I disagree with your first point, and agree with your second. A Vast majority of fans like VII, and it seems that a very small group like to think they are above all of us for liking it. They claim to love the "old school" RPG, and everything since 16-bit if garbage. I am also guessing most of these people aren't old enough to vote. I am truely an old school gamer, I started with the Atari 2600, and I LOVE Final Fantasy VII.
I agree with your first point, and disgaree with your second on this one. I don't think its the elitists that hate VIII, I think just about EVERYONE hates Final Fantasy VIII. Its truely a putrid game, I could not care less about the characters, and the game was just plain bad. On the other hand, I LOVE Final Fantasy X (with the exception of the mini-games they pass of as side quests. They entirely destroy the flow of the game). I thought the addition of voice added a dimension to the characters we were not able to have before, and I loved it. I also think the characters of Wakka and Auron are stand outs in the Final Fantasy series.
Completely disagree here, on all counts. There was plenty of zaininess in Final Fantasy IV, and I do not care nor do I have the time to go through and document the character's actions in in. I also do not consider the characters in Final Fantasy VII to be "super deformed". They were the most correct portrayal of humans up to that point int he series, both on the map, in battle, and in the FMV.
They obviously do, and I believe I said "anyone here, especially me", not just "me".