And there's the answer. It's a very small group that cares; the rest don't. Including those in charge of the things we care about.
If I have to freeze frame and compare photos to see what's different, then the differences don't matter for filming. It's why I chuckled at some comments about Obi-Wan replacing parts on his saber over the years to turn it into the ANH saber. Obi-Wan didn't replace anything, it's the exact same saber, just played by a different "actor".
This. In the long run, it doesn't matter. I know a lot of folks here care, but I gotta be honest with you, we are an unusual group here. The vast, vast, vast majority of people who enjoy Star Wars have no idea about this stuff. If you said the word "Graflex" to me they'd think you say "graphics" and misspoke. They're watching the show, but splitting their attention between surfing their phones and looking at the TV. Or they're watching it
on their phones and can't even see the difference because the sabre on their screen is less than an inch big.
Years ago, probably around...2012? I was talking with friends of mine about why I was pissed at George Lucas for how he had handled stuff like the release of the OT on DVD and BR. Now, both of these people were fans who grew up with the OT, but they weren't fans on my level. They hadn't read the EU novels or the comics. They didn't know a ton of the trivia. They hadn't watched a VHS of ANH every Sunday morning from the time they were 6 until the time they were 12 almost like going to church. But they had the storybooks, their own VHS copies, the records, the toys, etc. They were fans. Just not as into it as I am.
I was talking about the changes Lucas had made. They knew about "Han shot first" but they didn't really care. They didn't even really notice the other changes. Stuff like the sabres looking fatter and more blue instead of aqua? They liked it. Stuff like the changing sounds of the blaster (e.g., incorporating the "magnum" sound effect) or Luke screaming when he falls in Cloud City? They didn't care. Barely noticed the difference. The CGI shots of the X-wings in ANH which I found fakey looking? They thought it was more realistic looking than the old models which, to me, catch the light better (because they
actually caught light). And so on and so forth. They weren't film historians, they didn't care about preserving the old version for the technological wonder it was. They just...you know...wanted to enjoy Star Wars. As long as the film was close enough to their general memory of it (as opposed to my hyper-specific memory), they didn't care. They were happy and that was good enough.
Same thing here. Hell, I
am a super fan and I still didn't notice that it was a MR version, mostly because I haven't cared to try to replicate a sabre since I realized I suck with a dremel and I decided to preserve my actual Graflex 3-cell as-is rather than chop it up and glue stuff to it. And the Kenobi? From
real world parts? Ha. Not happening. The notion that a TV show would do that...that's just bonkers to me. Of course they wouldn't go to those lengths. Hell, the only reason the original propmakers used any of this stuff was because
it was cheap and available.
I see this as being no different from the changes between ANH and ESB when it comes to the various weapons and props. Luke's sabre went from having calculator bubbles, straight windshield wipers, and a glass eye to a gold chipset, notched and screwed in windshield wipers, and a red button. Who cares? Boba Fett's gun went from a flare gun with a flashgun shoved in the barrel to a resin shroud over a flare gun. Does it matter? Did we demand fidelity between the films? Nah. And it doesn't really matter here, either. Certainly not enough for the crew to spend the effort just to make 0.000001% of the fan base happy that they went back to authentic props and such, which, by the way, are really goddamn expensive now for the sole reason that goofballs like US keep buying them up and nobody's making more.
Interesting interview with the original writer of the Obi-Wan movies that turned into the series:
Obi-Wan Kenobi Writer Reveals Commander Cody's Scrapped Role (Exclusive)
I think a lot of those ideas sound a lot more interesting. I would have loved to see Cody come back and be torn up about Order 66. I really like the idea that they were originally going to have Cody helping guard Luke while Obi-Wan left the planet. That would have made a LOT more sense to have an ARC trained clone trooper helping out. Not to mention it would add more to Luke's "You fought in the Clone Wars!" line. He would have possibly gotten some first hand stories and would have added to how he perked up at Obi-Wan's disclosure in that scene.
Yeah, it's interesting. Although that idea has existed for a while now, re: the chips. My first exposure to it came in the Rebels cartoon, but it may have existed before that, even.
EA has already gotten in trouble for this. They pulled the paid loot box system from Star Wars: Battlefront II, but still got sued for exactly the reasons you mentioned. I also played the game for a while without paying and still have a ton of the "crystals" that they give you for in-game achievements that I never used, but now they're worthless, as they pulled the ability to "buy" things ingame with them.
EA also confused things by making some things able to buy only with ingame "credits," like the hero characters, so people bought crystals thinking they could unlock characters, only to find they didn't transfer to credits ingame. I'm sure it was no accident either, that they were intentionally misleading people into buying crystals.
Not sure if the class action suit has been settled or if it's still going:
The suit has been filed in Canada, and relates to EA games going back to 2008.
www.pcgamer.com
Star Wars Battlefront II's loot box system and responses have garnered international attention at this point. Here's a rundown in case you haven't been keeping up.
www.gamespot.com
Oh man, don't get me started on Battlefront 2... That game was a
mess and it was, I believe, almost entirely due to losing its microtransactions at the 11th hour before release.
And honestly, I wouldn't have cared if they had stayed, and argued so at the time. People got all bent out of shape about "pay 2 win," complaining that someone could just "buy" what they'd "earned," all of which is and always has been utter nonsense. The real culprit has always been unlock systems themselves. Anything that gives another player an actual advantage or even just "sidegrades" screws up the power dynamic. The issue isn't "someone spent money to get guns I don't have." It's "someone has guns I don't have." Period. The currency they spent -- time vs. money -- is irrelevant. There shouldn't be a difference in the first place. The only thing that should separate you is raw player skill, not the advantages the in-game avatar has.