But in all honesty, the main Star Wars characters still played a pivotal role in the expanded universe stories and The Force Awakens takes place 30 years and thats where much of them tend to fall of the grid with a new set of characters to take up the "mantle" I guess you can say. It would be kinda hectic to explain the several hundred tons of backstory for all of them if the movie takes place so many years after the events of Return of the Jedi.

Its a shame but I would have totally loved to see trilogy with Grand Admiral Thrawn as the main antagonist.