I also wouldn't want any series to be forcibly "ended". That just seems rather cruel to me. That's like saying x band should be forced to retire because some people don't like their musical direction. That feels very cruel and narrow-minded to me.
I'll defend a few franchises that were mentioned in this thread if you guys don't mind.
GTA - To those of you who hate this series, have you ever seen a really good mob movie? The entire franchise is a love letter to mafia movie subculture, and that's what makes the series really enjoyable and special. It's easy to demean the series as a mindless third person shooter with a lot of freedom, but it's a lot more than that if you're familiar with the movies and the settings that the franchise is riffing off of.
Sonic - I wholeheartedly disagree that the franchise hasn't had a good game in a long time. Is the franchise still extremely inconsistent? Absolutely.
It's a "you never know what you're gonna get" type of series.
While I do agree the series was abysmal in the mid 2000's (You won't hear me defend that era at all), the franchise has picked itself up a bit and I think the idea that it hasn't had a good game in forever is a bit of a misnomer.
- Unleashed was a solid game, if flawed in it's werehog sections (They don't play awfully, but they're not really necessary).
- Colors was one of the most critically acclaimed games in the series in a long time and a complete breath of fresh air for most people.
- Generations may be best described as a nostalgia cash crab, but it's one that still plays very well and is a lot of fun.
- While I dislike S4 Episode 1, I thought Episode 2 was a huge improvement and tightened up things that needed tightening.
I haven't played Lost World but from what I hear it's a very hit or miss type of game.
The series definitely isn't perfect, even now but I think it's unfair to paint the games I described as being the same quality as dredge like Shadow or Sonic 06 (Which are what people generally think about when they say the series is trash). There's improvements the games I listed could make sure, but I think stopping the franchise where it is now would be a mistake, given the ground they've made in improvements.
Final Fantasy - I think most of the ire at this series right now is aimed at the FFXIII trilogy, which is unfortunate because I think focusing one's hatred on a small section of games that don't entirely define an entire franchise is very good. FFXV could be completely different from the FFXIII games and be the kind of jrpg people have been wanting for a while, or it might not be. That's what makes FF interesting is how different games are. I'd hate to see this series end too.
Sorry for going on and on
