I'll give you a scenario to better explain my question:
You're working with a small developing team, but because you're relatively new to the business not a lot of gamers know who you are. Along comes an established gaming company and shrugs one of their big brand titles onto your little shoulders and say 'show us what you've got'. Now, you know you've got it made, you're good at what you do, you have that confidence. You work for a long time on all the hundreds of nitty gritty details that encompass a good game, with extra baggage considering it's an already existing franchise, and finally your team decides on where you're taking this game. You get the green light from the established game company, and release a trailer of barely over a minute.
The response from the fans is total outrage. They believe that their voice should be heard in contesting this new idea you've presented them with. Because you are the lead developer of your team, you're singled out and become the most hated person in the world. Regardless that it was all a team effort and that your co-workers are also taking a hard blow by the negative response, since they worked late into the night alongside with you to get a simple trailer done, it is YOU that carries the burden of the fan backlash. You're the one who has to deal with the negative reaction. The problem is, you haven't done anything wrong. You're staying true to the franchise, but taking it to a whole new level as the big company that contracted your small company requested you to do. So, from a developer point of view, you're all pleased with the product you've come up with, even if it is only a stepping stone to send your team into the right direction, but as creative people you are denied any positive credit by the fans.
Of course, because it becomes well known just how hated you are for what you've produced, the question 'what do you think of the fan's reaction?' keeps popping up in interviews.
So what would YOU do? A game is nothing without its fans, and 90% of fans are unhappy with what you want to give them. They want you to change this or that or else it will ruin the franchise and they'll refuse to buy the game and throw rotten eggs at you if they were to ever walk past you in the street, etc etc. So what would you do about it? Would you stick to your guns and meet their verbal backlash with indifference? Or would you crack under fan-pressure and change your idea to suit their satisfaction, until it no longer resembles YOUR idea?
