I'm in agreement with everyone else, XIV isn't the beginning, this has been going on for a very long time, and when most of the notable creative talent has been jumping ship after every major release, that's just concerning... I mean the creator of the Mana Franchise left (he's also one of the founders of Square), Matsuno, Uematsu, the battle system designer for Front Mission (also designed FFX and XIII's battle systems), and they no longer have any in-house composers for their music. It just seems like something is going on in-house over there and its showing in the quality of their work.

I agree that in the past the release of a new FF caused huge fanfare, now it gets a blurb and maybe a two page review, usually filled with comment on the gaudy designs, the pretentious titles, and the sexy graphics. XII was hailed by critics and denounced by fans, XIII is a true love it or hate it experience that both fans and critics can agree that much on, and everyone considers XIV a disaster. I don't think XIV will be saved by a PS3 release, I think we'll see its true fate when SE starts bringing up subscription rates. I wouldn't be surprised if a good chunk of the current players may jump ship when that happens, cause I can't really see XIV becoming so good that it will attract players or even keep players after how bad they mismanaged everything.