I'd say it's less about lack of communication and more about lack of action. I mean, Valve doesn't say shit about anything they do, yet Dota 2 is the most popular game on Steam because it's constantly being updated with new and cool shit that the community wants. They patch ridiculously frequently, and pretty much every single patch has one or two changes that originated in community forums.
The truth is, 99% of people don't give a fuck about balance. A new player isn't going to put down the game because it isn't balanced, they're going to put down the game because it's not fun or it's not worth their time relative to other games out there.
I personally think it makes sense from a developer perspective to limit communication with the community, since it rarely helps matters and history has shown that actions speak far louder than words. But when you're both saying nothing and doing nothing, then there's a major problem.
A few interesting reads, a post by a prominent SC2 personality about that game's decline and a very well-written comment relating that post to Dota 2's success:
http://www.reddit.com/r/starcraft/comments/11m21k/starcraft_2_will_be_dead_before_legacy_of_the/
http://www.reddit.com/r/DotA2/comments/2wh97q/valves_statement_on_ti4_booth_audio/corb5h8
Relic should push for more frequent updates rather than everyone complaining that relic doesn't tell us whats going on. The more frequent the patches I feel the fast the balance can change and get fixed. Large issues such as the OKW truck pushing took months to fix as well as other issues such as the katusha being OP. Letting the game sit for this long is unacceptable from any standpoint and while I love Relic and its products to death but this is upsetting. Its been 6 months since a sizable balance patch was implemented (1/2 a year)