If they really had to have Starkiller base, I think the Resistance ought to have failed to destroy it (only disabled it). This would have subverted our expectations and made it less of a rehash of ANH/ROTJ. Also it would have made it much darker (Han died for nothing, and Luke is now the Last Hope for the galaxy, just as he was once the NEW Hope).
That would have been an excellent way to handle it.
I like the idea in theory. But I don’t want to see it next time. Maybe the destruction of the Hosnian system and Senate could have happened during the battle, because they failed to destroy it in time? Or, they did enough damage that the weapon destroyed itself when it fired and destroyed that system? A bittersweet victory. Edit: huh, that might actually be faneditable.
I’m really not opposed to the existence of the weapon itself in the film. I think, visually, it had a good look and I liked the fact that the battle in the woods was actually on the weapon. The events that occurred within the base were great, too. That it was even a converted planet was a neat idea. I just think the battle itself was a huge missed opportunity and the one point for me where the ‘throwbacks’ become a rehash. But I was much too concerned about Kylo and Rey’s confrontation to care about the air battle much.