So, as I posted the link for the final trailer, it was definitely with a touch of sadness as I thought back to what these forums used to be. Back in the prequel days, these boards were hopping with activity. Say what you will about the quality of the prequels, but one thing was for certain, there was a lot of energy and buzz and excitement about the whole thing.

I think partly it may have been that we more or less know where things had to end up. Anakin needed to become Vader, Senator Palpatine needed to become emperor, Yoda and ObiWan needed to become exiles, The Jedi Order had to fall, etc... Speculating how that was going to come to pass was endlessly fun. With the sequels, it is open-ended, we don't know where they're going, so speculating without any ideas to the end-goal is definitely not as fun. On a side point, it is interesting to go back and read through some of the threads and look at some of the theories we were throwing around - some good, some way off base...

It was also nice, because it seemed like this was the place to get your SW fix on. Other forms of social media hadn't quite reached the level of prevalence at that point, so this was the place to be. And I found it formed a great community. Now, with social media so prolific, all the discussion and spoilers and whatnot are right there, staring you in the face on your facebook feed. It's not like it is a special community anymore, it's just thrown out there on the media sites.

Anyway, as I said, it was definitely with a tinge of sadness that I posted the trailer link - it made me remember the old days, when we could get into a spirited debate of SW stuff, when no sooner did you post something than there were a dozen responses within a couple minutes, when there was excitement counting down the days to the next release, when we were so amped up for a release we'd be parked outside theaters for hours or days prior, just soaking in the excitement....

Many good times, and many good friends.... Reaper, Lilaena, Dasq, Carr, Yogurt, JMK, Bromine, Loklorien, Fig, CMJ, JediEB, Doc Milo, Mu Satach, Leeloo, and many more... I miss the fun of posting with you guys. Given that this place is more or less deadsville at this point, I wonder if any of you will even read this, but whether you do or not, I hope you and all the others I enjoyed posting with are all well.

MTFBWY!!!