If people are complaining that TFA was too safe - and now complaining that it is too different - then that is no comment on the quality (good or bad etc) of the film itself. These is no inference in their statements that ‘different is automatically good’ at all.
I suppose to a degree, although criticizing a film for being too safe, does imply it would have been better, if it was less safe. Being safe is percieved as a weakness of the film, meaning it would be stronger without that weakness. Since, TLJ is percieved as not being safe, that would imply it does not have this weakness, even of it may have a host of other weaknesses. I think it goes a bit far to suggest, that a film being too similar or too different isn’t in some way meant to reflect of the quality of the film in question.
I don’t view TFA as “playing it too safe”. I view it as badly directed and edited movie with a really bad story and with some bad acting. But I also view it as a rip-off of A New Hope. I don’t view that as being too safe, but just a rip-off. If you go look at the prequels, none of those movies are “rip-offs” of the OT.
I’m betting if Lucas was still in charge of the ST, then we wouldn’t be getting any rip-off or soft-reboots of the earlier movies.