Speculation Why the NJO and Legacy Era are toast.

That seems like the most likely reason so far for them choosing to not trash the EU- because, from their point of view, it would be unprofitable to do so.

You keep saying that but haven't backed it up with anything. What are you b asing that opinion on?

It would most lkely be more profitable after a re-start. Comic book companies have proved this.

Not an opinion - just a series of (I hope) pertinent questions. That said, I have already said that that would be my response, and others have stated similar intentions.

We are consumers - if the product isn't what we want, nobody, least of all an arrogant Megacorp, can force us to buy it.

My counter argument would be that the novel series in the EU are not the same as comics, and in many cases are not the same readership.

That said, a portion of the EU is comics- some of which are still going- Dawn of the Jedi, for example.

As I don't read (in fact cannot get hold of) comics, my remarks should be considered only in the context of novels.

Both are loyal fan bases who get invested in teh history and continuity of their characters and univesers/worlds. The medium might be different but thats about it.

Everytime Marvel and DC fans know there is a change coming, a vocal minority state they will never read the character or companies books again. Not onyl do those hard core fans always come back (assuming the quality is good), but new and lapsed readers also join in because the restart interests them and/or is more welcoming and book sales increase.

What reason is there to think Star Wars fans would be any different?

There is no reason to think re-starting the EU to match the new multi-million dollar movie that is coming out will kill the profitability of Star Wars EU.

IF this were to happen is would be because Kennedy and co. ignore the EU when making episode VII.

If Episode VII is clearly a fresh start and does not follow the story or characters of the EU at all, will you still go to see it? If so, will you not like regardless of how good or bad it is, because it doesn't follow the post RotJ EU?

Tim Battershell:

I believe the latter is going to happen no matter what the canon fate of the EU, and that the amount of new material being published for the current post-Endor EU will greatly diminish. IMO LFL will certainly want its best authors to focus their efforts on new novels that are directly linked to the ST.

I've answered this before. I believe LFL will take the chance that ditching the post-Endor EU (at least) in favor of new novels aimed at new/returning fans (and those current EU fans who make the leap) will bring in more, possibly vastly more, new long-term readers/consumers than the number of current EU fans who will abandon the franchise. It's certainly a risk, but IMO LFL will see the potential reward as worth taking that risk, especially given the limits/problems that linking the ST to the current post-Endor EU would create.

And as for how much the current timeline novels are generating in terms of units sold and profits, I have no idea, but I'd be willing to bet that those numbers have been in decline since 2005 and the release of RotS. Certainly the activity on the Literature and Role-Playing forums of this board has slowly but steadily diminished over the years. Now look at the activity on this forum and others since the announcements of LFL's sale and episodes 7-9 being on their way. There's lots of new members, and returning members who hadn't posted for years (myself among the latter). Do you believe that as many people will be interested in a new novel set strictly in the current post-Endor EU as will be in a new novel set strictly in the ST released soon before/after Episode 7? I don't.

(Btw, I hope I'm not coming across as too confrontational – I'm very much enjoying this discussion. )

Books are a much bigger investment than any comic IMO.

I would argue that folks who read comics are not necessarily the same folks who read novels, and therefore what is said to work in comics MIGHT not work with a re-boot of the EU novels series. Obviously this is a generalization, and I could not find any SW specific demographic surveys in my cursory google search. But most basic evidence suggests that the primary readership of comics is men, and the primary readers of fictional novels are female. Again - just generalizations. My point is not that re-starting the EU won't be profitable, but alienating fans who were already purchasing the product might not be smart business either.

http://www.themarysue.com/comic-book-demographic/
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14175229

I post the links only for reference, and I mean no disrespect. Obviously there are tons of women here who read comics, and tons of men who read the EU. Again, just generalizations for the support of my opinion.

true- and most SW comics end up as book compilations anyway.

No, you're not coming across as confrontational at all. Just as a person with reasoned and reasonable arguments!

I don't frequent the RPG forums (I haven't reached that stage yet), so I cant compare the pre and post activity there but (considering what we're talking about) the EU forum is probably the place to look at (after all, that's what is likely to be most affected). Apart from a fast-growing thread (Disney Wars) there hasn't been much change to the activity - there always were quite a number of active topics under discussion pre-D Day (I joined on the temp boards in August) both in LIT and EUC.

They may not be the same people (though I disagree) b ut the fan bases are very similiar.

If contridicting the EU will alienate fans to the point of not buying Star Wars product anymore, then will Episode VII be a flop if it doesn't have Jaina and Ben as main characters?

What the comic comparison shows us is that while pre-restart/refresh fans will claim they'll stop reading etc... once it happens they keep reading because they like the universe and the characters and ultimately that is whats important to them.

On a one to one basis yes, but when you factor in 1 issues every month at 3-4 dollars, and that most comic book fans read multi. titles.....

As I asked, if Episode VII does largly/completely ignore/disregard the EU, will you still watch it? Will you automaticlly dislike it because it doesn't follow the EU story lines?

No. If the ST disregards all post ROTJ EU, I will still go and see it. I won't automatically dislike it. I do not think it will be a flop, no matter what.

eta. But I might think more than a few times before investing in new EU novels.

That's something that I cannot answer at the moment, as I am a carer for a 96 year-old - and so virtually confined to the house myself (I need to be there in case he falls over).

In the past I have made a special point of always going to see the latest SW film at the cinema - but E7 may (depending on what happens) be relegated to what I normally do with new films - be left until it comes on to the TV over one Xmas (or other) holiday.

Everyone still seems to take this is an all or nothing proposition. I have never said that the entire Expanded Universe will be trashed. I do not believe it will all be trashed... though if George Lucas has a vendetta against the Karen Traviss novels, I'm all for it. From a commercial perspective the Expanded Universe is a mixed bag as well.

Am I the only one that's noticed that Del Rey has decided to resurrect the X-wing series and got Zahn doing Mara Jade and Rebellion era novels and end their series of nine book arcs? The NJO, Legacy, and Fate of the Jedi were commercial failures compared to those older lines started by Bantam. Among my friends that read the EU not one of them read Legacy (except for the comics) or Fate of the Jedi.

Do I expect them to adhere strictly to canon? No... I don't. I mean if you want to talk about fanbases, Chewie's fanbase alone is probably larger then that of Legacy. I expect Chewie to be in the film, but at the same time I expect to see the Solo kids and Ben Skywalker. I expect to see new Original Characters, but hope they're not as flat and worthless as those in the Prequel Trilogy. If I see Chewie and I see Ben, I expect Mara Jade to be sitting on the Jedi Council, since if you want to bring back popular characters from the dead... why not go with the female Skywalker that hangs around in the top ten most of the time?

One thing all of you guys miss is this is not the product of one man, not even the Prequels are exclusively the product of one man. I mean directors change scripts all the time, artists sneak in easter eggs, and actors improvise and adapt. With George only playing keeper of the flame and master of the overall story arcs there's no reason to say that the EU won't be utilized at least in some fashion. I really doubt George named all the members of the Jedi Council in his Episode I story treatment for example, so I doubt he named all the Jedi we'll see either. Slipping in EU figures here and there would be relatively easy and wouldn't detract a thing from the film itself.

I hope the Solo twins are named George and Carrie, ha ha ha!

Don't you mean George and Kathleen?

Having grown to hate a lot of post ROTJ books (except for the Thrawn Trilogy, X Wing Series, and Courtship of Princess Leia), I wouldn't mind the EU getting ignored at all. Somehow, though I think they'll find a way to make it work with at least some of the EU, but I won't be bothered if a bit of it is scrapped.

Lucas said so - its all secondary to the story he wants to tell in the movies - and the whole force ghost thing as portrayed in TOTJ is wiped away by the Prequels.

He'd just have to rename the site

Stellarmagic01:

I thought X-Wing: Mercy Kill was a standalone, and not intended to be the start of a new X-Wing series? As far as I know, there are no further X-Wing novels being planned at the moment. Have I missed something?

As for ending the nine-book series, my completely unproven hypothesis is that publishing a nine-hardcover series while there was an economic crisis still going on was reflected in sales, even without taking into account the relative quality of the novels themselves.

It was a standalone, but it referenced a character and a plot-point from FotJ.

To think i spent all this time building up my collection of EU novels and now i can't use them.

*sigh*