What I miss the most about the old EU is that the writers had genuine freedom to let their imagination run wild, and even wrote stories that were completely disconnected from the movies despite taking place during the same time period. I remember one story about a Rebel unit having a skirmish with Imperial forces far away from the Battle of Endor, and the characters had never had any interaction with the main characters. There’s also the character of Darca Nyl, a human with no Force sensitivity who nevertheless learned to wield a lightsaber so he could properly duel the Dark Jedi who murdered his family.

Under Disney all the stories seem obsessed with linking everything with the main saga, and even when they are unrelated to the main saga, sooner or later they start shoehorning the main saga into the plot (The Mandalorian, anyone?).