Personally, I think the number one problem with the prequels is that Lucas didn't hand over the project to a new generation of writers and directors. There were so many talented up-and-coming names mentioned in the 90s that would undoubtedly have done something infinitely better than what we got.

Whenever I think about the prequels, I think about all the super-talented and creative artists and technicians who grew on the Star Wars films and studied and worked their whole lives to grow up and live the dream working at ILM and Lucasfilm on producing new Star Wars films. Then they all ended up being trapped having to work on garbage. I wonder how many of them were working on the films and thinking to themselves, "This stuff is horrible," but they couldn't do anything about it because they knew they wouldn't be able to get through to George anyway and they didn't want to rock the boat for fear of losing their jobs. I just wish he had handed over the reins to the next generation of filmmakers, who were the equivalent of who he was in '75.

I know the magic of the original series could never be recaptured, but the prequels (or whatever new films) still could have been something special. Unfortunately, what they ended up with was a gaping black hole of wasted opportunity.