I don't think anyone is lambasting them too hard, in fact most comments I see trend towards damning them with faint praise for the effort.
Personally I think that this was a neat effort but a mistake to release alongside a scheduled patch, especially while getting hyped, and billed as big of a deal as it seemed to them. It clearly shows that they aren't in lockstep with (at a minimum) a significant portion of the community here at Civfanatics, and judging by the YouTube comments on the teaser video. I have yet to check Reddit's reaction but I predict tepid. If you view this community as a microcosm of the community as a whole, well then it was a bit of a blunder. If you take the stance that we are the bleeding edge, fanatics if you will, well then perhaps its no big deal either way.
With regard to the attitudes around here, I suspect some of it is simply Battle Royal fatigue, combined with possibly some loathing for the biggest battle royal game of them all. Strange bedfellows and all that...
Don't be kids? I think that's a bit of a reach since we as consumers, supporters and fairly dedicated fans, have the right to react to the company we support making what can be viewed as a misstep. Calling people kids because you dislike those reactions seems bordering on rude.
I hope the folks at Firaxis are thick skinned enough to be professional and take the feedback for what it is. Not every move made is going to be greeted with cheers, sometimes one even gets jeers. You gotta pay the cost, if you wanna be a boss sort of deal. It comes with the territory, and I suspect the good folks at Firaxis know that, they probably don't need people springing to their defense, much less stating what they deserve.
