[quote name='panzerfaust']FFXII was hated by every forum on the internet when it came out, it wouldn't make sense for FFXIII to sell the way it did after X-2 (hated by the internet) XI (hated by the internet), and XII (hated by the internet). People have this idea that Square Enix is on the road to destruction, and that the only people buying their games are bitter forum goers who just have to play every FF for no apparent reason. Maybe that's true. You hated the linearity and bought it anyways so maybe it truly is hype of the name alone that's keeping Square alive.[/QUOTE]
I'm not really sure either, I mean obviously I'm only one person but I would imagine that there are other people who have been playing FF games for a long time (since FFIV on the SNES for me) and don't like where the series is going now but are long time fans so they buy the games to see if they like the new one. I'm sure there are old school fans who also like the new direction, I mean there are a lot of different opinions that people could have.
But, when you look at how Square-Enix has handled FFXIV I get this feeling that they are a little out of touch with their fans.