How would I explain this games never changing formula?

[Ryel]

Your complaint amounts to saying "this burger is still a burger, I wanted something new, and all you gave me was a different burger."

Well actually his complaint falls more in line with "This burger doesn't taste very good" or "You advertised a new burger on the menu and yet gave me the same exact one as before so it's kind of bland and nothing has really changed with it" and he's voicing these complaints on the discussion area of the forums where the devs have asked us to critique their "burger".

And? At the end of the day, a burger is a burger is a burger. Doesn't matter if it's beef, lamb, goat, kangaroo, buffalo, chicken, turkey or Dodo, it's still a burger. It doesn't matter if it's American, cheddar, Swiss, mozzarella, Colby or Blue cheese, a burger is still a burger.

Interestingly enough you just listed many things that actually separate different types of burgers from each other, with many of those factors determining the taste or preference a person might have towards certain types. It's as broad a spectrum as trying to say "well a video game is a video game" when an FPS may play nothing like an RPG and many MMOs on the market currently don't even have the same base systems besides being open to hundreds of thousands of players.

Saying "well you're in a burger joint" isn't going to mean much when customers are going elsewhere, especially if they're leaving for the competition who also happens to be selling burgers, obviously there may be something they feel is missing.

and since I'm now hungry...

Go enjoy some burgers.