Deathlyphil said:
I've never seen a franchise "ruined" in any regard. All I see are the most hardcore fanbase throw a fit when a franchise takes a turn they don't like.
Take Transformers for example. Bay's Transformers movies are pretty bad, but they're bad due to sloppy writing, overuse of shakycam, waaaaay too many explosions and a massive military hardon that focues on characters other than what the films are named after. NOT because they don't "remain true" to what Transformers is supposed to be.
A franchise can't be ruined. They only have bad installments that are bad on their own merits, and later installments can be better. When a franchise takes a turn downhill, that doesn't mean it will stay downhill.
Look at Star Wars. 1977 we got a swashbuckling space adventure. 2005 we got a Space Opera masterpiece. 2011 we got perhaps the most interesting online game since WotLK.
A word to any franchise owner. Look at the 10% of your audience that claims to be loyal fans. Don't ever take their input, they have no idea what the fuck they're talking about.