BTW was a risk that essentially paid off. The idea that she flopped is beyond ridiculous. TEoG was huge on pop, and I heard it all throughout 2011. Y&I, a complete risk, went Top 20. 3/5 singles sold 2 million or more (with the "flop" near a million - Judas). The album sold over 2 million (very frontloaded, but 2 million is still an admirable # in today's US music market). The tour is huge & record-breaking. She gained new found respect & still got nominated for AOtY. The only real backlash may have been among people who thought BtW was too strange, but these people can easily be gained back - and if she decides to stick with BtW-type, she can live without them.
I'm all here for her taking risks. And by the way, Born this Way was sonically a great experience. There were really great songs (HML, BM, Scheisse and MTN being the highlights of the album), which make you forget the lows (A song like FOHL should never have been release for instance).
What made that era horrible for pre-Born This Way stan is more the "artistic" choices made, from the single choices, the pace at which they were released and the speed at which GaGa's ego has bloated during the whole era, and which has never deflated ever since.
If she learns to trust other people to direct her era (in terms of imagery) and keeps her music at the same level as the 10 best tracks from Born this Way, then she can manage to climb back to the stellar level she had reached towards the end of the Fame era and the whole Fame Monster era.