I just think the Force as a concept is both smart and stupid at the same time. Both Jedi and Sith have almost no control over themselves and can fall or destroy themselves at any given moment based on ideology. Grey Jedi made a bit more sense to me but the vast majority of thought about both orders is dumb. The average human is a Sith and their philosophy isn't totally bad or destructive on paper. Jedi and discipline are intertwined and have good stuff as well but are mired in ridiculous roles as shit like space cops or officers in the republic.
Yoda's speech to Luke about the Force in Empire is all it ever really needed to be.
Well, this is another reason why NJO's deconstruction of the Force is so interesting, because it basically confirms something fairly obvious and logical: that the binary nature of the Force and the ideologies it spawned is something that both Sith and Jedi perceive it to be, not how it is in actuality. The Jedi of the Republic for instance are characterized by jaded former master Vergere as having an incomplete view of the Force, caught up in the paranoia that even relying on emotions like hatred or utilizing abilities like choke or lightning will corrupt one's alignment and swerve them closer to the Dark Side...hence why they forbid it, and strongly encourage even risking one's alignment with Dark Side abilities, or emotional vices like attachment. Vergere reveals that a wielder with a strong enough will and sense of restraint can wield Light and Dark Side abilities, and retain their sense of self. Luke and his Order embrace this in the story arcs to come, to the point where even Luke himself can tap into Dark Side abilities like Force Lightning as a lethal last resort in combat, without risking any alignment hazards.
As for the whole "space cops" thing, well...feel free to disagree with me, but that was always something I found cool about the Jedi, and what made me warm up to the PT Era. It's one of the reasons I loved reading
Jedi Apprentice or the Quinlan Vos comics. I love the idea of Jedi being Space Marshals during peacetime...I find that more interesting than simply being a cabal of monks philosophizing all day in remote retreats or archives.
We have offshoot Force Adepts like the Ossus Keepers for that kind of dull crap.
That is admittedly more Lucas's fault in making the "Jedi order" such a stringent, regulated and politicized republic organization even before the prequels. They should have been just a bunch of mostly nomadic religious warrior monks roaming the galaxy and trying to do good wherever they went regardless of whether it was against or for the republic. Like the actual Japanese Sohei warrior monks.
I mean, the Samurai were the primary inspiration for the Jedi Order (the word "jedi" coming from the word "jidaigeki", or "Japanese period piece"), not the Sohei. So it's not all that uncharacteristic to be enveloped in rigid, uncompromising tradition. That's very in line with how the samurai were, historically and in plenty of classic Japanese cinema: an elite warrior class who fancied themselves as spiritually devout and bound by a code of ethics, while simultaneously showcasing ill-advised actions brought about by their own feverish commitment to stifling tradition. I think the Jedi at their most misguided and astray can definitely fit that description, even if they're not necessarily evil for doing so.
More than that, though, it's important to remember that the Jedi we see during the PT don't definitively resemble the Jedi Order in their entirety. The Jedi go through different phases throughout galactic history---as nomadic warriors in the early age, paladins and scholars during the Hyperspace War, neutral to the point of frustrating younger students during the Mandalorian Wars, and even militant during the Great Galactic War. The most effective revision of the Jedi in the eyes of many, including myself, is Luke's New Jedi Order formed in the aftermath of Endor:
Jedi from all walks of life, from mercenaries to royalty, are allowed to train at any age, and engage in a multitude of duties both spiritual and combative. Their role in politics evolve significantly, and their role during war even moreso, but the greatest innovation Luke's Order undergoes is the adoption of a broader approach to the Force, where Jedi at last stop running away from natural impulses like attachment or hatred, and work to understand them...as well as developing abilities like Lightning, while simultaneously confronting the ethics of how and when it's appropriate to use them. Redeeming seemingly irreconcilable enemies is now a feasible and even encouraged alternative as opposed to simply exterminating them, something Luke demonstrates not just with Vader but his dilemma with dealing with the Yuuzhan Vong as well...a mentality that many of the previous revisions of the Jedi Order wouldn't even consider. And most importantly, Jedi can not only marry, but they can have children....because Luke believes that attachment is not inherently a hazard, until someone like Anakin makes it an unhealthy part of their lives.
And thus, Luke creates the definitive revision of the Jedi Order, after centuries of evolution and repeated blunders by his predecessors. Now, this is where some shrieking hipster Disney Drone would cry:
"Well, where's the drama in that? Luke and his Jedi Order are perfect, there's no interesting storytelling to be had, REEEEEEEEEEE!!!!" To which, again, the answer is that Luke and his Jedi are still struggling with new internal dilemmas, like how to use the Force or implement their idealogy in turbulent instances like a colonial squabble between two alien races, or nationalistic tensions between two Core World planets that have valid grievances with each other.
From what I hear, they even have to face a reality of a hostile galaxy that hates and rejects the Jedi Order as a concept...but that happens in the Fate Of The Jedi story arc, which I haven't read yet.
Sucks lucasfilm ruined KOTOR II. They rushed its production. Would have loved Obsidian to do TOR instead of Bioware.
I dunno, even in its rushed half-baked state, I thought KOTOR II was amazing. Though I admit that the Content Restoration Mod is essential to experiencing that game's full majesty in this day and age.
As for SWTOR, I still haven't played it. It looks really intriguing, though---and I think I'd probably get some enjoyment out of it, largely because I'll be unaffected by BioWare's narrative handling of Revan and the Exile...two characters who I was never particularly married to.
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