I know I'm just copy/pasting what I wrote on another post, but I can't avoid but repeat my opinion here:
In a very personal opinion, I can understand the fear some of you may feel -for real-, but I feel none :S
I mean, we're coming from a series of games (XII, XIII saga, Versus XIII, XIV 1.0) regarded as not meeting the expected quality a FF (or a Square game) should have, as dropped ideas or as failures because of SE practices: its secretism, excessive ego, et cetera; but now we're watching a process were the development team is sharing its efforts, knowledge and intentions, being honest about the process itself and being open enough to let us, the users/gamers/buyers/people, share our opinion about a game that's in development; an opinion that's been heard for that matter.
I know it's disappointing that some ideas from the Nomura's Versus XIII era are being dropped, but it's also very encouraging --for me, at least-- that we can feel ourselves as a part of this process, even if a tiny part. That's why, while I also am disappointed for them dropping Stella and some other themes from this game (blood), I still think it's gonna be a very good game, with an identity and not something improvised like some of the games we've seen from SE lately (XIII-2, LR).
I still have hope! (and hype).