Setting the game 17 years in the future is probably the smartest thing they could do, like it or not. People are just bored of the same shit over and over and over, even if it's a good shit. What else could Taki do that doesn't involve something stupid and simple like teaming up another character or changing sides. Maxi, Kilik, Xianguha, Taki, Rapahel, Rock, Seong Mina, zvoldo, Cervantes and many others have absolutely nothing else to offer to this franchise story-wise.
You might think that killing or taking out a fan favorite is a big mess, but it gives fresh air and helps set up a totally new eviroment in which they can return later with new thing to do. You can expect several characters to dissapear in the following chapters of the franchise, just to make an epic comeback years later. Is is a very smart strategy. Make people fall in love with a character, make a ridiculously long time jump and replace the character with a similar one. Then, when the franchise is stuck, go back to one of the unused 'time slots' and make both characters appear again together and create some connection between them. This makes both characters much more deep and iteresting, appart of making the game enjoyable for both the ones who grew up playing with, say Taki for example, and the ones who have only known the new one. This was used in street fighter and gave an outstanding result.
In later years, peoplle will feel nostalgic about SoulCalibur classic era and Namco can use either the long time between SE and SC, SC and SCII, or SCIV and SCV.
Besides, what story can Taki use? 'Soul Edge has returned and a 40 year old woman in tights must return to -once again- destroy it'? That got old by SCII. I personally think that replacing characters like Taki is a very interesting strategy and the results could turn out really cool if done correctly. They tried doing it but failed when they replaced Hwang, and Namco doesn't make the same mistake twice. This strategy done correctly can give great results, and I think the series is heading the right direction.
The problem here, I think, is that people are getting carried away because their beloved characters are gone. They are not really concerned about making the new game a new game, they are thinking about themselves and not the series. Heck, if the series was in hands of many people in here it would not go further than the next game. If you want see more games in the future you have to start setting up said future. In fact, it was clear already since SCIII that we were going to see a game centered in the offspring of sophitia and the destruction of nightmare -in fact, i was surprised the ti e jump wasn't done in SCIV. If you want a series to flourish you have to stop fanwarking.
