Too Much Lightning and FFXIII?

[Loony BoB]

- I see XIII-2 and Lightning Returns as Square-Enix taking the time to figure out what players want from them. They were lambasted by many for XIII and I don't think they want to start working on XV until they know it's going to be better received. In the main series, not including sequels/prequels and MMOs, they have released just one single player numbered game in in six years. I believe these other XIII sequels/spinoffs are being made to get an understanding of the modern gamer and what they can do to please people. I think that once they have a better understanding, they will start to really push on a new game. By using XIII sequels/prequels, they can minimise costs that would be spent on concepts, design and development for monsters, worlds, lore, characters which they would have had to pay a lot for if they were to come up with a completely new game.

While I agree with this assessment I also feel that this is kind of stupid on SE's part because the only people SE is getting feedback from are the fans who happened to feel XIII wasn't so bad, these sequels are doing nothing to appeal to fans who felt XIII was rubbish and may have lost interest in the series. I feel continuing on like this to collect data is only going to give a very skewed idea of what the fanbase as whole wants and will instead continue on making games for a niche part of the fanbase as well as losing more widespread appeal to non-fans.

Better than risking the entire series by creating a brand new Final Fantasy game. And I think you associate all gamers with yourself perhaps too much in this instance. Some weren't very happy with XIII but still played XIII-2 and enjoyed it. Many critics throughout the internet could also easily offer them valid feedback. XIII was only loathed by a few, it was still generally liked but just not loved. I feel there were enough gamers playing XIII-2 to give a fair general assessment of things. It's a shame you won't play XIII-2 because I think you'd like it more than XIII, but having said that, I feel you have made up your mind about the game already.

Basically, SE have done the best they can in such a situation. What better alternative course of action would you suggest?