Regarding the Starfleet/Maquis tension: Berman did not want it in the show because it would be "tiresome."
Mike Piller said it was UPN interference that caused it primarily, Berman's power was nominal at best.
Which is not how Berman or Braga presented it in the behind the scenes info I read.
The lack of direction for the show is honestly what killed it. Voyager feels meandering and pointless, and again, this points back to the creative staff.
That's what happens when you don't have a real plot.
This is true. It is also not the fault of the fans at the lack of a plot.
Beltran was giving a crap performance from Day One, which is partially why Chakotay got sidelined (because he was just terrible!). He has no right to complain.
Why not? He has no right to express his opinion?
Moore is a whiny bitch who has always run away with his tail tucked between his legs whenever he has to deal with outside interference. His own attempt at a Voyager-like show fell apart after only 2 seasons.
Again, behind the scenes info does not seem to indicate this.
Having conflict among the crew doesn't have to happen in every episode, but it certainly has its place.
Then the audience shouldn't have complained over the tensions not constantly being present.
Seeing as how tension was removed pretty by the second episode, there really is not much to complain about.
I mean, Spock and McCoy would banter and disagree back and forth, so why not increase the tension?
Spock and McCoy's banter consisted primarily of taking racist swipes at one another while Kirk hypocritically let them keep it up while getting mad whenever anyone else tried to get in on the Racist Train (like Stiles).
Not really. It consisted of them disagreeing over points of view, often with teasing as a part of it.
And they had something similar going on with Janeway/Seven later on anyways.
Which demonstrates that tension isn't a bad thing.
I still wonder at how the audience manages to complain and ruin everything, when all the BTS evidence I read indicates that the problems were with the creative staff, and as you said, a lack of direction. And that can't be put on the fans.
Also, if Berman and Braga were so nominal in their power, then Enterprise should have been better, when they were the ones to start the show off from the start. But, Enterprise suffered from the same lack of direction.
For what it's worth, most in my circle of friends like Voyager, and I have two friends who still prefer it as their favorite Trek.
Voyager had a lot of potential that could have been very different from the rest of Trek. But, it was content to use a TNG formula that did not serve the premise of the show.