Deciphers Star Wars TCG is one of the few TCG's that's come anywhere near Magic the Gathering in terms of sales. I do think however that if a new Star Wars card game were to be made then it needs to be completely new and fresh. 

 It got there because of the lcense, IMHO, not the game play. It was clunky. Too many moving parts, and some just really weird decisions design wise.

I had the same problem with both Star Wars games (Decipher's and Wizards'), and that was that while fun, neither truly felt like Star Wars to me. The way I see it, a game should be galactic in scope, like Decipher's game; but it should also focus on a back-and-forth interplay between opposing characters, like Wizards'. And I'm in the camp that says this game should be a fresh new concept.

The game needs to be fast-paced like the films, but still have plenty of strategic depth. And each deck should have its own feel: an Imperial deck (Sith or Galactic) should be unstoppable but slow; an Alliance deck should be fast and ragtag, and dependent on card synergy to survive; and a Bounty Hunter deck needs to have lots of tricks to get the drop on the opponent(s).

Finally, to be infinitely expandable, they would have to incorporate factions from the Expanded Universe, and the best way I see to do this is by arranging cards by their Light/Dark affiliation rather than faction. So for example, a Jedi would be Light; an Imperial Officer would be Dark; and a Clone Trooper would be Neutral (because they serve both "sides" in the Star Wars timeline).

 But the deeper and deeper you get into the EU, the more grey allegiances become, especially when it comes to the Empire. I still think a more factions-based approach, like Warhammer or Game of Thrones, would work the best. That way you can focus on the distinct flavor of each group and allow for some cross-play between the factions (maybe).

I don't see a Star Wars LCG fitting in. They'd probably use movie stills as artwork. I'd rather appreciate original artwork on a Star Wars LCG. If FFG would ever manage that and keep the feel of the movies... Why not?

I don't see why they would use movie stills. I've never seen them use them for any other games. And if you look at the Star Wars Galaxies Online TCG that artwork is freckin kick ass.

I'd also prefer artwork, because then it could tie in the EU and not just be about the movies. Although since they always seem to have problems with how to handle "prize support" for their LCGs, photo versions of regular cards would be fine with me. You wouldn't need them to play, but they would be desirable.

Somebody does have the rights to do a Star Wars card game. It's just that nobody is admitting who it is. 

Who was it that had it last? Wizkids with Pocketmodels? I'm hoping that if it does wind up in someone elses hands it will either be FFG or AEG. Although It kind of makes me wonder if the SW Galaxies Trading Card Game might be it for now. It actually isn't a bad game, but I prefer my card games to be in person.

It was Wizards of the coast who had it last. 

If a LCG is based upon a TV and/or movie property then they should use stills from it and not use their own artwork.  

The_Big_Show said:

 But Star Wars has so much more to the property than just the movies now, and tapping into that Expanded Universe would be essential to a game's longevity. Using movie stills wouldn't be enough to represent the wide variety of characters, events, etc. that come up in the Star Wars Universe. A restriction to stills would be a detriment.

In fact, this kind of happened with Decipher's Lord of the Rings game (which was fantastic). They used movie stills while the movies were popular, but then when they wanted to portray characters from the books (but who weren't featured in the films) they had to use "random elf #2" from a background shot to stand in for important characters. It was great to get the characters in the game, but it was still a little silly when he was given a blurry shot or the face of someone who never even talked.

Decipher did it fine with the Star Wars CCG back in the day. If they needed to make a character from the books that had never appeared they hired a model, photoshopped and it worked fine. I can't see it being a problem with FFG either. 

WizKids had the license last.  But when they were bought out by NECA, they lost it, so it should have reverted back to Lucasfilm.