Has the Final Fantasy franchise gotten worse over the years

This is a debate that I can take to heart. I am probably one of the biggest if not biggest final fantasy fan that I know. I have played them all from 1-14 and was/are extremely active in both 11 and 14(which I am still currently playing), which are MMOs.The first detail I want to point out is the resolution of the debate."The Final Fantasy Franchise has gotten worse over the years"This is a very vague resolution and can be addressed in many ways. The first issue we want to look at is the precise date of the decline. With my adversary claiming that the franchise "has gotten worse over the years", it could mean 1 was the best it has periodically decreased since. It could mean in the recent years. As most people would think it could mean since ff7 it has began to decline. FF7 was the midway point to the franchise and a revolutionary game in the MMO world. It set the tone for modern MMOs and paved the way for future MMOs to improve in graphics and game play. So lets break this down to some contentionsPerspectiveWhat is worse is all in the eye of the beholder. To some people 12 or 13 could have been the best game ever made. My adversary is making an argument for sales which is flawed in itself. Sales of a game do make up the entirety of the franchise. In reality most final fantasy fans have grown older and aged. At the time 7 was released I was a teenager, and now I am 25 with 14 just being released. I was a toddler when 1 was released. The cost deficit of the franchise could be very well explained by the fan base aging and growing out of the genre. Where they would have to succeed at is making the franchise appeal to an entire new generation which is not easy. This has always been true with the final fantasy series. It can pick up new fans but even with games like 11 and 14, most of the people whom play them are not new fans but people whom have stuck with the franchise since the early stages. A franchise in decline.This entire premise is flawed. When my adversary simply claims that it has gotten worse over the years, he never specifies dates to address. Lets look a few thingsThe sales from FF1 for the snes were marked at .40 million [1]The next thing I want to note is that over the years it drastically increased up until the point of FF7 which averaged 9.8 million[1] . This is where a sensible person would say it decreased from. Again as I have already pointed out 7 was a game that revolutionized final fantasy, and a majority of the people whom criticize the new games still tend to compare it to the old days. I even catch myself saying "this is not like 7" sometimes. 7 was a great game and provided great memories for all who played it, but it was the stellar point of the franchise. No game in the series has or will ever meet the mark that 7 made. It was the game to change not just final fantasy but MMO's all around. Note that 8 sold 8.8 million, slightly below the mark of 7 with nine being right on the same margin around 9 million[1]. Both were also amazing games. Ten was a 6.6 million +2 million that is not shown in this due to it being marketed heavily in other counties so it puts it around the same mark of 8.8-9 million. [1]Now notice the slight decline 12 was around 5.2 million with x-2 being around 3 million. 13 reached back up to 6 million [1]. My adversary claiming a loss in revenue and constant decline in it is extremely false. To base the franchise strictly off revenue is impossible and clearly does not support the resolution. If we can see anything, it is that the sales of the games vary from game to game with 7 being the high mark of the franchise (which every game series will always have. Just out of sheer logic, there is always one game that will have the highest sales of a franchise even if it is a minuscule margin)RatingHe claims the series has a 5.2 rating overall but lets take a look at the ign ratings for some of the recent games. Ign rated 14 a 8.6 out of ten (or great rating) [2]Ign also rated 13 an 8.9 out of ten (great rating )[3]Actually if you go through and look and most of the games, almost all of them have marked over an 8 rating by all types of critics.Being a overly in depth 14 player, I can also note that the game is amazing. It has a great story that is riddled with past images of 7 and old games such as ultimate weapon, bahamut, and all of the other ediloens we know and love. In ClosingMy adversary is guilty of what most oldschool fans are guilty of. He is comparing the franchise to the glory days of 7. While the franchise will never meet that one point it has not been on a steady decline as the resolution states. At most we can agree that is on a roller coaster ride. His resolution can not stand the test of facts and empirical evidence, and is solely based off of his personal opinion. [1] http://vgsales.wikia.com...[2] http://www.ign.com...[3] http://www.ign.com...