-invest from the content story wise which then basically leaves you just playing a game you’re about as invested in as peggle story wise and you’re only playing it for the gear and achievements etc.
This is a problem running its greasy path through media in general these days. I don’t have any real issues with Star Wars or WoW in this regard because, let’s be honest, I’m here for big, dumb, unmissable story beats and swinging sharp objects around and spaceships and whatever. Currently, though, every major franchise is basically demanding that you read the book, play the game, watch the show, play the other game, ride the theme park, and tune into the podcast, and that’s exhausting and is going to lead less to Total Brand Awareness and more towards frustrated people giving up.
For myself, it means that I’m devoting more and more time to the products and services which don’t demand the monopolization of my time. D&D seems to be doing a good job of things, because while they do have all the podcasts and whatnot happening, the gameplay experience is never, ever dependent on knowing everything. My other hobbies, like Magic: the Gathering, and franchises I’ve enjoyed like Star Wars, are falling further and further into my rearview. “The more you tighten your grip, the more star systems will slip through your fingers.”
