The comments I've seen regarding Legacy, the newest dlc for DA2, on the Bioware DA2 forums has indeed all mentioned that Bioware has been listening to the their fans. Many people on the DA2 forums bought Legacy after hearing other people praise it on the DA2 forums.
As for DA2, I don't know where all the hate comes from - or maybe I do. Much have been talked about the re-used modules (for caves etc. ), the wave combat, and the colours being used (luckily I'm colourblind, so I can't really see the problem in this).
On the DA2 forums at the Bioware board some people notice the brown of it all, or the fact that it only takes place in one city (Kirkwall) as a restriction; it is if you want a rpg to take place in more than one city a la Oblivion or Skyrim.
I've encountered the same cave module, the same smuggler's cove module and another module some times now (2 or 3). And, personally, I don't care about this. I can see that it it the same module of course, the enemies and the placement of them are not the same. But I'd rather have more quests than new caves etc.
Let me clear here: I have logged over 54 hours into the game now (including the three! times three hours I started the deep roads over again so I could beat the rock wraith at the end). And I like this game, a lot. It is not DAO2; this is not. It is a story about a person, Hawke, who, by her own means, raises through the ranks of Kirkwall society.
She is the first person in this world to show the (poor) people that it is possible to move from the slums to Hightown - thorugh her own actions. As such, it is understandably why she, to the people of Kirkwall, is their champion.
The question is this: Do you want to turn Bioware into another Bethesda that makes open sandbox games where story is weak and nearly coherent, but with interesting sidequest or do you want Bioware to continue to make the best, the most emotional engaging stories in the world? I know what I prefer; Bioware needs, imo, to continue to make games based on stories with great characters and dialogues.
And to me this is exactly what DA2 is: a story-driven game where the main character's, Hawke's story, takes presedence. The npc characters are some of the best I've seen in any game, let alone in any Bioware game.
The critics of DA2 has also mentioned the lack of follower customization, and the loot.
I don't mind the loot system in DA2; to me, it is a much cleaner system than in any Bioware game, let alone any rpg yet. I like the junk system in DA2 and that I can turn anything I don't want into junk. Much better than the times of yesteryear in which we had to sort this out by ourselves. (and I really don't have the time to spent 2 hours gameplay time at a merchant's selling stuff like I did in Oblivion). Armour for the npc; first I liked the way it was in DA2. Then I met the Rock Wraith. And found a mod that let me put the armour on them. And it helped a great deal in defeating him.
Much has also been said about the combat in DA2; to me, it is much smoother and much better than in DA:O. Characters react immediately now, no more shuffling into place, and 'maybe I'll attack in 5 minutes if I'll feel like it.' Characters still perform funny act in combat, though, attacking thin air or standing still at certain moments.
The only problem I have with the combat is, you guessed, it: the waves. Ridicolous and overdone it is. Legacy adresses this problem and solves it - at least in part - at least as I understand it. As I see it, the combat in DA2 is a mix between Icewind's Dale's action rpg combat and combat found i MMO's (with phases?).
tl;dr:
I like DA2 a lot. Story is great. Characters behave like real people. Don't mind the re-used modules a la caves etc. Don't like the wave combat.
