Windexed said:

I'm excited. However, and this may sound silly, I feel kind of weird about the fact that Lucas isn't involved. While I believe any creative talent he may have had disappeared a long time ago, someone else taking over everything seems kind of...inauthentic. Kind of like if your Mom remarried while your asshole dad is doing life in prison. The new guy might be nice, but he's not your Dad

I felt the same way you did until a saw an interview with Terry Gilliam (Director movies like Twelve Monkeys) and a conversation he had with George Lucas:

Gilliam told a story about a conversation he had with George Lucas who insisted that the computer-generated Yoda was so much better than the puppet version: “I couldn’t get through to him, he couldn’t see how wrong he was!”

As much as I love what George Lucas gave us for the OT, THAT isn't the man who gave us the PT, and would have been involved in the ST. It really scares me how much the man is obsessed with CGI, and to think that one of his greatest creations: Yoda Puppet, is secondary to CGI puppet?

Sorry, but Lucas is Darth Vader now. The good man that he was is more machine then man!