As a Star Wars fan, I have only been hurt by those in charge at Lucas Licensing once: when they quashed the beloved Star Wars CCG. And worse, in my opinion, it's an unfair black spot on Mr. Lucas himself since every decion made by his company ultimately reflects on him whether he is fully knowledgable of that decision or not.

There isn't a day that goes by that I don't think about Decipher's Star Wars card game. It's five years later and the scar is still there. And not just me, but the thousands all over the world that still talk about the game everyday and (more importantly) still play what is considered by many in the industry to be the greatest non-Magic card game ever to be printed. The game impacted people's lives on so many levels that it was nearly reaching a pop-culture status when the printers went silent. And why not. The Star Wars CCG was a perfect blend of Star Wars, gaming, and community. I remember the Shawn Valdez tournaments that raised money for cancer research, and the immensely popular can drive tournaments that were held during Christmas. No other game has ever surpassed the Star Wars CCG in its connection to people.

The saga involving the card game is an unfortunate illustration at how money and politics can unfortunately invade even the most beloved of franchises. It isn't that LFL doesn't have the right to do what they want with licensing, but if you've been in card gaming for any length of time you know that the whole deal just reeked of behind-the-scenes jealousy on the part of WOTC. Proof being that Decipher was willing to work out a rental of the game mechanics so that the game could continue. But no--if Decipher could make a hit game then certainly big ol' WOTC could dwarf them.

Everyone and their grandarents could have told you that WOTC's decision was ill-fated. Decipher already had two other Star Wars card games--Young Jedi and Jedi Knights--and neither were overly successful. And not because they weren't good, but because players loved the SWCCG and wanted to play that game. WOTC's TCG was merely Game #4. The results speak for themselves with WOTC's TCG on the Honor Roll with Decipher's other two games.

The move to take the licence from Decipher will probably be looked back on as the reason for D's ultimate death (should that day finally come)--an end more akin to sabotage. After the licence left, I became aware through my own channels that there were issues between Decipher and LFL.. the kind of common misunderstandings that licencees have with licencors. LFL can be especially harsh for those that aren't prepared to deal with the level of serious attention to continuity detail that LFL expects. From my POV as a Decipher Marketing Volunteer, Decipher never really was comfortable with the strict adherence to continuity. they understood it, but they thought it tedious becuase if its impact on release dates. (An issue in and of itself that Decipher was taking flak for constantly from its player base, distributors, and retailers.. but of course they could never say much about it because of the "gag orders" in the contract.) However I think now Decipher would gladly deal with the issue--or at least they would hire someone in a good position to understand the Star Wars universe AND gaming.

I just cannot understand why something could not have been reached between LFL, Decipher and WOTC. The latter is enjoying great success with the collectible miniatures game and well they should.. it's a very cool game. So they have their niche, why can't Decipher have theirs.

At least the SWCCG Players Committee is strong as ever, and there's even a couple (1|2)decent freeware programs circulating around that lets players play SWCCG over the internet--especially good for giving players a chance to play in these days where finding the original cards is getting harder.

But as cool as the online game is, and as good a job as the PC is doing, it just isn't the same. Lucas Licensing will always stand by their decision as one that was "necessary".. WOTC will forever prevent anyone from bringing the game back..

...and all the while the players are hopelessly stuck in carbonite, waiting for someone to free them from their frozen purgatory of a gaming life with no new Star Wars CCG cards, strategies, or decks:

No Light Side pre-Vader Anakin Skywalker to battle along side Yoda With Lightsaber...
No clone armies to turn to the Dark Side with an "Order 66" card...
No Yuuzhan Vong to invade the galaxy...
No Knights of the Old Republic scenarios with Sith stalking sites...
No Jedi Master Luke or LS Mara Jade...

And all this for what..?