The new episode guides

Seriously, whose idea was it to just be lazy, write a paragraph and some factoids, and call it better? I'll tell you who. Somebody who needs to be replaced by someone who can actually do the work. I mean, there's no getting around or sugar coating the fact that these new episode guides just simply SUCK. Again, whoever writes the episode guides, needs to be, if not fired, then suspended or put to work on something less important, like doing the janitorial work.

I probably shouldn't complain but I mean, face facts - the Clone Wars can do a lot better than this. In fact, they HAVE done a lot better so there's no excuse.

 

I feel that the current episode guide style reflects the new direction the Clone Wars series itself has taken.

 

Yes, I agree. The episode guides used to be better before with the full synopsis. I think that SW.com was a much better and informative site before the overhaul as well.

 

Really, what's going on?

 

I agree, the episode guide is quite useless without a synopsis. And the SW.com site is getting lazy in general. They failed to post the preview article that usually comes along with the clip this week.

 

Do we really need a full synopsis though? On a practical level, surely anyone checking out the episode guides is presumably doing it for the interesting background information/image galleries/character names/etc, and has already seen the episodes in question?

 

Sometimes it gives some extra information only seen, but not described within the episode itself.

 

I don't even check out the OS any more. The posters here post anything interesting about TCW, and TF.N posts everything else.

I couldn't help but notice that there hasn't been a lot of interesting stuff lately.

 

No, as it can take six months or more before the episodes airs in other parts of the world. The full synopsis is also great if one happens to miss anything.

 

I HATE the new Episode Guides! Granted, I never liked them before but this is ridiculous!

I'm still mad that the SW.com Databank is never updated!

 

I continue to find it interesting that people expect the highest quality of work from something for which they pay not a single cent.
Welcome to the paradox of FREE stuff.

 

True, perhaps my rant was cheap and futile. But SW.com is the official site and when work ethic goes down, it makes the advertisements look bad.

In other words: To keep people interested, they will also need to stay on track. The synopsis had helped identify characters that weren't indentified in the credits. We would have had to wait until Season 2 to identify Denal.

So it should be free and it should be up to date. You can only take things so far with payment.

 

Wookieepedia is better than the databank. In terms of quality and up-to-date information.

 

No Kidding.

 

It always was, even when the Databank was updated.

 

With the exception of their EXTREMELY strict policy on sourcing material.
Still, beats the Databank by a long shot.

 

Somewhat along these lines, I wish Lucasfilm would put decent episode guides in the DVD sets, including listing the episodes on each disc. You have to look through a whole book of concept drawings to find which episodes are on which discs.

 

The only issue I have with the current episode guides is the removal of the 'episode brief' and the lateness. So far this season, the episodes have been recorded, on my harddrive, and viewed before the guides are put up. There maybe a new situation where the episode may have to been seen on the pacific coast before uploading them.

With that said I like the guides in general: the stills and concept art, 'secrets revealed' and trivia, easter eggs and episode order, etc.

Hopefully the upcoming HD Boxset get us back to a more movie-based starwars.com over the now-aging Web 2.0/Social Networking/ "follow us on twitter" one we have now. I have literally seen a motivational poster and the use of the words "epic" and "meme" on starwars.com, all of this so 2000s

 

"Free stuff"? How much money haven't we fans spent on SW stuff for the past 33 years and continues to spend? I don't think it's too much to ask that the official site tries to keep the interest up a little and to throw a bone to the fans.

 

How 'bout you write the episode guides then? Oh yeah, cuz you're too busy and cuz you don't want to work for free and cuz you have more important things to do and cuz blar dee blar blar blar dee blar...

 

I don't see your logic. You pay for what you get, not for the episode guides, which I too prefer the old ones.

 

See, some people write those episode guides because that's part of their job, something they get paid to do, and something to which they've committed themselves and should (theoretically) take responsibility for. But unfortunately, the official Star Wars site has never been representative of what the Star Wars fandom needs and wants, and I don't expect it to be any different in this area. No, we don't pay for the episode guides, but I agree with Mange in that we have invested--and continue to invest--enough money and time into Star Wars that the People in Charge should throw us a bone here and there. They won't do it, though. The OS is crap, in my opinion, and I continue to use Wookieepedia as my episode guide, as astringent as it is, and as much as I disagree with a good portion of their work ethic.

 

Meh, I don't agree entirely with you, Qui-Gon Reborn. In the past two season of TCW, they have given us full synopsis, which helped certain Wookieepedians who wrote TCW articles. From my own opinion, I think they stopped doing those fairly important/interesting synopsis, and replaced them with those ridiculous "secrets revealed" facts, which are less than facts for many. Many of which are just their own "TCW contradicts canon" facts.

 

I don't know about the contradicting canon part, but my point is that the OS is used to low standards, they make a habit out of low standards, and they'll continue to exist in the company of low standards. Wookieepedia's standards are comparatively higher, so while the site doesn't have complete episode guides to help create articles, I'm confident they can still do a high-quality job. Does that make sense? Like you, I'm rather turned off by the "secrets revealed" stuff.

 

When I first saw this I wondered if the Episode Guide was incomplete. I think it is lazy on SW.com's part. I want the format of the season one episode guides back, where at the bottom they posted links (like interviews or behind the scenes articles) about that night's episode. In season two guides they didn't do that, and now for season three they don't write a synopsis.