I really don't like the name "First Order". The First Order as a name just feels dispassionate and doesn't really carry the legacy of its predecessor since I personally feel like that its name should have been something like the Reborn Order, Shadow Empire or anything really that would show that it's carrying the legacy of the Empire it splintered from.
Same goes for the Resistance. The name and entire existence of the Resistance feels truly uninspired and devoid of any originality for me (even more so than the First Order whose origins at least feel partially inspired), just being another one of JJ's copy/pastes from ANH that just end up being Rebels 2.0 in a place and time where it no longer works. I mean they could have had a better set up for the good guy faction, like start off with the First Order/Imperial Remnant being a relatively neutral faction that never took any action outside of the unknown regions (much like its pre-Disney predecessors) but to be safe the New Republic sets up a new military faction within the border of the Unknown Regions to monitor them and act as the first line of defense against the remnant should they ever attack and it could have a far more fitting name and role, instead of the Resistance which is just a pseudo-independent renegade branch of wannabe rebels with no real aim and who are hated by their own Republic simply because of Leia's parentage despite her being one of the founders of this new government. It would have also been best not to have Leia be the freaking general for this thing simply because she's become a political outcast but rather keep her as its primary benefactor within the Senate and have someone close to her be in charge, like a second or third child, maybe even a daughter so you could have a chance to show competent female characters.
I mean seriously, we went through several movies and media spinoffs showing our heroes mature and become galactic heroes so we expect them to become something greater; Luke becoming the Jedi Master of his own Academy and with his own family to be proud of, Leia becoming an influential political figure that would hopefully establish an asylum world (New Alderaan) for her people, and Han and Chewbacca becoming the heads of their own Smuggler's Guild while not leaving Leia simply because JJ wanted to keep their character growths stunted for a reset, but instead that's what we get... a reset button gets pushed and it's all back to square one, right down to our heroes becoming outcasts, stuff of myths or nobodies separated and no longer even caring about each other just so that we could have a repeat of A New Hope.
If they had gone down the more optimistic route, you could even have Rey or whoever be a member of said Smuggler's Guild or have the Disney heroes run into the guild which results in them teaming up with Han Solo and riding his Falcon due to being pursued due to a far better reason than "a map to Luke Skywalker" (which allows for cheap and easy Nostalgiabait right then and there without having to
force in too many coincidences at once or making Han lose his prized possession), or hell since Ford didn't want to be in the movie, have his character die off in a past conflict with the Vong or Snoke's nu-Vong instead of Chewie and have a possible third child fill his shoes and serve as the head of the Smuggler's Guild and a potential main character for this new franchise (which is sorely lacking in heroes with any connection to the Skywalkers outside of the walking wastebin villain that is Emo Ren) so as to not needlessly give the Falcon away and reduce it to a fucking plot device. But they didn't want to go down that route because new Lucasfilm just wants to eliminate all traces of the past and kill off the bloodline of the heroes and replace them with their fucking OCs who have to be better than the original heroes at everything. They didn't have to, but they did. They could've still honored the past yet still be free to tell an original story, and they wouldn't even need to retcon anything from the original films, the prequels or even the old pre-Disney lore because you're still making an adventurous tale that honors the world and its heroes with a real future that has plenty of room for completely original and creative stories, and the retcons I suggested would even make the most lore-strict nerds of olde happy (since quite frankly even the most diehard EU fans thought everything went to shit after 25ABY which was when the Vong arrived and brought about Chewie's death) so rebooting everything after 25ABY would've been celebrated, but instead they retconned everything (including the OT and its characters) on a whim just to satisfy the egos of Kennedy, JJ, Rian and Disney execs which only helped to divide the fanbase from the get-go.
But this somewhat optimistic future gives way to some issues, like "if this future is so bright then there's not much room for conflict". Not necessarily true. The first film could've started off as seemingly optimistic, but all it would take to start a new conflict is a showcase of a mysterious weapon (that's not a Death Star copy/paste) suddenly unleashing its might and laying waste to half of Coruscant (rather than Not-Coruscant) putting the state of the galaxy in chaos and making all aware that the Empire's legacy continues, and both prequel lovers and prequel haters would be pleased by this impacting scene through either emotional attachment or a fondness for seeing the "boring old senators" get blown to pieces. With the main seat of government crushed, it falls to the scattered Republic remnants to keep order in the rising chaos of the galaxy, and the military branch that would serve as the first line of defense against the now hostile First Order/Imperial Remnant act as the main hero faction we must cheer for.
I'm half-asleep as I write this so please forgive this mess of text.
