It shouldn't have ended with Rises...

Agreed. Batman Begins and TDK both felt like origin stories. Batman Begins was about him becoming Batman. TDK was about him facing his first major threat on his own. Then it jumps 8 years and ends. I really didnt like TDKR and wish a better film had been made. One that didnt focus on closing the story but telling another Batman story~

The series should have ended before Rise.

This doesn't segue well into a JL story since it means the other heroes don't respond to Gotham being held hostage on 2 different occasions. Nolan had his ending planned and anymore films would have brought it down in all likelihood. It ends on a high note rather than being drug out until it turns bad.

Bale was offered the role of Batman instead of Affleck. He said no. He was offered a ton of money too. He didnt want to do it

Both Bale and Nolan want to have long careers. If you stick to the same role for too long, you will have trouble branching out. It’s why actors in long-running sitcoms often have trouble getting roles when the sitcom ends. Bale probably felt that, if he played Batman in a 4th movie, he would run risk of being known as Batman instead of Bale, and filmmakers wouldn’t cast him in non-Batman roles because they fear that people will see him on the screen and say, “there’s Batman!”