There is one thing which keeps reoccurring to me in all this discussion, here and on other threads.... this patch is not just the responsibility of Relic... it is the responsibility also (or should be) of the community members, who apparently tested the stuff to perdition, if I understand matters correctly.
So, maybe we might concentrate some more on this aspect, rather than just blame Relic? Is it prudent to reduce the test group to such a small segment? How often did they play the test game? What was their average skill set? Did they regularly test the new maps? Or were they content to pick up the badge and do little in return?
It is a very likely probability that Relic did QA the maps that they created, but assumed that the popular community maps they added would be fine without such QA.
However considering Relics reputation for leaving insanely abusive things in maps before, I wouldn't put it past them to just not actually listen to what any of the beta testers say regarding bugs or balance.
I still don't understand what the hang up is in regards to just being honest about development, the closed studio shit they keep pulling means that people just sit in ignorance and hype themselves into thinking the next patch will fix everything or w/e, and then when the patch does basically nothing but break more stuff people get super pissed.
If Relic informed people about what was coming down the line we might see less rage simply due to the fact people would know what they are getting, and if Relic is worried about not being able to deliver what they promise then they are already screwing them selves by releasing pretty flow charts with no context.