since bashing them and other Japanese devs seems to be the "in" thing to do nowadays
...just that the reviews on the Japanese sites were not a iota more favorable.

Of course you can say: "all the reviewers, players and metacritics must be wrong. I still believe people
like this game and there are enough active players to warrant the claim that FFXIV is a success".

It just sounds a little like: "Between the years 1400 and 1600, the plague, also known as "the Black Death"
killed 50% of the European population. I still believe Yersinia Pestis, the bacterium associated with the plague,
is nothing but a harmless little fellow who hands out presents and candybars".

(giggle)