The reason people don't like FFIX is this:

A lot of newer players came to the series when FF VII was released. A good number of these were graphics whores and fanboys.

FFIX was supposed to be a throw back to all of the older games (most specifically I-VI). Sadly, the new graphics whore fanboys didn't play those games and ended up hating FFIX because they just didn't get it all.

I can't really know what it would be like to have played FFIX without knowledge of the previous games in the series. Maybe it falls limp, but I didn't find it to be so.

This thread seems to be inspired by the graphic whore concept of ditching old games for new technology and forgetting that there's more to games than pretty graphics (story? gameplay? wtf are you talking about? Where are the goddamn FMVs?).