@k1u73 It is obvious you are not understanding where I coming from. I'm sorry for my part in the miscommunication.
What I am speaking to is how you build and develop a new product in a line of products. No one is going to dismiss the differences between 1942 and BF2 or BF2 to BFBC2 or BFBC2 to BF3. Evolution of products is a result of competition. Competition isn't always with external competitors, it also includes competing against yourself. Ask any coach who has won multiple championships or the leaders of a fortune 500 company and they will tell you just that.
A thriving enterprise has to know and embrace what they do well, especially if it seperates them from competition. Providing service to customers who don't fit your competitors product is an example. It's as classic as Coke versus Pepsi or Ford versus Chevy.
What EA/Dice has done in 2042 is abandon much of its product progress over two decades. I'm speaking to lessons learned from previous games on the development side. Lessons learned from what their base customers prefer. Lessons learned from what drove customers away from their competitors. Instead of expanding or evolving on base/core gameplay they chose a path of reduction, devolution, and replacement. BF2042 doesn't seem like a step forward by any measure. Not in performance. Not graphically. Not in gameplay function. Not in content. Not in detail. Not in team play. Not in customization. If this was the cost of a short development cycle or expanding multiplayer match sizes then it is fair to ask why they thought these decisions would be more lucrative and appealing than the others.
Lastly, to play devils advocate to your main point about tossing lipstick on a pig like EA's Madden franchise, fans flocked to 2042 because they hoped the game would be more like BF3 and BF4. The marketing team trumped up the comparisons and communicated how this game was going to be an evolution in the same vein as those games.
So, even if I was asking for a re-release of a previous BF game (I'm not) or a game as close as possible to BF3 or BF4, isn't EA/Dice responsible for markteting to that? Shouldn't they be accountable for drawing those comparisons for its customers? Ultimately, I think that is a resounding"Yes".