I don't buy games that do things I don't support. If the franchise I love dies because of that, then so be it. My preference is to see the franchises I love continue, but if I have to choose between seeing the franchises I love die with dignity and get laid to rest or continue on as mutilated mockeries of their former selves, I choose the former.
This makes sense of course, but your so called "mutilated mockery" of the series' former self is literally "these two characters I like aren't in it." These means your entire argument loses credibility. You don't have a reasonable issue with the game, and so your one-person rebellion is moot. The game lacks for any real flaws, aside from the single player content.
Furthermore, the video game industry is in such a state right now that the only thing with any chance of making the people behind these games listen is money. Game directors, producers, writers, etc don't listen to the concerns and criticisms of dissatisfied consumers unless they're forced to do so because completely ignoring them is too much of a blow to revenue.
I also don't think it's fair to blame everyone on the team - For the most part any major decisions are made to please the shareholders. For example, Bioware didn't NEED to create a new ending for Mass Effect 3 - Most people who were going to buy the game had already done so.
If I thought game directors, writers, producers, etc would actually care about things like the importance of Sophitia and Taki to the history of the Soul Calibur franchise without a lack of money from consumers to tell them it's a big deal, maybe I'd be doing things differently. Unfortunately, I haven't seen that work for a good decade now. The only thing that actually works is not giving them money. When sales are low enough, either they start to listen, or they get replaced by someone that will.
This doesn't make a lick of sense. You're basically saying that Sophitia and Taki were cut because not enough people were buying SC games. Please explain to me in what reality that makes sense? Especially when you consider that Sophitia and Taki were cut before anybody even bought SCV.
By your own logic, cutting familiar characters from a long-standing series is not a good way to keep long-time fans happy, so if such actions cause people to spend less, WHY THE HELL WOULD THEY DO THAT IN RESPONSE TO PEOPLE NOT SPENDING ENOUGH MONEY?
You are strongly suggesting that Namco are saying "hey, people aren't buying SC games as much, let's give them even more reasons not to buy SC games."
