Okay, let's do a quick analogy.

JRPGs = Chicken Nuggets.

Let's say some people aren't happy with Chicken Nuggets.  They don't like the breading so they'd rather the makers just leave it off.  Okay, so now we have breadless chicken nuggets, but you know... they're too small.  People want them bigger.  So now we have extra large chicken nuggets.  Finally people decide they no longer like chicken so they replace the chicken with fish. So what's left?

At this point, you have to look at what's left and ask yourself "Should we keep them labeled as Chicken Nuggets or call them Fish Fillets?"

A lot of people don't realize that many elements they don't like are simply part of the JRPG genre.  Those elements are what define it.  And you know what?  I want those people to go away because they don't want to play JRPGs, they want to play some other game and pretend it's a JRPG. 

If they want Fish Fillets then more power to them but they can keep their hands off my Chicken Nuggets because I like them just the way they are.

IGN: using what everyone has already argued about to generate guaranteed controversy and arguments.

Funny, I remember when IGN just reported news. Back in 2004.

Also, you want to fix JRPG, okay.  Dragon Quest.  There, I fixed your JRPG.  A JRPG hardly anyone outside of Japan has played but yet has everything both WRPG and JRPG fans keep arguing they want.

The problem is, half of you are arguing that JRPGs are 'old and stale, change everythng' while the other half are saying 'too much is different, go back to how they use to be!'.

While if you actually looked at JRPGs, they're trying to do new things, while harking back to their roots at the same time.  Games like Tales, Final Fantasy and Persona have completely different graphics and have evolved in their battle engines, but fundamentally, they're still using a lot of the same gameplay scenarios, character archetypes and basic setting scenarios as games from the SNES and PSX days.  Cute girl mages?  Sarcastic emo protagonists?  Giant Fantasy world to explore?  Japanese teenagers fighting monsters while having a school life?  All of this was invented on the NES.  They just look 100x prettier and have the illusion of more content to get through today.

This is also why some people think JRPGs are stale, as many of them seem to be repetative and seem to be recycling the same storylines and characters just with new faces and locations.  You just have to find the few good ones that go beyond the stock formula.  Note: There's plenty of WRPGs that are doing the same thing in their genre as well.  Some from within their own company.

<sarcasm >Whoever could you be referring to? </sarcasm>

Problem: You like Vanilla more than Chocolate.
Solution: Eat Vanilla instead of Chocolate.

Problem: You like wRPGs more than jRPGs.
Solution: Play wRPGs instead of jRPGs.

I do like jRPGs when they are open in terms of exploration at some point in the game (world maps, airships, etc.) but linear in terms of character and plot development. I admit, I get bored with wRPGs most of the time because I feel no attachment to the story or character(s).

I don't like how FF10 and 13 were so linear in terms of exploration. FF13 felt like a corridor game most of the time. I'll probably be following the Tales series for a while until the FF guys do something (I hear Versus is more open exploration with towns, forests, ariships). With current gen tech, there is no reason for SE not to be able to do a full flight sim mode for the airship control.

Such an elitist thing to say. Who else do you want to "go away" from gaming? People who don't play teh real platformerz like mario?

You clearly don't know what elitist means. In no way, shape, or form is he being elitist by saying that people shouldn't try to force JRPGs into something they are not.

Anyone that buys sub par JRPG games is paying for the crap thats released and thus keeping the genre in the same manner its been for a long time.  The genre is becoming stale it doesn't take a genius to see that.  Developers maybe dumbing down some JRPG's to try and entice a larger audience of "casuals" as you put it but that will never work as the core problem with the genre is poor story telling with too many outdated copycat stories.  I never mentioned WRPG's at all as they're a completely different style of game with the only similarity being the RPG in the title imo. 

The silly thing with telling a group of gamers to stfu is that as sales dwindle further its entirely possible the genre will die out almost completely, its not hard to see sales need to improve if a future is to be secured.  If you are honest, how have JRPG's on the current consoles compared to those released on the SNES, Megadrive, PS1, PS2?

So, am I getting this straight that JRPG fans do not want any innovation? That they want the same JRPG cliches over and over again? I am also getting the impression that the only way to fix the JRPG cliches listed is to make the game more like an WRPG.

I don't agree with that sentiment. Innovation and originality is one of the most importing values a game can have. Have you ever played any truly original games like Psychonauts, Beyond Good and Evil, The Witcher, or Baten Kaitos?

Yes, IGN used a lot of WRPG examples in their list, but they are only working with what they know. Turning a JRPG into a WRPG is not the only way to change the overused themes in a JRPG. They just need to innovate better. If anyone mentions Dragon Age, I will attempt to stab you over the internet. That game is more of a homage to old games, true. But that is one specific game as opposed to JRPGs, which is almost every game.

If you want to play the same JRPG over again, why not play older JRPGs instead of spending your hard earned money on new expensive JRPGs. They are basically the same game.