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Poor Design Choices In the Star Wars Universe

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the there-are-so-many dept.

Ant writes "John Scalzi's AMC blog shows a short guide to the most epic FAILs in Star Wars design — 'I'll come right out and say it: Star Wars has a badly-designed universe; so poorly-designed, in fact, that one can say that a significant goal of all those Star Wars novels is to rationalize and mitigate the bad design choices of the movies. Need examples? Here's ten ...'"

2 of 832 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Oh dear by TheRaven64 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Yes, they're never referred to as 'lasers' or similar in the films. The books describe them as ionized gas throwers, like the PPGs in Babylon 5. In fact, if they were coherent light beams you wouldn't be able to see them, the only reason you can see them from the side is that they are projectiles that are glowing.

    Turbolasers, on the other hand...

    --
    I am TheRaven on Soylent News
  2. Re:Nerd-boy strikes back by zakur · · Score: 5, Informative
    Japanese blades often did not have a tsuba (hand guard)

    Nonsense. A tsuba is an integral part of a practical katana. Only decorative or ceremonial long blades occasionally (e.g. shirisaya) lacked them. The tsuba didn't just protect the wielder from an opponent's blade, it also prevented the wielder's hand from sliding onto the blade during thrusts. Fighting with a tsuba-less sword would be folly.