I really liked my n12 back in the day and personally believe that Yamaha would still be selling tons of these if they would have continued making them and keeping the drivers up to date with OS updates and moving to USB. Firewire was a Fad and a Bust IMO.
A 12-channel "side car" ie an exact copy of the mixer side of the n12 would have been cool, too!
However, it is what it is.