Hey - you should be THRILLED. If you have never picked up
SW:Saga Edition - you are in for a treat.
I have played all of the prior versions of
Star Wars and have never been as enthralled with the system as I am with
SW:SE. For the first time ever, playing a Jedi really
FEELS like playing a Jedi - and all without overshadowing all of the other players.
Yes,
SW:SE was the testing ground for a lot of the conventions used in 4th edition. Though
Star Wars :SE is not completely
4thified. It sort of feels more like 3.95. More importantly, some aspects of 4E that rub me the wrong way in a FRPG setting feel perfectly cinematic and appropriate in a Star Wars game. They say the right tool for the right job? Star Wars is the right tool for the "encounter" power mechanic and Talent/Feat structure of
Saga. My gamgin group is a bunch of 40-something and a few 50-something grognards who didn't warm to 4E at all. But they are all enjoying
SW:SE very much!
While the end of the license is disappointing, the
Star Wars: Saga Edition system is in a finished state. There really isn't very much missing from the game at all. What I'd like to see more of in the future from a hypothetical
SW:SE license renewal is largely a number of books arising out of the forthcoming
Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO era setting. Those are at least a year away and you know what? After gaming for longer than most of these RPG authors have been alive, I'm perfectly capable of doing that stuff myself
Other than that? The game is remarkably complete and finished in just about every respect. Had the license continued, rules bloat would have inevitably occurred (arguably, with 14 books released, that process had already begun). There are mosre Star Wars minis out there to use in your game than you can literally shake a stick at.
So what's left is complete, playable and is, imo, the best
Star Wars RPG I've ever played or run. Like you, I was very late to the party and started my campaign less than a week before the end of the license was announced in January, 2010.
I'm good with that though. I have enough books and material to keep me going for years. As well, the Order 66 Podcast (link in my sig below - skip Episode #1 though!
) is a tremendous and unique resource and rallying point for the entire online Star Wars:SE community. No other RPG has a community "centre" like the Order 66 Podcast has become for
SW:SE. It really is the best damn RPG podcast I've ever listened to (and I've tried dozens). It is the community's weekly Dungeon/Dragon mag rolled into one.
All by way of saying, the community material is not going to stop for this game; rules, adventures, beasts, classes, droids, ships, equipment, talents and feats will continue for
years.
In short - the game is complete and in FINE shape, thanks very much. Jump in and enjoy.