Bingowings said:

I don't have a problem with design (it establishes that the Republic are incorporating local forces with alien design ideas into their defense of the planet thus serving the story in a way).

The problem is the inconsistent characters, the gibberish masquerading as dialogue and the so called plot which is frequently warped and distorted to mount visual set pieces and so often makes very little sense.

Would you mind a thopter like that in a story that made sense and had characters you could identify?

I agree with Bingowings on this one. As much as the new films are designed to show off ILM skills instead of a good story and characters, Ive always enjoyed lookin at the difference between planets and the diversity of the designs and cultures etc. The visual design should be there as a interesting place for good plot and characters to reside in, not a gallery for 3d artists.