...can someone explain why so many of you are hoping this game will fail?

There are many reasons, from so called "harcore" FF fans that are sooo entrenched in a past incarnation and they will never accept a new installment to be good, or (God forbid) "better" than their forever favourite (it happends with every "big" achievement actually, regardless of the medium), to the standard (and numerous) haters of the series, genre, fake fans, ghost accounts etc etc etc. Billions of reasons buddy, one more idiotic than the other.

I wonder how many people who are hoping that this game fails have actually played the game, or are even willing to give it a fair chance. I'm about halfway through and I like it a lot. The story isn't the best in the series, but I think that if you liked Final Fantasy X, you'd like XIII. The games have a lot in common, especially the linearity that everyone seems to love complaining about. Especially the whole "20 hour tutorial" thing. You didn't have any freedom in Final Fantasy X either, until a similar amount of time into the game. Sure, the game may not be the best Final Fantasy game, but the people who are calling it a bad game are ridiculous.

What's wrong with FFXIII's story that wasn't wrong with previous stories in the series?

it will, but i think it won't deserve it

Well, some spoilers ahead...

To be perfectly honest, my Japanese isn't my strongest suit, but I personally found the concept of either turning into a crystal sculpture or a zombie forever a little silly. Also in the beginning of Chapter 4 the party seems to split up a pretty arbitrary reason, and you're stuck with teams of 2 for a while. It sort of boils down to "I'm tired" "We don't have time for this" "I'm tired"

The characters are well-done though, from what I can tell so far. I especially like Sazh, Lightning and Fang. Snow's not bad. Hope's kind of annoying. Vanille reminds me of Selphie or Rikku. I guess there's nothing really wrong with the story so far. But I could relate with what was happening in Final Fantasy X freakishly well (it came out just as my parents split and I moved from Hawaii to Las Vegas, so everything from being really annoyed at your dad to the theme of water everywhere to being in a strange new area), so the story's not resonating exceptionally well with me.... yet.

But I can't really make an honest comment about the story since I'm not done with the game, but aside from that it seemed to be pretty typical Final Fantasy, with a small group of rebels running from a corrupt government, etc.

hopefully, if not then it will probably get high 80s

I can't speak for everyone, but I can for myself. My thought is that S-E abandoned their fanbase from way back when, and have sold out to the mainstream when it comes to the FF franchise. I want to see a game that puts focus back on the story, gameplay, and challenge, rather than graphics. Some of the later ones have had okay stories, but they all pale in comparison to 6. (Or, for that matter, even 4.) You don't need cutting-edge graphics; Dragon Quest proves that point for Japan. What they really need to do is remarket the genre in the west, showing the deep gameplay and plot, then you can get a more unified fanbase who will happily buy your games, rather than having to get some new fans with each game as you continue to alienate others. Yes, this plan will cause a large reset, but I really think that even with "just good" graphics, they can keep many of the current fans, and bring back some of the old ones. They can have me back too, once they start to do what made the older ones good again.

Cutting edge graphic has always been a defining feature of the series even before VII.  It just has come to a point where graphic don't really need to improve much.

But it's not been to the point it was in 7 before. If you want cutting edge graphics on SNES, look at Donkey Kong Country. The characters in 6 still used sprites, but they knew how to use them effectively. Sprites conveying emotion is a good thing, whereas now they seem to need to use all these fancy graphics to do what they did 15 years ago in general 2-D.

How did they sell out to the mainstream when FFXII was the most niche title in the franchise, with the most in depth battle system, and which totally turned the main-stream gamers off from the game?

Hell, the one before that was a MMO.

If anything, I think they are turning away from their mainsteam fans, and catering to the niche' who prefer innovation and in the case of XII, inpenatrable depth in their games, rather than remaking Final Fantasy VI yet again can calling it something new?

I guess if "turning away from your hardcore fans" means not making games that only appeal to the mainstream, and making each entry in the franchise, completely different from any other, then that is exactly the reason I love the series....

I wish more series' had the balls to change it up with each entry. We wouldn't have this stagnant sequel fest we see every christmas, full of boring, overhyped, and non-innovative games that are exactly the same as their predecessors, but with better graphics.