I see Abrams going back to the original 1977 film just as he went back to CE3K era Spielberg with Super 8. That means exploring the potential of a story set in that galaxy far, far away. We didn't see a lightsaber until a good half hour into ANH, and we only saw them used twice more in that movie. Han Solo's role as surrogate for the skeptics in the audience provided a great dynamic for the other characters to play off of. Plinkett really hit the nail on the head when he pointed out how hard it is to describe the PT characters without simply stating their profession.