There is no such thing as "FF Tradition". The franchise changes with every iteration, retaining some common staples (spell names, some msuic, mounts, mobs, and common themes). The people who say that SE is defying FF tradition with XIV are speaking from a subjective point of view based on what THEY think that FF is, ignoring the fact that pretty much no two Final Fantasies are the same.

In other words, OP - while your post is concise, and I agree, I think that you should just tell the "FF Tradition-tards (most of whom don't know what the hell they're talking about)" to STFU like the rest of us do.