SC6 isn't a brand new game, but a continuation (even if a reboot) of an already-established franchise.
And you clearly give them too much power. They don't have infinite resources nor time, 12 brand new characters and movesets would only be possible if it were a brand new game. 12 new styles in SC would be a balance nightmare, among other things.
That's why adding some new characters is a must, yet 12 brand new styles while reworking systems and older movesets, that's impossible to do in such a short time. We can't possibly have cut characters and 12 new styles or we'll end up with a bigger backlash than the one SCV suffered.
The "leaks" of all these characters are 99% made-up crap from someone wanting to get some attention. Unlike Vergeben's leaks, which have been proven to be true, these ones don't have the slight hint of being real.
They are really not believable: they wouldn't add 12 new characters to the game, especially since it's more or less confirmed that we'll get around 30 characters.
Also, these characters are supposed to have brand new movesets, which is highly unlikely.
While Zasalamel was rumored to be a DLC character, he is now more likely to be part of the launch roster. Source
If the devs decided to use the character in the game with a plot role, they will have to ask the creator first (otherwise it's pure plagiarism). If the creator is ok with the devs using the character (ONLY for a role in the story, not Quick Match/Mission Mode), the character will be moved to an official page.
This case isn't similar at all. Willing something totally different and hating it is a thing, but constructive feedback is another.
With SCV, we received a game made following the fan-fiction of a developer. People seemed to welcome the idea, as a 17-year gap looked interesting on the paper. Yet the realization of the game was quite a catastrophy: unique styles cut, replacements which are simply new skins (with stereotyped personalities) of veterans, three mimics for no reason, characters taking two slots instead of one, Tekken's boots licking, buggy gameplay, to name but a few.
The game was rushed, indeed, but people started telling Bamco what was wrong with SCV and here we are, with a game far from Daishi's vision (what a relief) and focusing on what SCV did wrong. On the contrary to what you might think, a player has usually a better vision of the game than the devs: they experience the game, without having anything in mind. That's why RE seemed really interesting when it was presented, but when players use it they feel it's not going to work as expected.
Many games have changed for the better thanks to that feedback. With SCVI, we have the opportunity to not face the same fiasco, to make a game that will please casual and competitive players alike.
Not really, rather taking into account the observations, commentaries, and impressions of players (casual or competitive) when they first play the game. So far, the RE mechanic seems to be annoying and boring, same goes for GI which appears too OP. It's expected that some players will have to chance to give some feedback during EVO Japan, as well as other events (like Hayate's testing), in order to change things that seem to be to SCV's disadvantage.
I don't even get why you're talking about coding: we're not talking about development per se but rather decisions for the story. Many games that tried to change things drastically by taking some decisons over the roster (SCV, but also Dynasty Warriors 6) were met with such a harsh backlash the devs had to back-pedal quite fast. After all, if the customer isn't satisfied and doesn't buy their game, the devs might go bankrupt, that's why listening to what you call "emotional angry mob" might be in the devs' best interest. I assume they are mature enough to separate the wheat from the chaff: we can see a lot of really crappy ideas on Twitter and some forums about how the story should evolve, which character they should add, etc. If these ideas were to be used by PS, I can't imagine how mocked the series would be by its detractors but also how the die-hard fans would give the cold shoulder to the game.
Seeing how badly designed SCV was, most probably a mix of both.
Homosexuality was kinda taboo yet accepted with some cases of "honour" being involved (e.g. Nobunaga and Ranmaru). Japan is really ambiguous about homosexuality, even to this day.
On topic, Amy's style was more pressure-heavy than Raphael's, Viola was also that pressure character. Both styles are really interesting and I do hope they'll find a way to add them both, even if it means more DLC.
Of all the LS roster, she and Mi-na are, according to the leaker, are the less likely to appear as day-1 characters.
However, remember that SCV cut a lot of unique styles and put clones and 3 (!) mimics. Nothing is impossible with Project Soul xD Though I assume that this time, if such sh*t happens, the community will fight back.
Rumored to be, nothing is certain at the moment.
Let's hope we don't get a guest from Tekken again, or from a fist fighting game.
The Aztec would have disappeared for like 70 years. Though they could pull out either a twist on timeline or play as a "last tribe", it seems quite unlikely (even if I'd like to see one character like that too).
I also think that Siegfried and Nightmare will be separate: SCV suffered a severe backlash because they cut characters, if they put both back together, that would make people suspicious and show they haven't learned from their mistakes yet. Plus, it's a new storyline, they could split way earlier.
And that wouldn't suit the spirit of the series at all. Also, there's Injustice for that.
I think they meant that Mi-na might come back as a DLC rather. If she weren't popular, they wouldn't have put her in Lost Swords (for what it's worth), simply cutting her would put them at risk for another backlash and I assume they'd like to avoid repeating the same mistakes as with SCV.
So far, most of his leaks are correct (at least, the ones from one source, the other source has been deemed unreliable by Vergeben himself). I don't see why he would start spreading lies, as he is well known for being a reliable leaker for various games.
Don't expect anything before Q3: the later the better. Also, 70% might seem a lot, yet they can be focusing on 30% details which might take a really long time to polish. And if they have done 70% in 2 years, it'll take another year to finish the last % ^^
PS is taking their time, so we'll get a good game, unlike the previous ones ^^