The 10 Commandments for Developers
1. Thou shalt NOT give the player a limited number of lives
2. Thou shalt NOT give the enemies increasingly powerful weapons in lieu of smarter AI as thine game progresses (I'm looking at you, Mercenaries)
3. Thou SHALT make foliage opaque to thine foes (Far Cry [2], Crysis, etc.)
4. Thou shalt NOT have quick-time-event
5. If thou must have quick-time-events, thou SHALL make them occur often enough that thine players can predict them coming, and they SHALL be of short length
6. Thou shalt NOT allow thine single player development to suffer at the hands of multiplayer development (*Glares menacingly at Halo*)
7. Thou shalt NOT dumb down a game/sequel just to be able to sell copies on consoles (DEUS EX and [bio/system] SHOCK)
8. If thine game is marketed as a shooter, then thine players SHALL have to shoot. If thine game is marketed as a sneaker, then thine players SHALL have to sneak. These two shall NOT be mixed merely to add dramatic effect (A nod towards Assassins Creed)
9. Thou SHALT at least attempt to make thine players bond with thine characters if thou willst make them suffer some personal tragedy
10th, and most importantly;
Thine players give unto you their trust (not to mention their $60) that thou willst tell an interesting story, and tell it compellingly. Thou SHALT take pride in, and nurture thine artform, for thine media is no higher nor lower than any other. Thou SHALT NOT sacrifice storytelling or gameplay to meet some arbitrary time goal. Thine players are patient, and would prefer a completed game a few weeks or months later than an incomplete one.
tl;dr: Don't be a halfass developer
I'll step down now